When Brand Values Miss the Mark: Lessons from Motion’s Misaligned Campaign

In a world where brands are increasingly under the microscope, there’s little room for error, especially when it comes to campaigns that reinforce outdated, harmful stereotypes. The recent ad from Motion, an app designed to improve productivity, missed the mark and left many wondering how such a campaign could make it to the public eye. This misstep illustrates a crucial lesson for businesses of all sizes: Aligning your brand’s values with your actions is essential for fostering trust, maintaining credibility, and building a community that believes in your mission.

Understanding the Campaign Backlash

If you missed it, Motion recently launched a shockingly sexist ad campaign. The ad showed a social media post that list the household tasks the poster's wife has done since getting an AI assistant. Emily Brown shared the ad on LinkedIn here and called out the blatant sexism and detailed why the ad is problematic. The backlash was swift, leading Motion’s founder to apologize formally, acknowledging the community’s feedback and outlining steps to ensure it won’t happen again.

In an initial attempt to explain, Motion attributed the ad to a third-party agency, saying it was a “one-off” creation, which inadvertently violated the brand’s stated core values. However, comments on Brown's post suggest this was not an isolated misstep but part of a larger, thematically consistent campaign. This disconnect highlights how, without consistent oversight and a deep alignment with company values, brands can quickly end up alienating the very audiences they wish to engage.

Motion’s Stated Values: Where’s the Disconnect?

Motion’s About page lists several core values that, on the surface, are admirable. They include “taking personal ownership,” “staying humble,” and “seeking out people with different perspectives.” Yet, this campaign appears to have contradicted each of these tenets, from lacking ownership over the cultural tone of the ad to missing a critical awareness of the perspectives and sensitivities of their audience.

When brands misstep like this, it often indicates a deeper issue within the organizational culture. While companies can proudly list values on their website, the question remains: Are they truly embedded in the daily decision-making processes? Do they impact hiring, influence marketing strategies, and guide internal decisions? For Motion, this misaligned campaign suggests a need to re-evaluate how their values translate into action.

The Risk of Gender Imbalance in Decision-Making

Another insight from Motion’s team may shed light on this situation. Their team photo on their About page appears to have three females and sixteen males. LinkedIn lists eight decision makers at Motion, all of whom appear to be male. A scroll their their employees on LinkedIn shows a company where male employees vastly out number the female employees.

This gender imbalance likely contributed to a lack of diverse viewpoints—particularly when making decisions that impact public perception and brand integrity. Studies show that diverse teams make better decisions 87% of the time and are less likely to face backlash for insensitive marketing or exclusionary practices. In a largely male-led team, it’s easy to overlook gender biases that an ad agency might introduce. This underscores the importance of a balanced and inclusive workforce

Why Aligning Brand Values with Actions is Critical

When brand values are not aligned with actions, the fallout can be swift and brutal. For Motion, the consequences of this campaign were not only immediate and public but likely to have long-lasting impacts on brand trust. In today’s landscape, where consumers value authenticity and integrity, brands that fail to align their messaging with their values lose the trust they’ve worked hard to build.

Here are three actionable takeaways for companies to avoid Motion’s missteps:

1. Embed Values Deeply in Decision-Making: Brand values should not only be on display but also woven into the fabric of daily decision-making. This means regular evaluations and an open dialogue on how these values manifest in marketing, the employee experience, and leadership.

2. Diversify the Decision-Makers: A diverse leadership team that brings multiple perspectives to the table is critical. A well-rounded team can better spot potentially harmful messaging and anticipate how campaigns will be received by various segments of the audience.

3. Take Ownership Beyond Words: Motion’s values include “taking personal ownership,” but their initial response—a suggestion that the agency was largely to blame—felt deflective. Taking ownership means accepting responsibility, not deflecting it, and demonstrating clear steps for corrective action moving forward.

The Takeaway: Building Trust through Consistency

In branding, trust is hard-earned and easily lost. For Motion, rebuilding trust will require more than a statement or apology. It will take a deep introspection and alignment of their values with every aspect of their external image, ensuring that each touchpoint with their audience reinforces, rather than contradicts, their core principles. In addition, their values must be true, authentic, and represent what happens on the inside as well as the outside of the organization.

The lesson for others is clear: If you proudly state values like inclusivity, humility, and personal responsibility, they must show up not only in internal policies but also in every piece of content you share. Otherwise, these values risk becoming empty words, alienating the very audience you aim to serve and creating backlash that’s all too avoidable.

A Call to Action for Motion and Leaders Who Want to Bring Values to Life

To the leadership at Motion—and to any organization seeking to truly live out their values—it’s time to take action. Values are more than just words on a wall or a section on your website; they should be the backbone of your company culture, guiding each decision and every interaction.

At Culture Grove, we help organizations bring their values to life, embedding them in the DNA of their culture so that they impact decision-making at every level. Don’t wait for a public misstep to spark change; proactively build a culture that aligns your brand’s actions with its principles.

Reach out to Culture Grove today, and let’s cultivate a values-driven culture that grows strong from the roots up.