Beyond Woke and DEI: Why Culture Risk Is the Real Threat to Brands in 2025
- FIG Strategy & Consulting
- Sep 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 17
For the last few years, “woke” and “DEI” have dominated headlines and boardroom debates. Those buzzwords triggered outrage, activism, and endless commentary. But here’s the truth: those fights are symptoms. The real disease, and the real business threat? CULTURE RISK.
The tired debate Brands are still stuck in
Arguments about whether an initiative is “woke” or “DEI” continues to distract leaders from the bigger picture. Customers don’t care what you call it. They care whether your brand delivers on its promises. Investors couldn't care less about hashtags. But they do care about risk exposure. And employees care about whether leadership’s words and actions align way more than the values poster at the employee entrance.
Stop trying to debate DEI. It's done. At least for now.
Culture IS the business risk
Culture determines whether your company earns customer loyalty, retains top performers, and avoids becoming #cancelcompany. When culture is ignored, the consequences are fast, public and unforgiving:
Customers leave when brands don’t deliver.
Employees weaponize social platforms when they don’t trust leadership.
Boards and regulators intervene when risks become financial liabilities.
Does that sound like it's about being “woke?”
What Brands should focus on now
Audit your risks. Stop waiting for HR to tell you about “engagement.” Brands need data on culture vulnerabilities, customer impact, and reputational exposure.
Measure what matters. NPS, churn, complaint velocity, legal claims, promotion patterns. These are culture KPIs tied directly to the 3R's: Revenue, Reputation, and Retention.
Act before the board demands it. A quarterly culture risk audit should be as routine as reviewing financials.
Adopt these simple tools and you'll be better equipped to handle customers, employees and shareholders when the questions come rolling in.
A better tool for 2025
At FIG, we built a 7-Step Culture Risk Audit for brands who want to measure culture as a business risk. It’s practical, measurable, and board-ready. You can run it in 20 minutes and identify the issues that actually put revenue and reputation at risk.
Get the 7-Step Culture Risk Audit here.
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