Washington Spotlight: Is Ivanka a Retail Partner or Issue Adversary?

The retail community has had a curious relationship with the Ivanka Trump brand over the last year or two. Some prominent brands proudly display her clothing, shoe and accessories lines. Others carry it, but really don’t highlight it too much, and some have decided to drop it all together.



At the end of the day, the jury seems to still be out whether the presence of her brand moves the needle or not. Ironically, the political world finds itself in the same place -- trying to decide if her brand moves the needle on issues that seem to be important to her. And many of those issues affect entry-level employers like retailers.



Ivanka caused a stir at the Republican National Convention last summer by directly taking on the pay equity issue during her prime time speech -- not an issue Republicans have traditionally spotlighted at convention time. Since then, she has also been outspoken about women’s health care, paid family and maternity leave and even childcare tax breaks. This week, she was very public in her support of Tuesday’s National Equal Pay Day advocating for closing the wage gap.



Social media came alive with a lot of kudos but nearly as many challenges -- basically asking if she was just talking the talk or was she going to walk the walk. To date, her critics begrudgingly give her credit for trying to advance a conversation but say she is not willing to force her father’s hand in this space.



If her new, official but unpaid position within the White House evolves and solidifies into a real policy role, employers could find themselves in the position of having a potentially very powerful adversary as the president’s closest confidant. Her strong advocacy on behalf of national paid and family leave laws and her willingness to pressure her father’s administration to cajole employers into closing the wage gap could have profound impacts to retailers – both on bottom lines and brand reputations.



Joe Kefauver is managing partner of Align Public Strategies, a full-service public affairs and creative firm that helps corporate brands, governments and nonprofits navigate the outside world and inform their internal decision-making. Align specializes in service sector industries.