Hostess brands, the owner of the iconic Twinkie, filed for bankruptcy for the second time in two years. They cite rising labor costs and a changing diet. Who could have guessed Americans were desiring less processed empty food items? Unfortunately, many companies have failed to keep up with their demographics. Polaroid died a slow death as the digital cameras became more attractive to the consumer audience than waving a photo around to dry. MySpace’s social media dominance quickly diminished when they could not change to meet the non-music social needs of their audience.

Innovation is instrumental to keeping a business alive and competitive. It is no longer sufficient to simply be a well known icon. It is difficult to remain innovative if your workforce is not diverse and/or does not have an inclusive culture. In a recent internal study released by Walmart, they showed how their D&I efforts have translated into profit results oriented innovation. This mindset has not yet been adopted by many companies. Even in today’s high tech environments like Facebook, diversity often is not found in the highest level. Although over half of Facebook’s 600+ million users are female, there is not a single female on their board. How long will it be before a more inclusive social media brand steals their audience? More established companies like Hostess often face a similar issue. A quick look on the Hostess Brands website under their management team will not paint the picture of diversity. They are all white middle aged men. Now compare it to the Frito Lay management team. Notice any differences? Keep in mind this is just a cursory look, but is definitely one tell tale sign.

Diversity and inclusion efforts at Frito Lay have inspired innovation bonuses. Tasking their Hispanic employee resource group with ideas for the Hispanic market generated a whole line of snacks now generating over $100 million in revenue per year. Would this have been done if their management team resembled that of Hostess? Consumer product companies extoll the market virtues of having a diverse portfolio of products, but this does not always translate into how diversity within an organization is also key to success. The ones who do…succeed. The ones who do not? Well, they go the way of the Twinkie.