Today, more and more consumers are becoming socially conscious, and are actively looking for ethical options when purchasing products and services. Many businesses have since been responding to the demand, and are now engaging in new brand development and marketing strategies to reflect the changes they have adopted in their production systems.
Here are a few tips in presenting your company and its offerings as the ethical choice:
Invest on your employees and their training. Paying and rewarding your employees well is the first step to being an ethical company. As a bonus, the company staff will always be your best ambassadors. If they are provided the right compensation and more benefits than the competition, you can expect them to speak well of your brand. Moreover, the employees should be informed about this shift in branding: They should be able to articulate your efforts to the customers, and also subscribe to the principles of corporate social responsibility as they perform their duties from day to day.
Showcase your practices. Ethical branding is about addressing the pressing issues of today – from animal rights, to poverty alleviation, to climate change. It is about making sure that the materials you pick for manufacturing your products are sustainably harvested, that the communities where these are sourced benefit from your operations, that your businesses somehow contributes to the betterment of the world. It would be a great practice to let your target market witness these firsthand: Implement an open-house day, where interested parties – from the consumer advocate groups, to journalists, to industry associations – can actually observe how your products are made, right in your production site.
Choose your partners well. “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are” is an adage that also holds true when it comes to businesses. When you market yourself as the good brand, it is important to partner with reputable organizations. Actually devote time and resources to vetting the providers of your raw materials, of your laborers, of your distributors. Investigate their track record when it comes to working with the grassroots, and dealing with the community.
Talk to us today at GBX Digital to learn more about brand development. We are a team of New York-based marketing professionals who cater to a diverse range of clientele. We will be more than glad to present to you our full range of truly responsive traditional and online marketing solutions.