ecology

A handmade brand story

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What is the role of marketing claims when you are purchasing a product? Why are you buying one product vs. another at the decisive moment in front of the shelf?

Marketing claims are there to generate demand for a certain item (or service if you like). However, most importantly, brands would like to provide you with an emotional benefit (through a brand story) coupled with their product, in order to earn your preference. Handmade products are a special category in this, as they try to tell a unique story that’s also greatly connected to the person who actually made the product.

In this frame I particularly liked the below practice from Lush, a cosmetics manufacturer and retailer that make their products using only vegetarian or vegan recipes. I found out that 100% of their products are handmade by people who mix up fresh batches of materials everyday. I got a hold of a Lush product and the package looked quite ordinary at first. Nothing but the claim “handmade” on top of the pack to stress that this product was indeed handmade but… wait a minute… as soon as I flipped the cream container; I noticed a face sticker at the bottom of the package. This is the cartoon version of the person who actually made the product! His name is Dada (!) and his cartoon version looks a bit like me. What a fantastic twist having this kind of visual information on pack. Knowing who made the product and looking at the graphic version of his/her face, gives you a warm feeling and bonds you with the product. This practice conveys a unique story, as soon as this handmade product by a unique individual reaches your hands. In this “uniqueness relay”, the final receiver of the product cannot help but feeling unique and taken care of!

I’m closing with a quote from the company’s website, on why they insist on offering handmade products. This encapsulates their beliefs, constitutes a beautiful brand story and is indeed a very strong element of their USP. “This way, we can ensure that everything we use is of the highest quality and has been ethically sourced from beginning to end. Ever since our humble beginnings, handmade has been a part of our story. It’s not just part of our name; it’s part of who we are.”

Great stuff! What is your brand story that conveys your unique selling proposition?

A handmade brand story

Customers Have the Choice

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During the last weeks, the need of masks to protect ourselves from Covid-19 has become immense. I needed to purchase some extra masks, and I did so from an e-shop of a manufacturing firm that favored high customer ratings. Just before completing my purchases, the website successfully proposed some nice looking pair of underwear; I liked them and added them to the basket. Being a man who appreciates experience, what I was experiencing so far in this digital shopping trip was seamless and up to my expectations. The following small twist in the final step before proceeding to check out, gave me an extra warm feeling just like a cherry on top of a cake.

The text next to a tick box read: No packaging: Choose not to include packaging for the underwear, so that packaging can be promptly recycled within our factory premises. Do it for a planet with less waste.

Screenshot from https://www.lord.gr/en/

Some may think that this a camouflaged initiative that aims to avoid packaging cost and to result to lower shipment costs (due to smaller packaging volume). Others would even disagree with the practice and argue that the unboxing experience would be non-existent resulting to a poorer product experience right at its start. I would agree with both statements but let’s take a moment to pause and think it over.

Ticking a box to opt in during an online shopping trip, is a small manifestation of freedom of choice. A person who likes unboxing would not opt in while an eco-sensitive person would. To me, giving the power of choice to the Customer is synonymous to a feel-good gesture for him. I would also add that freedom of choice represents something more important than power; it represents the right of the individual to be a free agent in his relationships with other humans in the society, to choose his own course of action in order to make the right decisions to the benefit of the society. Thinking it over, this does not feel like a cheap trick, but it feels more like a small example of empowerment for a greater, sustainable future.

Customers Have the Choice