How influencers can help us build more sustainable brands.
According to Edelman’s 2020 Trust Barometer Report, 56% of the respondents in the study believe that Capitalism as it exists today does more ham than good in the world. Also, it remarks that people grant their trust based on two distinct attributes: competence (delivering on promises) and ethical behavior (doing the right thing and working to improve society)
That’s why we in Eternispring believe that doing business is all about building good relationships. Nevertheless, sometimes it becomes difficult given the physical distance in this globalized world. Actually, it’s common to hear every year a report about labor issues and unfair trade in factories of development economies countries. We wrote an article about unfair sourcing in Asia previously.
Also, we believe that a global supply chain based on sustainable and fair trade principles can be successful and do social good for global societies. Furthermore, build business that behave like NGOs but that are not based on donations but in sustainable profits.
Technology will play a major role in implementing an efficient supply chain to manage the production and delivery of products. Nowadays it’s possible to get data and control the quality with IoT (Internet of Things) sensors, then use this data to make more accurate forecasts and minimize losses. Accordingly, now web platforms allow us to collect data to better understand the market and create new products according to the consumer’s need.
But in order to create a sustainable supply chain we need at least two basic parts:
One seller that clearly understands his audience on a market and that can build meaningful relationships with her customers.
One grower that it’s an expert in production and that can deliver exceptional goods efficiently but taking care of the sustainability for her society and environment.
In that way, one will focus in the customers while the other can improve the production efficiencies and taking care of the environment. The relationship will be build based on the trust between two parties and in the synergy they can create to deliver excellent goods.
That’s why we believe that technology applied to eCommerce can benefit the fair-trade and sustainable productions by paying attention the following:
Brand can focus in their customers.- Nowadays this part has become easy if we harness the market potential of the audiences created by influencers in social media (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snap, etc)
Hyper personalization becomes a joyful reality.- The main idea behind this concept is to maximize the opportunities a brand has to tailor products and services that fits each and every customer’s wants and needs. When every seller it’s focused in its audience it can provide information in great detail about the requirements for its products and services and this will vary depending on the market and audience. Granularity is key to provide unique products!
Producers can focus in improving production without marketing costs.- One of the main hurdles that growers face is that many of their customers live overseas in countries and cultures they don’t fully understand. That’s why it will be important for them to get the support from someone that really knows the market.
Inventory optimization by implementing better forecasting.- To which for some products it translates into less food waste. Simply by implementing a cloud CRM solution they can share information between the two parties. Thus, it becomes easy to detect trends on time.
Improved traceability in the entire supply chain.- When there are better relationships between producers and sellers it’s easy for each one to focus on what they do best. Hence, it will be easy to trace the origin of a product and also the entire journey because both are aware of the processes and methodologies develop to deliver the products.
Fair trade pricing for products.- Nowadays we’ve institutions that certify that a product comply with fair trade practices but the issue is that this system is far from perfect and it’s not doing all the good that it’s supposed to do. In an environment of partnership between the producer and seller it’s easy to control that fair trade prices and practices are being followed given that both parties will benefit from it.
More than monetizing in followers.- It’s about sharing with an audience how to follow fair trade practices in a concrete way. It strengths the relationship between a community and a brand or influencer.
The Influencer Opportunity
Now more than ever, social media influencers and personalities have a deep understanding of their audiences. Furthermore, they are engaged with their followers and have created a unique connection based in trust and admiration. That connection has been very valuable for traditional brands to reach new generation of customers and creating new channels to talk with their current customers.
Actually nowadays many influencers have already launched their products and created their own brand. They put an incredible amount of effort to build products that make a unique fit for their audience. Consequently, when they launch their brand or product, they tend to have a good reception by their community.
The main issue many influencers face is that it’s difficult to create a product from scratch and they need the advice and support from experts in different fields, ranging from technical to business strategy. In addition, that is possible for the influencers with bigger audiences but it’s not practical for the ones with a smaller group of followers. There is where it is the opportunity to connect established and fair trade producers in Latin America with influencers.
The Producer Opportunity
It’s fair to say that we’re living in the era of the most academically educated generation in Latin America. Also, that it’s willing to make a change in their societies. As a result, many people in Latin America is educated and willing to start a business but they have a lack of practical experience in international business. Anyway, there are many experts in production particularly from Eco products from the Amazon and handmade products.
Moreover many producers have already spent a substantial amount of money by trying to create a brand to access international markets without success. Furthermore, many have abandoned those foreign markets and are willing to create products according to the specifications of a brand. They know how to produce but they don’t know exactly the preferences of overseas markets.
Moreover, there is a huge opportunity for small and medium sized producers that create handmade, organic and fair trade products that have high demand in the U.S. and Europe. So, a transfer of responsibility in their sales and marketing department will make them focus in production and improve it.
There are many additional parts to complete the supply chain. For example, we need transport companies with low CO2 footprint and customs clearance that are in tune with sustainable practices. Supply chain are complex to create and manage but the first step is to build products that satisfy the existing demand for sustainable, social responsible and fair trade products.
If you want to learn more about what we’re doing in Eternispring feel free to reach out to info@eternispring.com or following our blog.
References:
2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Report https://www.edelman.com/trust/2020-trust-barometer
What is hyper personalization? https://dotcms.com/blog/post/what-is-hyper-personalization-
