Valentine’s Day Is Coming. Is Your Business Ready for the World’s Most Romantic Holiday?

Posted on by Colleen Vaughan
BORN Views
Valentine’s Day is coming. Is your business ready for the world’s most romantic holiday?

It’s not surprising that Valentine’s Day is a revenue opportunity. But it may be surprising that Valentine’s Day is such an enormous revenue opportunity. Last year, Valentine’s Day spending grew by about 8% and reached $26 billion, and we’re expecting similar growth in 2024. About 38% of last year’s Valentine’s Day sales were online, and that fraction will probably go up.

People are ready to spend during this first retail season of the year. The typical Valentine’s Day categories are clearly defined (though, as with any kind of seasonal merchandising, there is room for new offerings). Chocolates, candy, and other consumables represent about 30% of the total holiday spend, while flowers and jewelry account for about 16% each. Gift cards, clothing, and electronics are also popular Valentine’s Day gifts.

The consumers and the demand are out there. Smart retailers should be ready with a go-to-market strategy to elevate sales and take advantage of this powerful opportunity. As with any seasonal marketing and selling strategies, advance planning and strategy can pay off substantially.

As you gear up for this year’s romantic holiday, consider these key prerequisites for success:

  • Schedule campaigns intelligently: Initiate campaigns early to take advantage of the predictable surge in seasonal searches. Think about keywords and SEO in your planning.
  • Created targeted popup messages: Engage potential customers through targeted popups seamlessly integrated with a dedicated landing page. Your messaging should reflect some strategic realities. For example, men generally outspend women on Valentine’s Day, so targeting these buyers with appropriate messaging can be a great investment.
  • Invest in graphics and copy: Make sure your visual presentation is on-trend for the holiday and for the customers you serve – and make your content pop with engaging copy.
  • Leverage social media: Of course, buyers are going to be looking at social media for ideas and offers, so plan your social media strategy early.
  • Be aggressive with sales and promotions: A lot of Valentine’s Day spending is on predictable products and categories, so sales and promotions – cleverly tied to the holiday, of course – are great ways to stand out in a competitive market. Limited-time offers and perks like free shipping can also turn a browser into a buyer. (Just stay on-brand with all promotions!)
  • Be crystal-clear about ordering deadlines and delivery dates: You know that a lot of Valentine’s Day purchases are last-minute, so you can instill confidence by being absolutely forthright about delivery timelines. Consider ramping up urgency tactfully; for example, dynamic countdown timers can catalyze buying decisions and save your buyers from disappointments.
  • Make meaningful suggestions: Valentine’s Day is the kind of holiday where people want guidance in finding the perfect present. You do a service to buyers (and your revenue figures) by providing personalized recommendations and curated gift guides. You may find opportunities for cross-selling too.
  • Help last-minute shoppers: What can you offer to people who put off their Valentine’s Day shopping until the last days or hours before the holiday? They may represent a substantial portion of your customer base, so be prepared.
  • Optimize your website: Make sure your website is ready to handle increased traffic and transactions during the Valentine’s Day rush.
  • Minimize cart abandonment: A customer who fails to complete a transaction is always bad news, especially during the holiday season. Design cart abandonment reminders that will get them to act now; standard email reminders are generally ineffective in time-sensitive situations.
  • Partner with other businesses or influencers: Explore cross-promotions and other forms of partnership with complementary businesses or influencers to amplify your reach to new customers and segments.

Finally, remember that Valentine’s Day may be an opportunity for you even if you don’t sell “traditional” romantic gifts. Many gift-givers are looking for alternatives to flowers, jewelry, and chocolate, which means you may have an opportunity to create non-traditional offerings for people who want to celebrate their relationships in the context of the holiday season. You may need to develop a new narrative to make your products mesh with Valentine’s Day – which also requires forethought and planning – but this can unlock new possibilities for your brand and business.

Regardless of your approach, don’t forget to celebrate the people you love and care about. Happy Valentine’s Day!

To learn more about BORN Group’s services, please contact us.

Marketplaces the Series: Business Models to Case Study

Posted on by Soniya Jain

Marketplace Business Models: Launching & Building a Marketplace

Posted on by Soniya Jain
BORN Views
Marketplace Business Models: Launching & Building a Marketplace

By Ramy Youssef, SVP & Global Head of Marketplaces, BORN Group

Marketplaces are probably as old as human history. You can see their ancient roots in today’s physical shopping malls, supermarkets, hypermarkets (think Walmart and Costco) and transportation hubs—places where sellers can offer their wares and buyers can find the things they’re looking for.

Marketplaces still fulfill the age-old purpose of connecting buyers and sellers, but the web and digitalization have catalyzed a revolution in how marketplaces work—and created powerful new opportunities for commerce online and in the real world.

Ecommerce giants have become household names: Amazon, eBay, Airbnb, and other platform operators demonstrate the monumental power of scaling marketplaces and of reinventing the customer experience. At first, they grew by embracing technologies to scale product listings, transactions, and logistics. They grew even more by embracing technologies to create an entirely new kind of shopping experience with, for example, personalization, real-time notifications on multiple platforms, and robust customer support. Moreover, today’s marketplaces generate new kinds of revenue and profit opportunities because of their enormous traffic. Network effects create a virtuous cycle, attracting third-party sellers, enabling new marketing/merchandising opportunities, and fostering lasting change in buyer behaviors.

Key Benefits of Technology

Marketplaces have been redefined by technology. And their benefits are increasingly attractive to all kinds of enterprises. If you have a substantial presence—online or in the real world—you have a tremendous asset that offers many potential benefits:

  1. Diversified Revenue Streams: Obviously, a marketplace expands your sources of revenue, including fees from sellers, advertising/merchandising spends, and monetizing traffic. For B2B brands, a marketplace strategy can also enable entry into a B2C market. A manufacturer that one worked primarily through dealers, for example, can move to a more direct B2C model—and offer relevant third-party products and services to diversify its revenue streams.
  2. Reduced Risks: As the marketplace/platform operator, you can add incremental sales without the risks and costs associated with product development and manufacturing as well as inventory and fulfillment.
  3. Improved Time to Market: When you function as a marketplace, you can go to market with a more extensive value proposition much faster than if you had to develop products and build logistical support yourself.
  4. Expanded Reach: When it comes to online presence, the size of your catalog and the number of products or services you offer are important. A substantial platform pays big dividends in terms of reach and discoverability.
  5. Deeper Customer Engagement: A thriving, well-managed marketplace will strengthen your connection to customers and prospects. When you create a multifaceted platform that delivers real value—and is perceived as trustworthy—people will rely on it and make it a shopping destination. This also facilitates cross-selling.

A robust marketplace confers a substantial competitive advantage, enabling you to expand the reach of your brand through complementary product and service offerings with much less risk. Note that, according to Brand Finance, Amazon is the most valuable American brand for 2023.

How Do You Expand?

Given these substantial benefits, how do you approach the challenge of expanding your business or online presence into a true marketplace? Our deep experience in designing and building marketplaces suggests some initial steps:

Step 1: Choose your Revenue Model

Marketplaces typically follow one of these revenue models:

  • They can be commission-based, charging a percentage fee on each transaction.
    Examples include Amazon Marketplace or Apple’s App Store.
  • They can be membership- or subscription-based, charging users a fixed regular fee for an agreed-upon service level. For consumers, Netflix or the Apple One services use the subscription model, while companies like Etsy, Amazon, and eBay use a subscription model for sellers.
  • Other common revenue models are based on listing fees—where sellers pay only for the listings they create—or the hybrid load fee model, which charges a fee for listing and a commission based on sales.

Step 2: Choose your Business Model

Next, decide which of the three predominant marketplace business models is most appropriate for you:

  • Marketplace Model: This is a game-changer for businesses of all sizes. The marketplace model offers a low-risk way to expand your product offerings and increase revenue without the need to hold inventory or assume title. A typical marketplace aggregates many third-party suppliers who set the retail price but rely on the marketplace/platform to facilitate the transaction. Marketplaces tend to be highly scalable and offer consumers great variety and price transparency. The marketplace model also makes it easy and fast to add products, sellers, and categories to an existing platform. For many businesses, the marketplace model is the ideal way to monetize their digital traffic and deliver more choices and better value to customers.
  • Dropship Model: We’re seeing a surge in demand for the dropship model, and it’s easy to see why. With dropship, organizations can expand their product offerings without the hassle and risk of holding inventory, relying instead on third-party sellers to handle the logistics of order fulfillment. The dropship model is also ripe for automation and optimization. With advanced technology platforms, the entire process can be streamlined for maximum efficiency and profitability.
  • Hybrid Model: One of the most exciting emerging business models is the hybrid model, combining drop shipping with the more traditional marketplace model. This allows merchants to offer new product categories with minimal risk, while still maintaining and increasing revenue from their core offerings.

How Do You Choose
the Right Technology?

Every marketplace, from online platforms to collections of physical stores, relies on technology—and making the right tech decisions upfront can catalyze success.

This is exactly the approach we have built and applied successfully at the BORN Group. For clients eager to build or enhance their marketplace at the strategy level, we start technology discussions with our analytical approach which includes two key components: The Feature Value Matrix (FVM), and the 5C Analysis.

Feature Value Matrix

BORN has created a frame of reference that outlines a feature and its value to the business. The key output of the FVM is the determination of whether a feature is critical—and therefore should be included in the minimum viable product for launch—or whether it can wait to be included in a fast-follow phase.

The FVM starts with four steps:

  1. Understand key business requirements.
  2. Learn and challenge the existing system architecture by evaluating applications and the integration landscape.
  3. Identify pain-points.
  4. Define a solution baseline in terms of technical and business value.

5C Analysis

The BORN Group also developed the 5C Analysis to provide a quantitative representation of technology versus the business objectives and priorities. This helps business users to make more informed decisions. The 5C Analysis classifies each user story to:

  • Conform: Identify requirements that can be conformed to OOTB (Out-of-the-Box) features once a platform is picked.
  • Configure: Identify requirements that can be supported through configurations in the platform.
  • Connect: Identify requirements that are better supported through an integration to a third-party tool.
  • Customize: Identify requirements that will need to be built into the platform.
  • Compromise: Identify requirements that will be supported by a third-party tool rather than being built into the platform.

Some Final Thoughts

The reality is that the potential of marketplaces—digitally-driven ecosystems for buyers, sellers, and partners—is enormous.

And this is true not just for online businesses. Any place where people gather—airports, train stations, sporting arenas, theme parks, to name a few—is already a marketplace, but they also offer all kinds of untapped opportunities that can be turned into growth by leveraging today’s technologies.

The initial decision to create a marketplace is generally driven by the understandable goal of growing revenue. And while revenue growth is certainly a critical metric for any marketplace, it’s not the only one that matters. At BORN, we’ve found that successful marketplaces are also characterized by high levels of customer engagement and repeat business. In fact, our clients often refer to their marketplaces as “engagement platforms” because they offer a unique and powerful opportunity to connect with customers on a deeper level.

When you can offer a true marketplace, with a wide range of products and services from multiple sellers, you transform your online presence into a go-to destination for customers looking to discover new brands and make informed purchasing decisions.

The result is a virtuous cycle of engagement and revenue, with each transaction leading to increased trust and loyalty among customers. As a result, many of our clients measure the success of their marketplace not just in terms of revenue, but also in terms of customer satisfaction, retention, and lifetime value.

If your brand is looking to grow your marketplace strategy or design, BORN Group would love to walk you through our proven approach.

Download the Article

See-Click-Buy: Leveraging Content to Sell Merch

Posted on by Colleen Vaughan
BORN Views
See-Click-Buy: Leveraging Content to Sell Merch

By: Pradeep Singh | Delivery Head, Middle East, BORN Group

In June of this year, football great Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami and Major League Soccer, America’s top league, giving American soccer a much-needed boost in terms of visibility and expanding Messi’s global fan base even further. And Messi’s sponsor, Adidas, was ecstatic. According to the New York Times: “Within a couple of days of Messi’s announcement, the company had received almost 500,000 requests from stores and suppliers for jerseys in Miami’s soft, electric pink.”

Messi was already world-famous, of course, but his example demonstrates how quickly demand for a product can explode – and the story of Messi’s jersey represents an opportunity for all kinds of online content providers. People see something – Messi’s jersey, one of Barbie’s outfits, or a piece of jewelry on a major movie star – and they want it. And if the opportunity is there, they will buy it.

The question becomes: How do you give them that opportunity?

Embedded Commerce for Selling Merch

One answer is embedded commerce. Note that I’m not talking here about social media marketing or social commerce, where you’re creating content designed explicitly to sell a product immediately or down the line. Instead, in embedded commerce, the product is part of the story but not the story itself or even the centerpiece of the story.

For example, many James Bond movies feature the titular character wearing an Omega Seamaster watch. It’s essential for Bond’s character to have a luxury watch, but the film isn’t about the watch. However, that watch becomes a powerful embedded commerce opportunity. Fans see it, think it’s cool, and some will want to buy it. Why not give them that opportunity then and there? (Product placement, where companies are willing to pay content creators to use their products as part of the story’s background, is the precursor to embedded commerce.)

Of course, an engaged potential consumer may pause the video, Google the product, and start the research and buying process. But why not make it easy for them?

It might work like this: The consumer sees the product and pauses the video by clicking directly on the watch on the screen. This could let the user save the video image to a personal directory for later shopping. Or, an embedded commerce system could include a back-end plug-in to automatically route that expression of interest to the watch company, a licensed dealer, or a marketplace of licensed dealers and take the viewer directly to a product detail page with an opportunity to buy. Embedded commerce offers new revenue opportunities to multiple value chain links, including the content creator, the streaming or online service provider, and, of course, the manufacturer and its intermediaries.

The possibilities are truly immense. You could use direct links to specific products, like the Omega Seamaster. Or you could offer similar products at a range of price points to target a broader range of potential customers.

Naturally, some content creators won’t want to dilute the power of their content offerings with advertising or e-commerce, and some brands may not eagerly embrace this kind of sales channel. But just as product placement is a well-accepted reality for all kinds of content, turning content into shoppable content may come to be equally acceptable for everything from the obvious – like impulse purchases for clothing, cosmetics, and accessories – to more substantial sales possibilities. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think that embedded commerce could generate leads for big-ticket items like cars or vacation destinations.

Turning content into shoppable content requires a lot of upfront brand-related thinking and experience design. You’ll want to ensure that an embedded commerce strategy is appropriate to your brand experience as well as your go-to-market strategy. Embedded commerce also requires a lot of back-end technology, such as “you only look once” real-time object detection system, for example, with artificial intelligence-driven video analytics to address matching and mapping. Intelligent e-commerce/referral systems will be required to route requests to the proper jurisdiction or preferred suppliers.

When Messi joined Inter Miami, demand skyrocketed for his jersey. Imagine just how many jerseys Adidas might sell if they embraced an embedded commerce strategy in every match that streams online.

Cyber Monday—
6 Steps to Captivate Consumers

Posted on by Colleen Vaughan
BORN Views
Cyber Monday—

6 Steps to Captivate Consumers

In the 1980s, people started referring to the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday” – for consumers, it’s the unofficial start of the Christmas and holiday shopping season; for brick-and-mortar retailers, it’s the beginning of their busiest and most profitable time of the year. Big indeed: Last year, retailers rang up more than $9 billion in sales on Black Friday. But that’s not the biggest shopping day of the year: Cyber Monday, the Monday after Black Friday, accounted for more than $11 billion in e-commerce sales last year.

In terms of overall consumer spending, e-commerce sales volumes still trail sales in the physical world, but it will surprise no one that e-commerce is continuing to grow. Online shopping is convenient (no traffic, no crowds), easy (all it takes is a smartphone), and increasingly the norm for consumers. Of course, the pandemic significantly transformed e-tailing into the default shopping experience for many. Forged by the reality of social distancing, shopping online shows no signs of slowing down.

E-tailers must be ready to elevate their offerings and value propositions before November 27 along six vectors:

Prepare your Cyber Monday strategy.

Your Cyber Monday strategy demands comprehensive planning and coordination of your go-to-market strategy. Email marketing, advertising, and social media initiatives must be tailored to and focused squarely on the most prominent e-commerce day of the year. Now is also the time to review and stress-test your website. Make sure every link works, your system can handle a much more substantial user load, and triple-check that your checkout process is robust and fast.

Optimize for search.

While some shoppers will come directly to your site, many (perhaps most) will find you through search engines, so you must be sure that your website ranks prominently for keywords relating to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday shopping. When your site secures a top position in search results, you win big.

Improve responsiveness.

The reality is that users shop from multiple devices – computers, tablets, smartphones – and a seamless omnichannel experience will help you convert browsers to buyers. Make sure you are offering a cohesive user experience across devices and platforms. Test and optimize, particularly for mobile performance.

Manage inventory.

Double down on your efforts to predict volumes and avoid stockouts. The loss of a sale because your inventory is depleted, is bad enough, but disappointed consumers can mean the loss of future sales and an ongoing relationship. (They might also vent on social media!)

Create meaningful perks.

It’s a competitive world out there, and one great way to differentiate yourself is by offering tangible benefits to your customers. For e-commerce businesses, these benefits might include free shipping (increasingly necessary in today’s environment), hassle-free returns, or flexible shipping arrangements (e.g., buy online and pick-up in a physical location). The challenge lies in execution, obviously, but also in how you integrate perks into your brand’s value proposition. Your goal should always be to create offerings that enhance the shopping and brand experience. That’s how you build customers for life.

Leverage social media on Cyber Monday and beyond.

Social media has become one of the most powerful tools to build awareness and drive sales for e-commerce companies. But Instagram and other platforms require a different marketing approach: Your focus should be on broadening awareness and engaging customers with meaningful content. In other words, your social media efforts should not look like advertising. Think of social media as an opportunity to attract customers rather than push products out. Done well, social media can drive sales.

While all these ideas are important to every e-commerce retailer at all times of the year, they become essential in the weeks leading up to Cyber Monday. While implementation requires technology, of course, the best solutions are the ones that deeply embrace and further your brand and customer experiences.

The BORN Group can help apply technology to empower your brand.

Get Ahead in Ecommerce by Staying Ahead of Digital Trends

Posted on by Caitlin Gebhard
BORN Views
Get Ahead in Ecommerce by Staying Ahead of Digital Trends

In the fickle world of online commerce, the only thing you can ever truly rely on is change:

Change in how online brands are expected to interact with consumers, change in the technologies and trends that digital experiences are built on, change in how consumers behave, change in what customers want, and change in the expectations for businesses to react to these changes more and more quickly.

With the never-ending stream of new digital trends, services, and user needs and wants, today’s online retailers are almost expected to innovate their site’s technology in ‘real time’ to meet the demands of their users. In fact, one of the biggest challenges for online retailers today has nothing to do with driving sales or finding customers— it’s keeping up with new technology and industry standards.

2023 brought with it a slew of new technologies that are designed to help online businesses stay ahead of consumer demands and the competition. Smart businesses are regularly taking all these trends and technologies into account and continuously updating their digital presence.

To keep up, ask yourself these key questions:

  • When was the last time you updated your ecommerce experience?
  • Have you implemented any new technologies in the CX space (e.g., AI)?
  • Do you offer a personalized / tailored experience?
  • What are your competitors doing?

Reflecting on where you are today is the first step towards creating the innovative ecommerce experience that your consumers expect tomorrow.

Customer Experience and Human Experience

A recent PWC survey showed that 73% of consumers ranked customer experiences (CX) and digital ‘human experiences’ (HX) as two of the most important factors in their purchasing decisions – only price and product quality were ranked higher. CX and HX work together to engage with consumers at every touchpoint with the brand or service. Today, consumers expect the best of both worlds: a human-centered experience that makes every interaction seamless, enjoyable, and meaningful. Meeting this demand can drive up business. According to a recent Forbes study,

  • 43% of consumers would pay more for better convenience.
  • 42% would pay more for a friendly, welcoming online experience.
  • 40% of consumers would likely pay a 16% price premium for a great customer experience.

Excellent CX and HX helps foster not only a better relationship between company and consumer, but also encourages more engagement and higher sales.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

To stay on top of CX and HX expectations in 2023, top brands are focusing on personalization, customization, and analytic-driven digital experiences – often supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to Forbes research, 83% of surveyed businesses said implementing AI solutions is a strategic priority for their business. AI-driven tools, such as chatbots, content creators, natural language processors, robotic process automations, and rule-based expert systems, are being implemented to deliver the very best and latest in the user experiences consumers have come to expect.

While we know that AI machine learning is the next ‘big thing’ to change the digital world, this technology requires very high-quality data and analytics to work. Reworking your ecommerce platform’s data points to better serve AI/ML search engines will help your site get ahead in the next level of SEO. ‘Data labeling’ and ‘ranking algorithms’ needs to be a key focus in your digital strategy to get the very most from AI/ML.

Conversational UI & Chatbots

Conversational UI, such as voice interfaces and chatbots, is a fast and convenient way to fill the human interaction gap common to many online experiences. With the advent of AI-powered language processing, today’s chatbots can seamlessly emulate natural human conversation. From purchasing to technical assistance, dedicated plugins for your website give customers more personal, intimate and “human” support throughout their eCommerce experience.

Dynamic Pricing and Price Negotiation

Research showed that in 2021, 17% of US and European ecommerce companies planned on implementing dynamic pricing — while 21% of ecommerce businesses surveyed were already using dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing lets vendors adjust their product and service pricing to better meet consumer demand and market needs in ‘real time’.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented reality (AR) is one manifestation of visual commerce that’s becoming increasingly popular; global retailer AR spending is expected to surpass $4B in 2023. Integrating AR functionality into ecommerce websites can create some of the most immersive shopping experiences available to online customers.

Social Commerce

It should come as no surprise that social media plays a huge role in driving today’s ecommerce sales. Social media platforms are rapidly becoming the preferred search tool for younger generations. According to ‘The Future of Commerce’ Gen Z consumers use TikTok more than Google to find products. Top companies are reevaluating their social media strategies and the platforms they use to reach and engage with new customers.

Many of the best-in-class ecommerce platforms, such as Adobe and Shopify’s new ‘Commerce Components’, are taking their cues from this rapidly changing ecosystem of digital experiences. In developing bespoke, headless, composable tech-stacks, they are helping digital enterprise retail shops stay ahead of consumer expectations and demands. If you’re not already ahead of these trends— you’re already behind.  

Tell Your Story: Sustainability, Social Responsibility, and Authenticity

Posted on by Caitlin Gebhard
BORN Views
Tell Your Story: Sustainability, Social Responsibility, and Authenticity

“Going green” is not a new trend. In today’s market, sustainability is table stakes.

Consumers can choose from a myriad of sustainable, competitively priced, quality products – which often viewed as more desirable. In this post-pandemic world, a growing consumer base, especially Gen Z, expect businesses to participate in the world even more actively and responsibly. In a recent Nielsen study, three-quarters of Gen Z consumers stated that sustainability is more important to them than brand names and 75% of Millennials are eco-conscious to the point of changing their buying habits to favor environmentally-friendly products.

For businesses, this means adopting policies and practices that benefit not only the environment, but society as well.

Brands can stand out from the sea of “green” by becoming leaders in social impact, whether that is sustainability, equity, or fair employment practices. But for their accountability practices to resonate with consumers, brands need to talk the talk and walk the walk. They must take meaningful action to back up their messaging, or else the perception of “greenwashing” or “virtue-signaling” can drive significant backlash from consumers. At the same time, companies who are making great strides in their purpose-driven work won’t benefit from consumer engagement if they don’t tell their story.

Help the world, and your bottom line

There are financial incentives to adopting sustainable and socially responsible practices. Studies show that sustainable practices:

  • lower the cost of capital,
  • result in better operational performance, and
  • drive positive stock price performance

Purpose-driven practices can also drive innovation. Redesigning products or services to meet environmental standards or social needs creates new business opportunities. In addition, greater corporate responsibility improves morale and loyalty among employees. According to a study cited in Harvard Business Review, average turnover rates at purpose-driven businesses may be reduced by 25%-50%.

A major positive outcome of adopting sustainable and socially responsible practices is the competitive edge that comes with it. Studies show that, when cost and quality are equal, consumers prefer companies with clear purpose and ethical values. According to a global survey by Accenture Strategy, 62% of consumers are more attracted to brands with high ethical values and who are authentic in their purpose-driven work. This attraction translates into sales. A study conducted by Porter Novelli revealed that, holding cost and quality equal, 71% of consumers would rather purchase from a purpose-drive company.

Engage with responsibility

Consumer preference for brands with sustainable and ethical practices may be driven by an increased sense of responsibility. Studies show that nearly two-thirds of consumers across six international markets believe they “have a responsibility to purchase products that are good for the environment and society.”

But consumers feel that businesses have some responsibility, too. A 2020 ICF study found that 85% of consumers “want businesses to leverage their influence to raise awareness of sustainability issues.”A similar study from Accenture Strategy found this desire to be more generalized. 62% of consumers want businesses to “take a stand” on current issues, ranging from sustainability to transparency and fair employment practices. 

Consumers’ interest in businesses taking a stand is showing up in their actions, from commentary on social media to participating in boycotts. Younger generations are increasingly more invested, more likely to praise socially responsible and sustainable brands, and critique brands that are not. As time goes on, these interactions will accelerate.

Tell your story

Social activism is a key part of building an effective brand story. Brand storytelling is the thread that ties every touchpoint in the consumer experience together. Through storytelling, brand values become more deeply embedded in consumer minds, attitudes, and ultimately, their decisions. In other words, purpose-driven brand stories are attractive and engaging.

For example, TATA Consumer, one of India’s leading food & beverage companies, tells their story through a lens of environmental and social activism. Their mission is clear: “At TATA Consumer, we stand For Better products, nutrition, communities, and planet.” TATA approached BORN to strengthen their online presence across multiple markets. BORN worked with TATA to refresh their brand identity. To do this, they amplified brand storytelling throughout the newly developed site, re-aligning it with TATA’s “For Better” philosophy. TATA’s successes – from ranking as the number one food brand in India’s Brand Equity Survey, to becoming the first industrial township to meet international environmental standards – are highlighted on the homepage and in a primary section of the site. Their brand story integrates not only the importance of their mission, but the tangible impact TATA has on the world.

Be honest

Brand storytelling is more than the brand’s voice, heritage, and narrative. It must be a transparent conversation about your brand’s efforts to put their values into practice. Above all, consumers want companies to be honest. Studies show that corporate transparency may be even more important than corporate actions. Two-thirds of consumers think transparency is one of a brand’s most attractive qualities and strongly influences where they buy.

An authentic story helps consumers understand where your company has come from and where you’re going. This means being open about successes as well as failures. Consumers understand that implementing sustainable and socially responsible practices is difficult, complex, and an ongoing journey.  An honest conversation about that journey, with its ups and downs, is not only relatable, but also fosters a more authentic relationship with consumers.

Acknowledging the ways in which a company isn’t perfect builds trust. Studies show that, when a company leads with purpose, consumers are 72% more likely to forgive that company if it makes a misstep.

A strong, purpose-driven brand story can be found threaded throughout the digital presence of Reformation, an American clothing retailer. This retailer has a strong following of loyal consumers who believe in their mission statement: “We have big goals, like reducing more emissions than we make, making all our stuff from recyclable materials and trying to save the Earth while looking damn good doing it.” Reformation proves that the latest trends in fashion can go hand-in-hand with sustainability and green initiatives. They design stylish, vintage-inspired women’s clothes using only recycled, regenerative, or renewable materials in their clothes. Reformation also carefully tracks consumer data and feedback to produce only what they know they can sell in order to prevent “textile” waste. During their manufacturing they also take into account their energy consumption, water waste, greenhouse emissions and human and eco toxicity.

We’re all in this together

Sustainability and social responsibility cannot be accomplished in a vacuum. Built on honesty and trust, the relationship between brands and their consumers can help drive greater impact. Consumers are an important part of a brand’s ecosystem.

As consumers push brands to be more responsible and transparent, brands can work with their consumers to better understand how they can do so. Brands should be asking questions like:

  • What do our consumers care about?
  • What resonates with our consumers?
  • How can our brand work with consumers to innovate, educate, and make an impact?

Collaboration between stakeholders, employees and consumers can help companies discover shared values across the ecosystem and identify where the company can make a difference.

Combining research, service design, and brand storytelling, XDS design agencies BORN and  Mad*Pow work together to help organizations have meaningful conversations with their audiences, drive change within their organizations, and share their stories with the world.

Being sustainable, socially responsible, and authentic is an ongoing journey. Changing the world is hard. We’re here to support the work at every step of the way.