MARKETING EXCELLENCE The Fairtrade Foundation

Marketing for a better world

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By Amanda Mackenzie

What is marketing excellence?

Marketing excellence can drive breakthrough business They have established this reputation over a period results for the short and long-term. Marketing of more than 28 years, and they have always been excellence requires great strategic thinking, great based on the principle of searching out the best creative thinking and perfect execution. examples of different marketing techniques in action, that showcase great strategic thinking, great But how do we assess marketing excellence? First we creativity and perfect execution. choose brilliant industry judges who are all experienced and successful practitioners of excellence and we In order to be a winner of one of the Society’s Amanda Mackenzie, ask them to pick out the cases which they see as Awards, marketers have to demonstrate that what President of The remarkable. We ask them to look for two key qualities they have done is outstanding in comparison with Marketing Society from our winners: creativity and effectiveness. marketing in all industries not just their own and Chief Marketing particular sector. & Communications But marketing continuously changes and evolves, as Officer at Aviva consumers become more sophisticated and demanding If a marketing story has been good enough to impress and the media for communicating with them ever more our judges, then all marketers can learn from it – diverse. So the standards for marketing excellence however senior they have become. The collection change and in turn become more demanding. of case histories brought together here is the best of the best from the past two years of our Awards, and We believe that The Marketing Society Awards for I am confident that it truly demonstrates marketing Excellence in association with Marketing set the excellence. I have been truly inspired by these standard of marketing excellence in the UK. case studies and I hope you will be too. Marketing for a better world | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | 3 The Fairtrade Foundation

Marketing for a better world

Snapshot The Fairtrade Foundation’s far-reaching marketing strategy gave the brand renewed impetus without alienating its grassroots campaigners.

Key insights Summary • The Fairtrade Foundation created a marketing The movement in the UK goes back more function in a bid to re-energise its brand and broaden than 19 years. Its roots lie with a group of concerned its global reach among consumers and business citizens who wanted to form fairer trading links to give partners while staying true to its core principles. a better deal to those at the end of the international • The subsequent brand revamp and campaigns, supply chains. These pioneering consumers and both offline and online, were developed alongside businesses created a social movement which raised in-depth consumer research to produce actionable awareness of unfair trade and helped create a market segmentation. for ethical products. • The result was a step-change in brand awareness, familiarity and value among consumers and In the first decade, the emergence of a single Fairtrade businesses, a consolidation of its trusted position mark and the energy of the social movement together and a re-engagement with its grassroots movement. led to a force with huge potential to transform the trade landscape. However, by 2007, less than £500 million worth of Fairtrade goods were sold in the UK. So, in 2007 the Fairtrade Foundation brought in a marketing function to reposition the Fairtrade brand for the public and develop a compelling proposition for businesses to join the movement and help grow it. 4 | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for a better world

civil society that demanded that products should be sourced from developing countries on terms that would empower impoverished farmers to work their own way out of poverty. 1994 – 2002 2002 – 2008

With a mark to show ethically-minded consumers that the products guaranteed a fairer deal for farmers, the Fairtrade movement created

2008 – 2010 2011 onwards a mental shortcut, or brand, which became the gold standard in a burgeoning ethical sector. Figure 1. Emergence of an international brand It also united the separate country movements under one mark so Fairtrade could go global The results were definitive. With a limited budget, as a labelling option for multinational companies Fairtrade globalised the brand, found an accessible (Figure 1). tone of voice, made its understanding of the ethical consumer more sophisticated, took its communities Awareness, familiarity and sales grew steadily, online, refocused its campaigners and translated all thanks to campaigners. As supply chains became this into a successful commercial proposition. more established, availability of products and traded volumes began to hit critical mass. The A changing context support of key retailers such as the Co-operative The Fairtrade Foundation was founded in 1988 in and Sainsbury’s made core Fairtrade products like response to the growing grassroots movement in and bananas available (Figure 2).

£1,500 1500

1400 Gold £1,320 Cosmetics 1200 Cotton products £1,172 Flowers Other food and drinks 1000 Fruits, vegetables and juices Chocolate £836 Hot beverages 800 Estimated sales £689

Sales in £ millions 600 £493 High 400 £285 Connected £193 200 £140 Champions £92 17% £22 £33 £50 £63 0 Busy 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Passersby (est.) 22% Figure 2. SalesFigure of2 – UK Sales Fairtrade of UK Fairtrade products products Prosperous Onlookers 14% Solo Supporters Behave (Buy & Tell) Resolute 21% Cynics 10% Hard-pressed Bystanders 17% 100

80

Negative Neutral Positive 60 Believe (Fairtrade & Wider Ethics) 40

Percentage of surveyed 20

0 Awareness Trust Familiarity Active Choice

Figure 17 – Growth in awareness, familiarity, trust and active choice (Globescan)

2008 2010 2011 Marketing for a better world | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | 5

By 2008/9 the sales outlook was positive, but signs The Foundation moved quickly and successfully were that future growth was not going to be easy. from an inconsistent base to a global brand within The UK was in recession, businesses were cutting 12 months, despite notable obstacles not typically costs and consumer concerns were increasingly close found in the private sector, such as: to home. Fairtrade was no longer alone in the market. • The lack of a ‘head office’ to direct content and A new marketing strategy was needed if Fairtrade implementation. in Bonn has was to scale up volume and go mainstream. a central co-ordinating role, but the international network operates as a federation rather than a Taking the brand global hierarchy. With separate founding members, boards Globalising the Fairtrade brand was an appropriate and budgets in each market, participation in a project starting point for expanding the brand and approaching like this and compliance was entirely voluntary. mainstream markets for a number of reasons: • The politics of Fairtrade are different in different • Global brands looking to build purpose into their brands countries, with variances culturally specific and wanted a globally-consistent certifier, so marketing often emotive. Messaging in Austria, for example, campaigns could be replicated across borders. had focused on child labour while in South • Because of cash limitations in each Fairtrade market, black empowerment was a priority. In France, investing in quality brand development was only Fairtrade is positioned as a real alternative to feasible with combined budgets. conventional trade, not as a partner of • Financial constraints meant that ‘stealing with pride’ multinationals. The Swiss, on the other hand, was imperative for smaller markets to access good position Fairtrade as a corporate solution. marketing assets from larger markets. So messaging, • Awareness of Fairtrade in different markets varies design and imagery needed to be consistent. greatly, from single digit awareness in markets such as Poland and South Korea to 90% in the UK. This called for more basic communication of what Fairtrade is in some markets, with a greater need for emotional connection in others.

The guidelines managed to walk the line between global consistency and appropriate flexibility in implementation, based on the shared vision (see ‘A shared vision’). They were adopted fully in all markets, from the most established like the UK to the least like South Korea (Figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3. New international brand identity 6 | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for a better world

Figure 4. New international brand Figure 5. The Big Swap for 2010

enough to galvanise supporters while convincing A shared vision mainstream brands that Fairtrade could fit with Fairtrade’s vision is for a world in which all producers their brand positioning. can enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods, fulfil their potential and decide on their future. The result was a creative strategy to make it stand out from increasingly generic development Our aspiration: To transform global trade by communication and appeal to less committed, promoting fairer trading conditions. To achieve this positively pre-disposed shoppers. The first campaign, we will position Fairtrade as the guiding light for The Big Swap for Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 (Figure 5), sustainable development, touching more lives more was based on a strong promotional template which deeply than any other ethical certification scheme. delivered a significant level of partner activity. • Enough advertisers came together under the Big Swap banner to sponsor a ‘Fairtrade Big Swap’ Striking the right note in the UK ad break on Channel 4. A stronger, consistent look and feel helped establish • Over one million ‘Swaps’ to Fairtrade were a strong visual identity globally for Fairtrade in the registered online by supporters and shoppers. UK and met the need of global licensees to roll out • Mainstream brands had just begun switching and partner marketing activity internationally. Nonetheless, Starbucks turned its stores over to a blanket a marketing campaign would be needed which Fairtrade message with a Big Swap sales promotion. would address the particular needs of the UK • In addition, Cadbury TV advertised a brand market in order to: promotion swapping wrappers for music. • Deepen engagement. • Encourage people to move from being positive about Fairtrade to more active purchasing, more often. • Develop a campaigning voice and style flexible Marketing for a better world | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | 7

Awareness of Fairtrade Fortnight grew from 30% The results revealed that: in 2009 to 49% in 2010. Moreover, 25% of people • 10% were ‘resolute cynics’. claimed to have bought a product as a result of • 22% were ‘busy passersby’. seeing or hearing about Fairtrade during the Fairtrade • 14% were ‘prosperous onlookers’. Fortnight period. • 17% were ‘hard-pressed bystanders’. • 21% were ‘solo supporters’. Revealing underlying consumer truths • 17% were ‘connected champions’. The next stage was to understand the target audience better in order to go mainstream and help This showed that the best opportunity for creating partners. That meant moving from an understanding greater commitment to Fairtrade lay in two key based on ‘gut feel’ to a more sophisticated audiences representing some 40% of the population. segmentation. To do that, 2,000 consumers were • Solo supporters are an older group of ethical shoppers studied to identify their characteristics in relation to with strong convictions and set ideas, which favour £1,500 attitudes and behaviours (Figure 6). Fairtrade. They1500 are well-off and tend to over-index in terms of Fairtrade spend. They are less likely to act 1400 Gold £1,320 for Fairtrade or spreadCosmetics the word generally. 1200 Cotton products £1,172 Flowers Other food and drinks 1000 Fruits, vegetables and juices Chocolate £836 Hot beverages 800 Estimated sales £689

Sales in £ millions 600 £493 High 400 £285 Connected £193 200 £140 Champions £92 17% £22 £33 £50 £63 0 Busy 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Passersby (est.) 22% Figure 2 – Sales of UK Fairtrade products Prosperous Onlookers 14% Solo Supporters Behave (Buy & Tell) Resolute 21% Cynics 10% Hard-pressed Bystanders 17% 100

80

Negative Neutral Positive 60 Believe (Fairtrade & Wider Ethics) 40 Figure 6. Consumer characteristics Figure 7. ‘Make beauty fair’ campaign

Percentage of surveyed 20

0 Awareness Trust Familiarity Active Choice

Figure 17 – Growth in awareness, familiarity, trust and active choice (Globescan)

2008 2010 2011 8 | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for a better world

• Connected champions are a younger group of The result was a transformation in digital interaction people. Socially-networked online and offline, they between the Foundation and its supporters. Between are environmentally and socially aware and 2009 and 2012 digital metrics grew exponentially. For connect with other people expansively on their example, while during 2009 some 70,000 people views and perspectives. viewed a piece of digital content from Fairtrade, in 2012 that figure was almost 1,000,000. With overall Fairtrade thus decided to rebalance its marketing and annual budget growth no greater than 10% per press activity to ensure efforts were reaching across annum, this was a tremendous indication of how the spectrum, but with a greater emphasis on mainstream the direct engagement had become. connected champions as an opportunity to expand the campaigning nature to a broader constituency than A significant secondary benefit was that the the traditional Fairtrade campaigner. Given budgets, commercial licensees now considered the supporter it was also pragmatic to target and ignite an active engagement channels as a valuable route to market online audience. These consumers were responsive to for their brand and corporate social responsibility simple but meaningful communication on the need for (CSR) communications, and a mechanism that could Fairtrade and the impact of their purchases. deliver value for money for their license fee.

Social media immersion This has also encouraged increasingly innovative ideas In 2009 Fairtrade’s social media presence was just to encourage deeper engagement with Fairtrade. For starting to grow. With the launch of Fairtrade example, in February 2013 the Ask Malawi project cosmetics that year, the Foundation decided to increase allowed consumers to connect directly with a the digital base. Time and budget were invested in community in Malawi to better understand them, campaigns about new and lesser-known product their challenges and the impact of Fairtrade. categories which would make positively-predisposed consumers re-evaluate Fairtrade, engage and share. Reinvigorating the networks The campaigns network is the backbone of the To communicate at a brand level a range of digital Fairtrade movement, with 32% of people learning mechanics was created which made it easier for about Fairtrade through family, friends and consumers to engage. Figure 7 shows the ‘Make colleagues, while 16% hear about it through beauty fair’ campaign, while other campaigns centred education, community and faith groups. Word-of- around buying South African wine, labelling and mouth is a key asset. Brand partners highly value the chocolate. While succeeding in growing Fairtrade’s networks and Fairtrade’s privileged access to them. digital engagement, these campaigns also integrated with licensee communications, helping them give The risk in mainstreaming is that it leaves many purpose to their brands. campaigners feeling the job is done and they no longer campaign with the passion they had when Fairtrade was young. To address this, from 2009 the Marketing for a better world | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | 9 strategy was updated to: Doing well by doing good • Improve the tools campaigners had to reach All these efforts have paid off in a number of ways: mainstream consumers, bringing them closer to • The delivery of new brands to Fairtrade delivering the strategy and involving them in the certification (Figure 8). process of mainstreaming. • Fairtrade sales growth. • Invest in those campaigning groups where the • Growth in awareness, familiarity, trust and active energy lay such as schools, where there is most choice (Figure 9). interest in new groups reaching Fairtrade status. • Continued growth in the grass roots movements • Link Fairtrade to related issues: highlighting its as the brand has become more mainstream. impact as an environmental standard, developing • Delivery of value to farmers (Figure 10). mining standards, linking the plight of developing world farmers to domestic farmers and showing how poor countries are bearing the brunt of global environmental deterioration.

Building brands with purpose Fairtrade lives or dies by its ability to convert everything it does into a compelling business case for brands. Companies need to be convinced that Fairtrade is the best way that they can build purpose into their brands. The success of the marketing of Fairtrade thus has a strong business-to-business dimension. Key aspects of the marketing strategy include: • A value and research-based business case, outlining the financial and brand equity potential of a switch to Fairtrade. • Sector-specific e-communications, delivering messages on the impact of Fairtrade on supply chains and farmers, and product availability. • An annual conference with appropriate thought leaders, producers and new brands to engage current and prospective licensees in the Fairtrade story. • Using the Foundation’s understanding of connected champions and solo supporters for prospective partner brands to suggest marketing strategies. £1,500 1500 £1,500 1500 1400 Gold £1,320 Cosmetics 1400 1200 CottonGold products £1,172 £1,320 FlowersCosmetics 1200 OtherCotton food products and drinks £1,172 1000 Fruits,Flowers vegetables and juices ChocolateOther food and drinks £836 1000 HotFruits, beverages vegetables and juices 800 EstimatedChocolate sales £689 £836 Hot beverages 800 Sales in £ millions 600 Estimated sales £689 £493

High Sales in £ millions 600 400 £493 £285 High Connected 400 £193 200 £140 Champions £92 £285 Connected £22 £33 £50 £63 £193 17% 200 £140 Champions 0 £92 £50 £63 Busy 17% 1999£22 2000£33 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Passersby 0 (est.) Busy Figure1999 2 – Sales2000 of UK2001 Fairtrade2002 products2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 22% (est.) Passersby Prosperous 22% Onlookers Figure 2 – Sales of UK Fairtrade products Prosperous14% Onlookers Solo 14% Supporters Behave (Buy & Tell) Resolute 21%Solo Cynics Supporters Behave (Buy & Tell) Resolute10% 21% Cynics 10 | Marketing for Sustainable Consumption | The Fairtrade Foundation | Marketing for a better world 10% Hard-pressed Bystanders Hard-pressed17% 100 Bystanders 100 Fast facts17% 80 80 Negative • FarmersNeutral and workers in 59Positive countries sell 60 Negative Believe (FairtradeFairtrade-certifiedNeutral & Wider Ethics) productsPositive in the UK. 60 40 Believe• (Fairtrade 75% &of Wider all Ethics)Fairtrade producers are 40 small-scale farmers. Percentage of surveyed 20

Percentage of surveyed 20 • 668 groups of farmers and workers supply 0 Awareness Trust Familiarity Active Choice Fairtrade products to the UK. 0 Figure 17Awareness – Growth in awareness, familiarity,Trust trust and activeFamiliarity choice (Globescan) Active Choice

Figure2008 17 – Growth 2010in awareness,2011 familiarity, trust and active choice (Globescan) Figure 9. Growth2008 in awareness,2010 familiarity,2011 trust and active choice

Figure 8. New brands becoming certified

Figure 10. Delivery of value to farmers

All images appearing in this case study are reproduced by permission of The Fairtrade Foundation. About The Marketing Society | Marketing Excellence About The Marketing Society

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