SUSTAINABLE FASHION IS NOT COOL BECAUSE WE HAVE COMMUNICATED IT ALL WRONG
N GREE GUIDE TO MAINSTREAMING SUSTAINABLE FASHION LISA SCHNEIDER IMAGE BY SUMIRE HAYAKAWA
INDEX 1. INTRODUCTION 7 8 8 8 9 9
1.1. Rationale 1.2. Research Question 1.3. Aim 1.4. Methodology 1.5. Structure 1.6. Limitations
2. SUSTAINABILITY IN FASHION 12 12
2.1. Introduction 2.2. Definition sustainability Sustainability and Fashion
! ! ! !
13
2.3. Relevance Business | Consumer
15
2.4. Consumer perceptions Greenophobia | Too Fast to Be Green | Greenwashing | Green Fatigue
17
2.5. Purchase Behaviour Motivators for Green Purchasing | Barriers to Green Purchasing
18
2.6. Conclusion
3. GREEN COMMUNICATIONS 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Defining Green Communications 3.3. Implications of Communicating ‘Green’ Advantages | Disadvantages
20 20 20
!
21
3.4. Conclusion
4. GREEN COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Green Communication Strategies in the Fashion Industry Communication Volume | Credibility | Transparency | Storytelling | Education | Simplicity | Humour | The Unexpected | Consumer Engagement | Collaboration | Claim Specificity | Celebrity Endorsement | Scope Reduction
4.3. Communication Channels 4.4. Measuring Efficacy 4.5. Conclusion
22 22
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31 32 34
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!5
! 5. GREEN COMMUNICATION ON THE HIGH STREET 5.1. Introduction 5.2. The High Street Consumer 5.3. Strategic Tools for High Street Retailers Normalisation | Education and Simplicity | Personalisation | Specificity | Credibility | Transparency | Humour | Narrative | Surprise | Engagement | Desirability
5.4. Implications for High Street Retailers of Influencing Consumer Perceptions 5.5. Conclusion
36 36 38
! ! !
42 43
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 6.1. Books 6.2. Studies 6.3. Online
46 46 47
7. APPENDIX
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7.1. Case Study: Marks & Spencer 7.2. Case Study: Patagonia 7.3. Case Study: The Reformation 7.4. Expert Interview: Sarah Ditty
50 55 60 66
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!6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lisa Schneider is an International Fashion & Management student at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. Her passion in the industry grew into finding solutions for the sustainable business of tomorrow. She believes in sustainability not only as an inevitable necessity to sustain our planet, but also as a way to produce and consume more efficiently, to innovate lifestyles and to inspire people.
WELCOME! Sustainability is an ubiquitous term no one can elude today, neither consumers nor businesses. The idea of producing and consuming without harming any ecological or social systems has been lurking into our lives since the 1970’s. Now its presence has become so loud that we simply can’t ignore it. Equally, fashion couldn’t escape its influence. In fact, this industry is quite a bad guy. It is recognised as the second largest polluting industry worldwide (beaten only by oil)*. So ‘greening’ fashion could significantly impact the health of our planet. Yet, other industries have been much more successful in mainstreaming their green products (think of organic food).
SO WHAT IS GOING WRONG HERE? One main reason for the aggravated take-up is a rather negative public image sustainable fashion is left with. Add to this the prior not-so-effective approach to promoting green fashion to the mainstream consumer and you have the answer. Luckily, you are holding this guide to tell you how to turn things around. How can you improve your customers’ perception of sustainable fashion, make it more attractive, promote it more effectively, and, ultimately contribute to a greener fashion industry?
* Stewart, E., (2012); Fashioningchange, (2012)
This guide has been specifically developed for high street fashion retailers targeting the broad market of mainstream consumers. Why? Because sustainable fashion needs to get pulled out of its niche in order to experience a wider take-up (the sustainable fashion market is still at a mere 1% of the total apparel market in the UK*). This can only be achieved by being attractive to the broad mainstream audience, and high street brands have the knowledge and tools of creating desires and influencing perceptions. Fashion brands have the power to change lifestyles. Make green the new black!
WHO SHOULD BE USING THIS GUIDE? The strategies proposed in this guide are intended to be used by marketers of high street brands, aiming to make their green fashion products appealing to their audience, those who generally do not buy fashion based on its sustainable benefits. It is for those marketers who want to inspire and excite their customers about sustainability. Those, who do not want to promote green fashion by preying on peoples’ conscience, but by portraying it as more than the saving of our planet; by making it desirable, convenient, easy and fun. And it is for those marketers who ultimately aim to change consumer mindsets.
* Mintel (2009)
HOW SHOULD THIS GUIDE BE USED? Each of the 15 proposed strategies includes guidelines to be followed. You will get ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ for each approach. But don’t panic, you don’t have to implement all of them to get an effective strategy. Some of the tools are necessary in each strategy and form the foundation of green communications in order to earn customer trust. The tools marked with a blue line can be chosen freely. Consider your brand DNA and your target customer when creating your strategic mix from these approaches. However, this guide does not intend to dictate certain strategies. Instead, it should act as a guideline and serve as inspiration and insight for marketers.
WHAT IS THIS GUIDE BASED ON? This guide is the creative end product evolving out of a research study for the graduation project at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. All information given in the guide has derived from in-depth primary and secondary research. The findings of the study have been combined into the 15 strategies presented in this guide. One outcome of the research was that sustainability needs to be communicated in a simpler and clearer way. Neither consumers nor marketers have the time to read through lengthy sustainability reports and advises. Hence, this product aims to meet this need and present the guidelines in a short yet insightful manner. For a copy of the full research study which built the basis for this guide, e-mail the author at ls-schneider@web.de.
There is an elephant in the room and it’s called greenophobia. The term was coined by green marketing expert John Grant (author of ‘The Green Marketing Manifesto’) and describes negative perceptions hold by the general public towards green products. In fashion, greenophobia finds expression in consumers believing that green fashion is …
uncomfortable untrendy pricey less beneficial constituting a sacrifice for ‘hippies’
SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH GREEN FASHION‘S IMAGE?
Next to that, consumers are highly sceptical of green claims and marketing. Why? Because brands have used greenwashing in the past to enhance their green image and products’ competitive advantage. Washing your product or brand image green means promoting it as more sustainable than it actually is. Yet, in the age of digital, your customers can easily find out whether your claims are substantiated. And they will. Greenwash activities have increasingly been revealed during the past years and they further reinforce the ‘greenophobic’ attitudes.
What is more, green marketing has been applied in an extensive manner lately, leading to a ‘green fatigue’ amongst consumers. People are getting tired of the whole topic of sustainability and are also growing immune against green messages. These negative perceptions and attitudes do not only affect consumer mindsets, but also their purchase behaviour. No wonder, fashion that is regarded as ‘backwards’, uncomfortable or ‘weird’ is not a likely bestseller. In order to reach the tipping point of mainstreaming sustainable fashion, we first need to work on the elimination of those negative perceptions.
NORMALISE!
DO
INTEGRATE.
Make ‘green’ part of your existing strategy. Use the proposed strategies to implement them in your current brand communications and adjust them to your marketing strategy.
ADD VALUE.
Make sustainability a benefit for your customer he discovers after he fell in love with the design. Your green benefits can become a determining factor for your customer to buy the product. But only if he loves it in the first place.
Your customers do what they perceive to be ‘normal’. For sustainable fashion to be accepted as ‘normal’, it has to be promoted that way. Just like ‘traditional’ fashion, focus on the design and make it desirable. It should blend in with ‘non-green’ product lines and first attract consumers by what it’s all about in fashion: the look. That is what your customer cares most about. Sustainability is, in fact, always second.
DON‘T FLAUNT IT.
Don’t make ‘green’ your number one USP. People buy fashion based on looks, quality and price. Even the greenest mind is unlikely to buy your product only because it’s green. You need to offer benefits that can compete with ‘non-green’ fashion and promote these in the first place.
SACRIFICE.
People love shopping. Trying to sell a product or lifestyle that restricts them in their favourite activity will not work. Instead of promoting less consumption, find solutions for better consumption. Let them enjoy their hobby while saving the planet along the way.
‚FUTURE GREEN BRANDS WILL BE MORE LIKE THE NEW IT STARS, LIKE APPLE OR AMAZON, IN BEING GREAT FIRST AND GREEN SECOND‘
- John Grant
GRE
GUIDE TO MAINSTREAMI
LISA S AMSTERDAM F
RESEARCH! SET OBJECTIVES IDENTIFY KPIs MEASURE KPIs
SIMPLIFY! USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE KEEP IT SHORT VISUALISE FACTS
PERSO
MAKE IT REW
PROVE! BE SPECIFIC SEEK PARTNERS GET CERTIFIED
EDUCATE! GIVE RELEVANT INFORMATION DOSE YOUR INFORMATION EDUCATE SUBCONSCIOUSLY BACK UP YOUR STORY
NORMALISE!
DISC
INTEGRATE GREEN INTO EXISTING PATTERNS
BE H BE TRA
DESIGN FIRST, GREEN SECOND
DEFINE!
NARR
CLARIFY TERMS STATE FACTS
TELL S VISU
EE
N
ING SUSTAINABLE FASHION
‚CELEBRITISE‘!
SCHNEIDER FASHION INSTITUTE
ONALISE!
SURPRISE!
T RELEVANT WARD
BE DIFFERENT CHALLENGE THE GREEN IMAGE GO VIRAL
CLOSE!
ENGAGE!
HONEST ANSPARENT
INVOLVE CUSTOMERS BE A LEADER LISTEN COLLABORATE
RATE!
FUN!
STORIES UALISE
USE HUMOUR ENTERTAIN
PARTNER WITH CELEBRITIES MAKE IT GLAMOUROUS ENGAGE CELEBRITIES
MIX IT! MAKE IT MULTI-CHANNEL BE CONSISTENT
MEASURE! KEEP MONITORING KPIs SET MEASURING INTERVALS
SOURCES IMAGE SOURCES (AS THEY APPEAR) 1 - NOEMIE GOUDAL (2012) Cavity, Available from: http://www.edelassanti. com/artists/35-Noemie-Goudal/works/ [Retrieved 16/05/2014]
13 - UNKNOWN (2014) Unknown, Available at: http://raytheunusual.tumblr. com [Retrieved 13/05/2014]
2 - 8TRACKS (2013) A gardener told me some plants move, Available from: http://8tracks.com/punx/a-gardener-told-me-some-plants-move [Retrieved 13/05/2014]
14 - FREDRIK WIKHOLM (2012) Blue Cone Colony, Available from: http:// thisispaper.com/Uniforms-for-the-Dedicated-x-Treehotel-S-S-2012-BlueCone-Colony [Retrieved 13/05/2014]
3 - THOMAS GEARTY (2007) Garden Maze, Available from: http:// thomasgearty.com/gallery/travel/italy/ITALY_0507_413.jpg.php [Retrieved 16/05/2014]
15 - OIDOS SORDOS (2013) Unknown, Available from: http:// gemmavaughan90.wordpress.com [Retrieved 13/05/2014]
4 - CLAIRE MILBRATH (n.a.) Dundas St, Available from: http://muddypix. tumblr.com/post/61073051653/dundas-st [Retrieved 16/05/2014] 5 - CARMEN MITROTTA (2013) Denature, Available from: https://www. behance.net/gallery/12933227/DENATURE [Retrieved 16/05/2014]
16 - BRIDGETTE MEINHOLD (2011) Made With Moss and Rocks, Natura’s Insoles Connect Your Feet To Nature, Available from: http://www.ecouterre. com/made-with-moss-and-rocks-naturas-insoles-connect-your-feet-tonature/ [Retrieved 18/05/2014]
6 - ILIVEINOCTOBER (2009) tanya, Available from: https://www.flickr.com/ photos/greenlook/3730297389/ [Retrieved 16/05/2014] 7 - FEELTHEYARN (2012) Sustainable fashion, between creativity and technology, Available from: http://www.feeltheyarn.it/tag/sustainablefashion [Retrieved 16/05/2014] 8 - CORRIE BOND (2012) Blanc Canvas, Available from: http://www. imageamplified.com/2012/07/marie-claire-australia-victoriaanderson-vivian-witjes-in-blanc-canvas-by-corrie-bond-august-2012wwwimageamplifiedcom.html [Retrieved 16/05/2014] 9 - LENA C EMERY (n.a.) Bite, Available from: http://emerylena.com/projects/ bite [Retrieved 16/05/2014] 10 - 3GLOSS (2012) Liquid., Available from: http://3gloss.tumblr.com/ post/30519736891/liquid-christopher-kane-gel-collar-shirt-and [Retrieved 16/05/2014] 11 - DOSE DE SUSTENTABILIDADE (2013) Eco Street Art, Available from: http:// dosedesustentabilidade.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/eco-street-art-graffitiafro-hair.html [Retrieved 16/05/2014] 12 - SUMIRE HAYAKAWA (2013) Unknown, Available from: http:// sumile8elimus.tumblr.com/post/36734156812 [Retrieved 16/05/2014]
CONTENT SOURCES Hultin, K.; Villberg, K. (2013) Fast, Green & Conscious. Unpublished thesis (Master), The Swedish School of Textiles Fashioningchange (2012) Fashion Facts - The Not So Glamorous Side of Fashion [Online] Available at: http://fashioningchange.com/about/fashi on-facts [Retrieved 21/04/14] Mintel, (2009). Ethical Clothing –UK-2009. Mintel International Group Limited. Mitchell, S., E. (2013) Honesty Really Is The Best Policy: Consumer Demand For Transparency Reaches New Heights [Online] Mediabistro PR Newser, 21st October, Available at: https://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/hones ty-really-is-the-best-policy-consumer-demand-for-transparency-andhonesty-reaches-new-heights_b75336, [Retrieved: 17/04/14] Stewart, E. (2012) A Sustainable Fashion Future [Online] Urbantimes, 28th June, Available at: http://urbantimes.co/2012/06/a-sustainable-fashi on-future/ [Retrieved 26/04/14|
‚WE HAVE REACHED AN EXTRAORDINARY POINT IN HISTORY, WHERE THE CONSENSUS IS BUILDING THAT THIS IS THE PROBLEM FOR OUR GENERATION TO TACKLE. IT‘S A HUGE CHALLENGE, BUT ACTUALLY, ISN‘T IT THE HUGE CHALLENGES WHICH GIVE LIFE MEANING? AND WE REALLY DON‘T HAVE A PLAN B.‘ - John Grant
Of course this guide was printed on FSC-certified paper and with soy-based ink. But that‘s nothing to brag about on the first page.