6 APRIL 15, 2020
Many wonder how Earth Day
marketing messages will pivot
during the pandemic.
The Sustainability
y Scene
Earth Day Marketing May B
Bee
More Important Than Ever
The marketing should emphasize why a brand matters at all
during this pandemic, but all in good fun. BY KALEY ROSHITSH
Like two peas in a pod, disease
outbreaks and natural disasters occur
as a consequence of a changing climate.
One could even say the upcoming 50th
anniversary of Earth Day on April 22
against the backdrop of a pandemic is
perfect illustrative timing.
Mother Nature is clashing her cymbals
as a lot of commercial activity in the U.S.
and Europe falls silent. Even Earth Day, the
world’s largest environmental movement
based in Washington, D.C., is being forced
to go digital with its conference, called “24
Hours of Action.”
But the noise of green-washing, or
the usual sustainable product launches,
capsule collections and so on, won’t cease
on Earth Day regardless of the pandemic.
But there is a change in tune.
“While these uncertain times have put
some of our adventures on hold, our fans
still count on us to inspire and uplift them,”
Erika Gabrielli, senior director of marketing
at Teva, told WWD.
Teva, which this spring converted all of
its “iconic” sandal webbings to recycled
content, is leaning into custom content and
a sustainability sweepstakes to re-educate
consumers on how they can help to
decrease their impact on the planet.
At the same time, it’s providing a
reminder of why they matter to their
customers, which for the brand is most
palpable in the sales uptick in its
sandals, hiking styles and — naturally —
house slippers.
Ryan Jordan, executive creative
director at marketing and
communications firm Imre, who has
worked on projects for brands such
as Under Armour, L’Oréal and Target,
among others, believes the messaging
stakes are even higher this Earth Day.
“Listen harder and better than you ever
have,” he said. “It’s actually the same
advice I would have given to brands three
months ago, but it’s now more important
than ever.”
Listening right now may be as simple
as a company showing its compassion,
reminding customers that they stand by
their employees and aim to help them
weather the hardships of the crisis to the
best of their abilities.
While he doesn’t believe brands should
outright cancel initiatives, especially if
they’re really an “awesome game-changer”
(although every brand may be biased to
think so), he still calls for a rethink.
“I challenge you to do this; ask your
target audience what they think. Get them
involved in the execution,” said Jordan,
adding “actual proof of empathy is not only
the right thing to do, it’s good business.”
For some companies, it may just be
that marketing campaigns that focus on
the upbeat, humorous and self-aware hit
the bull’s-eye with younger generations,
especially in matters of sustainability and
environmentalism, as opposed to the
opposite: doom and gloom.
“Find something that works for you and
make sure to have fun with it,” said Topper
Luciani, chief executive officer and founder
of online thrift start-up Goodfair.
Although luxury consignment, rental
and resale businesses are dealing with their
own set of challenges amid the coronavirus
pandemic, Goodfair is seeing booming
sales among its predominantly Millennial
and Gen Z audience.
The company pulled in $300,000 in
sales on Easter Sunday, according to
Luciani. What he attributes it to is not
simply a shift in consumer behavior but
speaking Internet.
What do you meme?
At least for his company, “meme
culture is what wins,” said Luciani, who
credits the steep sales day to a viral
TikTok from the company’s account. “If a
brand is not on TikTok, they’re sleeping,”
he added. With more than 1 billion users,
TikTok has already seen the entry of
heritage brands like Ralph Lauren and
the christening of Fenty Beauty’s TikTok
creative house in March.
Start-ups like Goodfair may be more
willing to front the risk and wrestle
with the Internet. It offers various thrift
bundles on its web site like the “cure
corona bundle” retailing for $48 or the
“tree hugger bundle” for $65 compiled of
entire outfits including sweatpants and
Henley shirts in the former and flannels in
the case of the latter.
“But it can’t feel forced,” Luciani
reiterated.
Speaking of forced, will sustainable
ca
capsule collections — often just a
pie
piecemeal sustainability effort and exercise
in marketing — continue to pass by
co
consumers’ eyes without them evaluating
int
into the respective supply chains?
It depends, but they’re not always too
go
good to be true in the case that brand
va
values actually match up, according to
Br
Brendan Synnott, chief executive officer of
organic essentials brand Pact.
Calling on a simple recipe of a few star
ingredients, a successful capsule collection
should mean: sharing the same long-term
values and “working with partners that are
100 percent committed to sustainability in
everything that they do. It can’t be just 5
percent of your product line,” Synnott said.
That also means shying away from
greenwashing or “fakers,” as Synnott puts it.
Pact is pairing with Brooklyn-based label
Zero Waste Daniel to release 100-percent
organic Fair Trade-certified hoodies and
sweat shorts for spring adorned with
handmade, upcycled patches by designer
Daniel Silverstein.
As with others, the company is
broadening its approach, extending
Earth Day festivities into a monthlong
celebration and more importantly shifting
the focus from product to engaging
content — showcasing the brand alongside
others in the sustainability space.
Doing so virtually is as simple as inviting
like-minded sustainability thought-leaders
to a joint Instagram Live broadcast, to the
detriment of those with their notifications
on. Virtual sustainability forums are
another trending pursuit among brands
small and large.
“As we are in a time of crisis, it’s
important to show some of the more
positive moments that we can all cling to
for a smile,” reiterated Synnott.
Upbeat messaging is important in
any case. U.S. unemployment benefits
are sought by some 17 million workers
who filed for it over the last few weeks,
according to the Labor Department,
and Coresight Research’s latest weekly
U.S. consumer survey published last
Wednesday showed a bleak outlook in
discretionary shopping.
So this Earth Day, as they sit in
lockdown wondering whether anything
will ever be the same and spend time
evaluating what is essential in their
lives, will consumers be looking at the
messaging around the 50th anniversary
— or the core values of the brands
themselves?
Jordan put it bluntly: “I can’t think
of a better time to have an answer to a
very difficult question. Why is my brand
essential? That’s the lens upon which all
your communications should shine.”
Allbirds, Indie
Zines Step to
Earth Month
Transparency
Atmos and Mess magazines
explore how to create new content
ahead of Earth Day while Allbirds
steps into carbon stickers..
BY KALEY ROSHITSH
This week in sustainability, there is a continued
dialogue as to how indie magazines (with a climate
bent) wrangle in logistics and carve new digital
opportunities ahead of Earth Day. And while some
brands look to dial back multipronged sustainability
initiatives, footwear label Allbirds proceeds with
carbon stickers.
CATALYZING CLIMATE AND CULTURE : Three
issues in, climate-themed independent magazine
Atmos has already been all over the place — be
it exploring space archaeology, rallying attention
to climate change with digital climate strikes or
detailing global fashion.
The third issue released today titled Flourish/
Collapse walks the line “between expansion and
collapse, and never has it been more clearly
illuminated how thin that line is,” said editor in chief
William Defebaugh, in a statement.
While independent magazines and traditional
media companies alike are rocked by the
pandemic, the small team behind Atmos is trying to
keep nimble.
MAKING THE MOST OF MESS: In another
situation, editor in chief of indie fashion publication
Mess Magazine Domi Perek shared how her team
aims to mitigate logistical strains and greenwashing
ahead of Earth Day while keeping it real.
Usually produced en masse in China, Mess
Magazine was forced to order smaller runs of
print copies in Europe — at a steeper cost — only to
become stacks mostly sequestered inside a staff
member’s apartment with magazine boutiques
closed.
But the magazine has embraced a more
transparent relationship with its web site,
contributors and Instagram content in
the meantime.
“We started to reach out also to other people
and gather new creatives to our community, by
creating Instagram Live series, called “What a
Mess,” where we invite industry professionals to
talk about their ways of coping with the current
situation — aka mess,” said Perek.
“I feel like a lot of companies, fashion designers
and even influencers these days, will try to sell their
‘sustainable’ products, or worse, their new image
to us,” said Perek, who is cautious of the latter
especially in the month of April.
ALLBIRDS LAUNCHES CARBON NUMBERS:
With carbon emissions as a “North Star” to the
company known for its wool sneakers, Allbirds is
expanding its mission sharing a number, for every
product, that details the carbon impact throughout
its lifecycle.
Carbon footprint numbers will be printed on the
footbed of all Allbirds shoes, on shoe boxes and
each product page online, as well as available for
customers to check for in stores.
“The sad reality is there’s not a lot of data
out there. Not everyone relies on the same
methodologies,” said Joey Zwillinger, cofounder of
Allbirds to WWD.
The company used initial data from the Higg
Index on top of its own proprietary methods,
drawing the “12.5” benchmark for the average
sneaker from a 2013 study by MIT on the life-cycle
assessment of footwear. In comparison, the
average carbon number for Allbirds’ footwear is 7.6.
The carbon footprint initiative is what Zwillinger
calls “the next chapter for us,” building upon
the company becoming 100-percent carbon-
neutral last Earth Day, possible by the additional
purchasing of carbon offsets.
But as to whether the rest of the footwear
industry will step to accurately report carbon
numbers remains unknown, which is why
the initiative could be at most right now — a vision.
“What we’re trying to do here is create a singular
metric that everyone can adopt,” reiterated Zwillinger.
As for how the crisis has tested the digitally
native company — also a certified B Corp — Allbirds
will be following guidance by local governments, but
as of now, its four China stores are the only ones
open. As Zwillinger shared, Allbirds will continue to
provide compensation for its employees
until July 31.
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