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Fair Trade Marketing - Finding Our Market
Posted By: Simonej3* on 7/21/2004 12:00 PM (CST) 125 Points
Dear All,

I am doing marketing for a non-profit, fair trade, handcraft exporting company in South America. It has proven to be a difficult process. Our artisans are not usually able to produce enough product to supply larger gift and home decor stores like Pier 1 Imports, but small orders are not feasible either due to large shipping costs from here. It has been hard to find that middle road.

Another large problem is that we are based in Chile, the most stable country in Latin America, both economically and politically. This means that our products cost a lot more than fair trade products from Peru, Mexico, China, or India for example. Though fair trade buyers are interested in just trade they still consider price. How do I add value to our product in an effort to take the price issue out of the picture.
Also, any suggestions for catching the attention of the commercial market. In order to support our artisans we can not rely solely on the fair trade market.
How do I create more awareness about Chile itself. Compared to other countries in the area people know relatively little about it. Unlike Mexico which brings a ton of feelings and associations with it, Chile really only brings up Pinochet and the Andes!

Thanks so much for any suggestions!
Oh by the way, we have hardly any budget for advertising, etc...

Simone

Posted by: damomc* Accepted Answer
7/21/2004 12:09 PM (CST)
Check out
www.oxfamireland.org/html/campaigns/fair_trade.html
 
Posted by: NuCoPro Accepted Answer
7/22/2004 8:32 AM (CST)
1. There are stores in the US that are basically cooperatives, in that they have a storefront and people to run the store, but the items on display are from individial crafts people - each gets a display area to showcase their products. This may be one way to start getting your products into the US market in a way that aligns with your production capabilities and shipping costs.

2. Another way would be to link up with online merchants and catalog retailers.

3. How about eBay?

4. Take a look to see if you can link any of your arts & crafts into the wine market, cause wine enthusiasts are VERY aware of Chilean wines.

Just some random thoughts.
 
Posted by: Simonej3* Author Response
7/22/2004 11:19 AM (CST)
Thanks for the reply Vevolution. I haven't heard of that type of cooperative before but it sounds very interesting. I am mostly interested in online merchants and catalogs but I'm not so sure how to market towards them. They have so many people approaching them, how do I differentiate? Any ideas?
Thanks again,

Simone
 
Posted by: mbarber Accepted Answer
7/22/2004 10:00 PM (CST)
Simone if you are competing against those who perhaps rely on 'sweat shop' types of creation then you have a marketing strategy there that could appeal to certain segments.

Another option might be to quadruple your prices, keep production down and sell them into selected stores on other parts of the world as tailored one-off creations.

It is a sad and often true fact that many of the rich elites are happy to buy a rare one off piece as long as they know some poor slave labourer put it together and that it will NEVER be replicated - that's kind of how some footwear companies work anyway. Now I am in no way encouraging this approach. What I am suggesting is that if you can position yourself as supplying exclusive pieces you might be able to increase your prices without having to worry about the issue of sufficient supply. The lack of supply becomes a high end selling point for you.
 
Posted by: thinkmor Accepted Answer
7/27/2004 1:46 PM (CST)
Hi Simone

Seems like you have a brand management case here, what you can consider is:

1) Can you find short term strategies useful to bring revenue without impacting negatively on the brand

2) Can you adopt a longer term strategy that will ensure sustainable value for your producers, customers and your country

I am assuming you are considering the longer term otherwise it would not be worth it for everyone involved.

I will come back to your online thinking but can I step back?:

The first task is to define your market. This needs an initial judgment about your competitors, your consumer wants and needs and the dynamics of the marketplace. If your neigbouring countries are succesful at doing this then that should be one of your first places to look at.

By analyzing the marketplace you will get a better idea how your brand can be best utilized. One way you can find out more is look for your competitors brands from different regions, how do they reach their audiences, how do they market online? look further across the globe and you can gain an insight by tracking similar brand activity. E.g. an airline could learn about service from hotels.

You may of already done but it but you need to segment your market, narrow down choices, choose profitable segments an THEN plan to to go to market for each of your products or categories.

Look at factors that have influenced change within your market and the likelyhood of future change and how your brand can interact with it. By realising how you want your brand to be in the future is one way to back track steps to achieve that.

By understanding more about your own brand through research will give you what you wish the brand to be.

You need to be able to define you brand and you can only know this once you know the marketplace, competitors, consumer needs and wants and your brands strengths and weaknesses. This will give you your brand essence, values, characteristics etc.

By adopting unplanned strategies without adequate thinking on long term impact on your brand, especially if you want to reposition your countrys' brand position in contrast to your neighbours could be damaging in the long term.

Short term revenue leads & possibilities could include:

Establish fine art gift pieces - as suggested previoulsy - but within an art gallery format online - these would give you an opportunity to raise your products to another level and approach other galleries worldwide and online

Use online cost effective PR portals like www.prweb.com to get key events and products news across

Approach foreign corporates to sponsor or supprt CSR programmes by using direct mailing

Association and seek funding from your country export office

Link up with western and european assoications that promote ethnic art and crafts e.g. Crafts Council in UK - get sponsorship for an exhibition through an airline, charity or private fund

Invite certain type of celebrity to the region who is aware of fair trade people and issues to promote a story regionally

Exchange your products for other country compeptitor products to build rapport and possible trade between you

Direct mail - free one off gifts to key portals to help differentiate your products to top 10 online portals/catalogues

Get in touch with foreign documentary tv stations to feature on traditional old age craft techniques and indigenous people to raise your products and profile of Chile - co-ordinate with your exprt office if poss

Produce a postcard or leaflet to be inserted into airline seat pockets or attempt to get advertising space on the airline video, ticket, banner or billboard at the airport.

Offer tourists craft skill lessons that they can decorate or make objects by your skilled crafts people.


These are some suggestions off the cuff but if you could explore your brand world and look at touch points how your brand can interact with your customers you will quickly be able to see possible and some viable channels to reach them.

Hope the above helps

zahid@thinkmor.com

Thinkmor™

Delivering Profits for Business & Brands through Marketing
Strategies, Integration & Communications at Minimum Cost.

Are your marketing activities producing the profits you expect?
 
Posted by: ajay Accepted Answer
7/29/2004 2:09 AM (CST)
Hi

Ideally we need to make a fashion statement of this and make it the 'in-thing' of today. For this you require more help from your local actors, actresses, men/ women of standing who will in a way endorse your products. I know it will be difficult. A way out of this could be that a certain percentage of the sales proceeds could be donated to a certain noble cause, child welfare, medical needs of the poor etc. Then getting endorsements from such people may not be difficult.

For a beginning, try and showcase your products in certain high traffic stores and also try a roadshow driving people to an exhibition venue. This venue should also have a 'fun&entertainment' zone where children and adults can enjoy, experience and shop too! Maybe a raffle draw/ scratch-n-win coupons, value offers (buy2, get 1 free) may add to more people visiting and buying the products.

Hope this will be of some help!
 
Posted by: Urmila* Accepted Answer
8/5/2004 5:23 PM (CST)
Hi Simone,
I find the issue you raise very interesting. Here are some of the ideas and issues that come to my mind.

To follow up further on the importance of understanding and defining your market. Handicrafts seem to be sold in the West under a number of value propositions. Fair trade/ trade aid is one of them and falls under the category of 'ethical consumerism' where consumers use their buying power to pursue/support certain political ideologies/ beliefs. For example, the Body Shop espouses its values at www.thebodyshop.com/web/tbsgl/values.jsp

If you intend to sell to these markets then your branding would be along those lines. Since you mention export costs, would it be feasible to team up with other fair trade organizations that are not in direct competition (for example, fair trade food/beauty products in Chile)?

You may already be in touch with the following:
USA: www.globalexchange.org
www.fairtraderesource.org
NZ: www.tradeaid.org.nz
www.oxfam.org.nz/fairtrade/index.htm

Identifying the various fair trade resources in the US and Australia/ NZ could be a starting point. To keep costs down, you could send them targetted emails describing your products, success stories etc. or a link to your website (remember to take the precautions to avoid being mistaken for spam).

A simple website explaining the premise of your organization, the stories of the community you work with, some sample products, the craft technique being revived/sustained etc. would be very useful.

You mention selling to the commercial market. If you feel that 'Chilean' as an identity is not widely understood then you have the option to either put in the resources to advertise that or sell the products as part of a larger identity (say, a larger geographical area like South America ?). In this context, I am reminded of National Geographic's store, Novica at www.novica.com. When you visit the site you notice that the products are sold by broad geographical regions. Furthermore, their customer testimonials give you an idea of where their customers are located in the USA.

In addition to international markets you may want to target that section of Chilean society that can afford to buy your products. Conversely is there a sufficiently large Chilean/ South American market in the West for your products? And of course there is the vast online handicraft market.

For examples of how commercial and non commercial markets are interacting check out eziba, a niche handicraft retailer. Their webpage at www.eziba.com/gifts_that_give_back.asp espouses their partnerships with charitable and not for profit organizations.

Finally, I would like to emphasise that marketing can only be as successful as the product you sell. One of the main points I gathered in my research on handicrafts is that the consumer gets tired easily and that the product designs have to be changed frequently. This is a delicate balancing game between maintaining the identity of your traditional crafts and creating new products for new uses. Hiring a professional product designer would be invaluable.
 
Posted by: Sharon Moderator Response
8/12/2004 10:32 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question, since it's more than 2 weeks old. We do this to make sure members' contributions are rewarded in a timely manner and to improve the visibility of newer questions. Thanks so much for participating!
 


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