Around Mrs O - Marketing Strategy Revamping

Around Mrs O - Marketing Strategy Revamping

How to shift from a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy to a clever one? Marketing a sustainable luxury product.

Key Elements Summary: People do not buy products for their sustainable benefits. Traditional Marketers, will only add a layer of sustainability on your products’ benefits. Which could reduce its sustainable perception. #GreenwashingAlert Again, traditional marketers would flood your marketing with its sustainable green benefits. However, buyers have that special rightful feeling that a sustainable product is going to be more expensive. They are right. Most of the time. Consumers are weighing the relative value of traditional versus sustainable benefits. Understanding this, gives some clarity on how your Audience makes its choice. Hence How to Address them.

Case Study

With Around Mrs O, we maximised the chances of success by performing the following strategy.

I. Balancing Sustainable Benefits.

A. INDEPENDENCE:

Do the Sustainable Benefits have no impact on Traditional Benefits?

B. DISSONANCE:

Is being Sustainable actually diminish the Traditional Benefits of the product?

C. RESONANCE:

Do the Sustainable Benefits have actual enhancement of the Traditional Benefits?

For Around Mrs O, we highlighted two Benefits types.

Independence, as we decided to limit the Price Premium linked with a sustainable fashion approach.
Resonance, as it has been proven fairly treated partners will provide enhanced materials; hence producing long-lasting Products From One Generation to Another.

> How it impacted the communication of the brand?

Together, with the Brand we decided to set the communication cursor at 80% on resonance & 20% on independence. Why this decision?

With Around Mrs O, we decided that creating a product which is more sustainable than the usual Fast-Fashion High Margin Chinese Cashmere while enhancing its performance is closely linked with the Brand’s vision.

Sustaining Communities
Offering high grade products

For the brand, as a result nearly 30% of customers are returning ones.

While new customers being referred by early brand adopters.

> What we avoided to do?

We did not provided a traditional marketers approach. A One-Size-Fits-All strategy with a Large Media Campaign; Press Relations; Lots of Social Media Campaigns. Flooding the brand’s communication with the sustainable added value, with the risk of alienating potential customers.

II. Revamping the Personae.

We worked on three groups of potential buyers.

A. The Believers - Green

For who the sustainable benefits are core to their purchase habits in all product categories.

B. The Balanced - Blue

Who are more inclined to buy a sustainable product IF it does not cost them a huge premium. The cost being here either in performance or in price.

They are not yet fully convinced about the sustainable benefits in all their purchase habits, but slowly getting there. They can spend thousands for solar panels or EV cars, but still buying industrial / unhealthy cosmetics.

C. The Non Believers - Grey

Even though nowadays it is difficult to be truly against a more sustainable offering; there are still some buyers out there who will not value sustainability more than performance.

> Our output.

We presented the brand with a Bespoke approach to solve their challenge.

For the brand, we propose to adapt its communication with customised contents; depending on who they were addressing to.

Today, consumers are more easily shifting their consumption profileS.
As we already stated, buying Biological groceries is a step that is OK while buying sustainable clothes is not yet top of mind of some customers.

Understanding this being the most crucial aspect of the strategy we developed.

We then presented two playbooks to the brand:

A. INDEPENDENCE Playbook:

Together with the brand, we worked on to limit the Price Premium linked with sustainable benefits. Hence, we could address to a larger blue audience. (Small reminder: « Independence benefits stands for Sustainable benefits have barely no impact on the traditional performances »)

We stated with Around Mrs O that we will not use the independence playbook with Non Believers - Grey as there is no need to communicate the sustainable benefits to this persona.

However, for Believers, the brand’s commitment to address the fashion industry in a conscious way is a huge Selling Point.

While Balanced ones are also inclined to purchase your product as you highlight the limited cost for them to buy it.

This is why, we created a special set of communication assets to address these two personae while communicating on the limited loss of performance and enhanced sustainable benefits.

B. RESONANCE Playbook:

Of course, if you are a brand with resonant sustainability features; you have much more latitude to address a broader audience.

(Small Reminder: « Resonant sustainable features enhance the traditional benefits of the product » - « Green product is better »).

Together with the brand, we communicated on the added value of having a sustainable product. Indeed, producing with respect enhance the life quality of the brand’s goats herders and their flocks. Hence a better fibber and a longer life of the brand’s products. Matching with its promise.

From one generation to the other.

In order to address to most of the brand’s personae, we:

Limited the green price premium - for Blues only;
Communicated the brand’s commitment to a more conscious fashion - for Greens & Blues.
Communicate on the brand’s historic recollection of Odette (the founder’s muse) - for Greys.

This is how we approached the challenge and today the brand observe a better output in the way they address its audience.
Leveraging repeating buyers who are now converted to the cause while maintaining new customer gains in the territories where offering sustainable benefits had limited effect.

What about your brand?

Maximising long-term success with the three types of sustainable benefits.

While Resonants offer the greatest promise of success as they appeal to all customers. Marketing such products or services is a territory that has to be won in the laboratory.

Having an effective better product or services that is more sustainable than its competition, is not the marketing realm but the lab one. If your brand falls in this category we would ensure that it is actually true to avoid a greenwashing effect.

Regarding Dissonants, it might still work under certain geographical and/or sectors. However, having a product or service falling into this category will be rather challenging as you would need to work with Blue personae and convert them in order to sustain a long term success.

Finally, Independents; here stands your biggest risk of long term success. Indeed, if your product or service falls into this category, you will definitely rely on green persona. While having to convert Blue ones. Here is the risk. If you have a rather large portfolio of products and services, you might cannibalise your own inventory converting blues into sustainable aware purchasers. As for the society, this is better as more people would use sustainable alternative, this might become a risk if you reduce your market share on a cash-cow product; hence limiting your innovation power. A right cost-benefits analysis and/or a close management of the offering could help you. But would definitely require more effort. Without mentioning it is in this category you will face the largest competition.

At BeeHives, we perform such analysis with your brand and organisation to leverage the best outcome possible.

We ease your challenge, provide a fresher perspective and guide you in the realm of meaningful & efficient marketing.

Need some support? Book your complimentary discovery call today!

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Case Study