
Over the last few weeks, we’ve all looked on in horror at the gut wrenching footage and photos coming out of the bushfire disaster currently sweeping Australia. With fires still out of control across the country, and the season not even halfway through, this is a domestic crisis on a scale we’ve never seen before.
That’s why it was heartening to see retailers quickly banding together to raise money for the communities affected by this ongoing national emergency. Last Thursday, General Pants led an effort that saw over 30 fashion retailers including Cue, Dr Denim, Lee, Stüssy, The North Face and Levi’s donate 100% of their profits for the day to the Australian Red Cross Bushfire Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund. Bravo to all brands involved.
One thing that stood out to us was how quickly General Pants was able to muster support and get all the other brands on board. Having worked with innumerable big brands over the years, we know how difficult it can be to get decisions that affect profit to be made quickly.
Next we got to thinking about how some brands donate to charity all year round. Grill’d, Thankyou, Who Gives a Crap, TOMS and Patagonia all immediately sprang to mind, but of course they did – charity is central to their brands and their marketing. But with customers more socially and ecologically conscious than ever, perhaps retailers who don’t make a big song and dance of their charity and CSR initiatives are missing a trick.
Maybe an opportunity lies in peppering the path to purchase with messaging that helps customers feel even better about their purchases. It could pay off big time.
In fact, according to the latest research from YouGov, 67% of consumers will have a more positive impression of a business that gives even a small amount to charity, while the Edelman Trust Barometer found that 64% per cent of consumers will avoid a brand based purely on its social stance. With over 1/3 of millennials going so far as to approve of communism, it’s certainly something for retailers to consider.
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