Friday, February 24, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
吃要"绿食"衣要"绿装" 生态服装新概念
2005年06月08日12:47 【字号 大 中 小】【留言】【论坛】【打印】【关闭】
33岁的桃乐芙是芝加哥一家金融机构的经理，她平时喜欢瑜珈、素食和有氧运动，主张一种与自然和谐共处的生活方式。现在她推崇生态服装并向周围的同事朋友推荐：“生产一件T恤衫需要耗费1/3磅的有毒化学物质。不仅我们吃的东西要绿色天然，而且我们穿的东西也应如此，因为纤维不仅和你的身体进行最密切的接触，它甚至可能被人体吸收。”
绿色纯天然这一观念不仅在餐桌上流行，现在这种观念也开始向人们的衣柜渗透，热爱地球的环保人士掀起了另外一场运动——生态服装的风潮，这些服装的原料的生产加工都没有化学制剂参与，是完全环保的。在欧美国家，生态服装成为时尚名流的热门话题：明星们身先士卒，U2乐队的巨星博诺是这一风潮的最知名的实践者；超级名模们正在享用它；顶级设计师正看好它的未来。这种环保型服装掀起的风潮正如火如荼。时尚品牌追捧生态服装
手感很好的羊毛毛衣，原料来自澳大利亚的塔斯马尼亚州，完全没有化学制剂的污染；白色的T恤衫，原料棉花来自坦桑尼亚；漂亮夹克衫带着可重复使用的拉链；精巧的石制、骨制、棕榈果壳制成的纽扣做为点缀。所有的这些服装都是生态服装，绿色纯天然，没有化纤、塑料这些人造物，就连染色剂也是从植物中提取出来的。生态服装看起来都非常上档次，没有一点粗笨、劣质的感觉。而售卖时的价格也的确高昂：一件中档的T恤衫价钱在60美元左右，高档的正装则大概700美元。
一家德国历史悠久的制鞋品牌Birkenstock长久以来引领环保型服装的潮流，该公司的产品都来自生产标准严格的生态农场。今年春夏之交该公司的产品更是引来其它顶级名牌跟风，CD和YSL都效仿它的麑皮拖鞋制成自己的生态鞋子。
9年前，乔治·阿玛尼推出环保型牛仔系列，目前这个系列占其全球服装销售量的15%；NIKE正在推出环保原料的生态服装；英国的知名设计师凯萨琳·哈姆内特在其服装中采用了生态棉和羊毛；H&M每季的服饰都包括10款以生态棉为材料的服装；宜家在考虑采购棉花时选购5%的生态棉；其他几个国际知名品牌也在考虑自有品牌的某些服饰部分用生态材料来做。
“生态服装已成为今年的流行风尚的旗帜，”当法新社在凯瑟琳伦敦的工作室采访设计师凯萨琳·哈姆内特时，她说：“如果你告诉别人有2000人因杀虫剂而死，那些材料既损害了环境，也损害了人的健康，人们最终会考虑环保面料的。” 生态服装保护婴幼儿
据英国最近公布的数据，全球有1/4地区，各种杀虫剂被用来提高传统棉花的产量，有8000多种化学制剂被用来把原材料变成服装面料和衣物，这些被各种化学制剂制造出来的衣服很可能此刻正穿在人的身上。生态面料制成的服装已经赢得了众多人士的青睐，传统农作物给人健康带来的风险已经广泛为人所知，在英国，生态棉的产量2003年上升了38％。
妈妈们开始为自己的宝宝寻找安全无害的衣服，正是对农药残留的担心，让年轻妈妈们扑向生态服装，成为生态服装的坚定拥护者。保护婴幼儿童，也因此成为生态服装的一个重要卖点。
体育爱好者的运动服装现在也已经转向生态服装，滑冰、自行车、冲浪运动员以及其它户外运动的爱好者的运动衣都是生态面料制成的。
但生态服装的发展仍然前途未卜，商家指出了生态服装发展的瓶颈：“选择衣服，人们更重视的是款式、颜色、品牌、面料，不大关心面料是不是健康无害的，人们还没有意识到生态服装的重要。”
目前来看，这个市场仍然很小，人们的观念并没有意识到使用化学制剂的服装的潜在危害。（方禾）
来源：《国际先驱导报》 （责任编辑：许秀华）
相关专题
· 科技新生活
相关新闻：
2005年06月08日12:47 【字号 大 中 小】【留言】【论坛】【打印】【关闭】
33岁的桃乐芙是芝加哥一家金融机构的经理，她平时喜欢瑜珈、素食和有氧运动，主张一种与自然和谐共处的生活方式。现在她推崇生态服装并向周围的同事朋友推荐：“生产一件T恤衫需要耗费1/3磅的有毒化学物质。不仅我们吃的东西要绿色天然，而且我们穿的东西也应如此，因为纤维不仅和你的身体进行最密切的接触，它甚至可能被人体吸收。”
绿色纯天然这一观念不仅在餐桌上流行，现在这种观念也开始向人们的衣柜渗透，热爱地球的环保人士掀起了另外一场运动——生态服装的风潮，这些服装的原料的生产加工都没有化学制剂参与，是完全环保的。在欧美国家，生态服装成为时尚名流的热门话题：明星们身先士卒，U2乐队的巨星博诺是这一风潮的最知名的实践者；超级名模们正在享用它；顶级设计师正看好它的未来。这种环保型服装掀起的风潮正如火如荼。时尚品牌追捧生态服装
手感很好的羊毛毛衣，原料来自澳大利亚的塔斯马尼亚州，完全没有化学制剂的污染；白色的T恤衫，原料棉花来自坦桑尼亚；漂亮夹克衫带着可重复使用的拉链；精巧的石制、骨制、棕榈果壳制成的纽扣做为点缀。所有的这些服装都是生态服装，绿色纯天然，没有化纤、塑料这些人造物，就连染色剂也是从植物中提取出来的。生态服装看起来都非常上档次，没有一点粗笨、劣质的感觉。而售卖时的价格也的确高昂：一件中档的T恤衫价钱在60美元左右，高档的正装则大概700美元。
一家德国历史悠久的制鞋品牌Birkenstock长久以来引领环保型服装的潮流，该公司的产品都来自生产标准严格的生态农场。今年春夏之交该公司的产品更是引来其它顶级名牌跟风，CD和YSL都效仿它的麑皮拖鞋制成自己的生态鞋子。
9年前，乔治·阿玛尼推出环保型牛仔系列，目前这个系列占其全球服装销售量的15%；NIKE正在推出环保原料的生态服装；英国的知名设计师凯萨琳·哈姆内特在其服装中采用了生态棉和羊毛；H&M每季的服饰都包括10款以生态棉为材料的服装；宜家在考虑采购棉花时选购5%的生态棉；其他几个国际知名品牌也在考虑自有品牌的某些服饰部分用生态材料来做。
“生态服装已成为今年的流行风尚的旗帜，”当法新社在凯瑟琳伦敦的工作室采访设计师凯萨琳·哈姆内特时，她说：“如果你告诉别人有2000人因杀虫剂而死，那些材料既损害了环境，也损害了人的健康，人们最终会考虑环保面料的。” 生态服装保护婴幼儿
据英国最近公布的数据，全球有1/4地区，各种杀虫剂被用来提高传统棉花的产量，有8000多种化学制剂被用来把原材料变成服装面料和衣物，这些被各种化学制剂制造出来的衣服很可能此刻正穿在人的身上。生态面料制成的服装已经赢得了众多人士的青睐，传统农作物给人健康带来的风险已经广泛为人所知，在英国，生态棉的产量2003年上升了38％。
妈妈们开始为自己的宝宝寻找安全无害的衣服，正是对农药残留的担心，让年轻妈妈们扑向生态服装，成为生态服装的坚定拥护者。保护婴幼儿童，也因此成为生态服装的一个重要卖点。
体育爱好者的运动服装现在也已经转向生态服装，滑冰、自行车、冲浪运动员以及其它户外运动的爱好者的运动衣都是生态面料制成的。
但生态服装的发展仍然前途未卜，商家指出了生态服装发展的瓶颈：“选择衣服，人们更重视的是款式、颜色、品牌、面料，不大关心面料是不是健康无害的，人们还没有意识到生态服装的重要。”
目前来看，这个市场仍然很小，人们的观念并没有意识到使用化学制剂的服装的潜在危害。（方禾）
来源：《国际先驱导报》 （责任编辑：许秀华）
相关专题
· 科技新生活
相关新闻：
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Chinese textile prices rise
Statistics from the People's Bank of China show that producer prices for textiles grew by 0.4% month-on-month in December 2005, and by 1.1% year-on-year.
Specifically, cotton textile prices had a monthly rise of 0.2% and a yearly growth of 1.4%, while woollen textiles rose 0.1% month-on-month but fell 3.8% on a yearly basis, reported Xinhua.
Spun textiles prices increased by 1% month-on-month and 4.4% yearly, while knitwear grew by 0.6% on a monthly basis and by 0.2% year-on-year.
Statistics from the People's Bank of China show that producer prices for textiles grew by 0.4% month-on-month in December 2005, and by 1.1% year-on-year.
Specifically, cotton textile prices had a monthly rise of 0.2% and a yearly growth of 1.4%, while woollen textiles rose 0.1% month-on-month but fell 3.8% on a yearly basis, reported Xinhua.
Spun textiles prices increased by 1% month-on-month and 4.4% yearly, while knitwear grew by 0.6% on a monthly basis and by 0.2% year-on-year.
Golf style at ispovision summer 2005
WGSN news service 23.05.05
A growing number of golfwear brands catering for the new generation of stylish golfers are showcasing their summer 2006 collections at ispovision.
Rosasen
Claudia Romana
Clover
Brands such as Clover, J Lindeberg and Rosasen, which have previously shown at ispovision, will be presenting their collections for the summer 2006 season. Newcomers Titania and Claudia Romana, both of whom design exclusively for women, will reveal their collections to the European market for the first time.
Beat Lehmann from Clover, Switzerland, considers the developments in the golf style segment to be very positive: "The market for golf style has been very quiet till now, but it is like a bubbling volcano that is starting to erupt."
ispovision, the international trade show for sportstyle - fashion inspired by sports –will be hosting a number of brands from the yachting, golf style, classic tennis, premium sportstyle, sneakers and Yoga/wellness sectors in Hall A1 of the New Munich Trade Fair July 3-5.
Further info
www.ispovision.com. Related reports
Cool golf brands
WGSN news service 23.05.05
A growing number of golfwear brands catering for the new generation of stylish golfers are showcasing their summer 2006 collections at ispovision.
Rosasen
Claudia Romana
Clover
Brands such as Clover, J Lindeberg and Rosasen, which have previously shown at ispovision, will be presenting their collections for the summer 2006 season. Newcomers Titania and Claudia Romana, both of whom design exclusively for women, will reveal their collections to the European market for the first time.
Beat Lehmann from Clover, Switzerland, considers the developments in the golf style segment to be very positive: "The market for golf style has been very quiet till now, but it is like a bubbling volcano that is starting to erupt."
ispovision, the international trade show for sportstyle - fashion inspired by sports –will be hosting a number of brands from the yachting, golf style, classic tennis, premium sportstyle, sneakers and Yoga/wellness sectors in Hall A1 of the New Munich Trade Fair July 3-5.
Further info
www.ispovision.com. Related reports
Cool golf brands
CHINA MARKET
Li-Ning: China's sports brand
Frances Henzie WGSN 29.06.05
Li-Ning is a Chinese sports apparel and footwear brand with nearly 3,000 stores across China. WGSN examines a rare phenomenon: a Chinese brand with the potential to break big worldwide.
New store Beijing Wangfujing
Li Ning advert
Li Ning advert
Chinese brands have not made any significant impact in the global market. But Li-Ning, a brand founded in 1990 by Olympic gymnast Li-Ning, has the potential to change that over the coming years.
Currently, the company is opening stores at a rate close to two a day across China. In the countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Li-Ning is going all-out for growth in its core domestic market.
In an interview with WGSN, Abel Wu, Li-Ning vice president for marketing and international business, said international expansion was not yet a priority.
Wu said China will remain the primary focus for the next three years. "Before we enter the international market, we want to grow ourselves into a local brand with a global look."
Currently, Li-Ning has distributors in 20 countries outside China, including Russia, Italy and Spain. Two years ago, Li-Ning appointed a consultant, Lars Wiskum (a former president of US brand Champion in Denmark), through whom Li-Ning is pursuing distribution deals in Europe.
However, the US is not on its radar yet. Abel Wu said: "It has taken adidas 15 years to get 15% of the market share in the US. We have no time to do that at the moment."
That is good news for Nike, adidas and other international brands. And Li-Ning does indeed have a long road to travel before it can match such names.
The creation of a design centre in Hong Kong is one step on that road towards creating a product that can match the American and European giants.
Young Chinese aged 14-23 are the core market. Li-Ning, which undercuts its international rivals by around 20% in price terms, currently has about 16% of market share, ahead of adidas (12%) but behind Nike (18%).
The company has a slightly different approach to adidas and Nike. Wu said the company has been positioning itself as a mid-market brand, which has been very well-received among college students who cannot yet afford foreign brands. It is also targeting less affluent second-tier Chinese cities.
"Although the market is very competitive, we aim to boost our share to 20-25% in the next three years. We'll push the number of stores from the existing 2,500 up to 4,000 by 2008," Wu said.
Li-Ning is also currently spending one tenth of its sales income on marketing, including media advertising and industry sponsorship.
Media marketing includes events, internet and TV commercials, accounting for 70% of the company's marketing budget. The rest goes towards sponsorship of individual players, national teams or leagues.
Wu said TV commercials are the most effective marketing tool to reach its core market of young Chinese aged 14 to 23. A recent advert, produced by Leo Burnett Beijing for CCTV-5, a sports TV channel, marks a step forward in sophistication. It features a Chinese traveller stumbling across a basketball-worshipping African tribe and beating them single-handedly in a game, before fainting when he sees a cooking pot bubbling over a fire. Despite his fears, the tribe salutes him as its new leader – with Li-Ning's tagline Anything is possible.
Wu explained: "Unexpectedness is one of our brand equities. We want to differentiate our brand from our competitors. In this TV commercial, the tribal Africans are so impressed by the Chinese sports player who wears Li-Ning. A sense of globalisation coming from China instead of the West is suggested, which is quite extraordinary for Chinese audiences."
Sponsorships include the Spanish national basketball team, the China college basketball team, the China national football team as well as the national basketball team.
For the 2008 Beijing Olympics (home territory), Li-Ning is sponsoring four Chinese national teams including table tennis, gymnastics, shooting and diving.
The company has also forged marketing partnerships with NBA, Netease and Swarovski.
NBA Li-Ning has been eagerly grafting basketball into its marketing plans in China. With the enormous popularity of Chinese NBA player Yao Ming (currently signed up by Reebok), basketball has become the most talked about sport in the country.
Abel Wu commented: "Basketball has replaced football as the number one sport in China. Working with NBA can enhance our professional image as a sportswear company in the Chinese market, which is also helpful in the future when we decide to further expand our global presence."
The company recently signed a three-year marketing partnership with NBA to launch some grass-roots programmes to promote basketball among the young and to use NBA's logo in its TV commercials. The NBA is working with the company to develop suitable NBA players as its spokespersons.
Another reason why the company chose basketball is that basketball shoes can be worn more comfortably than soccer shoes as everyday footwear, Wu explained.
Netease Li-Ning has entered a three-year partnership with Netease, the number one website for Chinese college students.
"If you log into Netease's sports channel, it's basically a Li-Ning website. It's also using red, which is our colour – and our logo can be seen everywhere," Wu says. The two companies are also working together to launch co-marketing campaigns, such as online games.
Swarovski Li-Ning is keen to improve the quality of its product design, an essential ingredient if it is to compete as a global player.
A link with Swarovski is one of the ways in which this issue is being tackled. "Working with Swarovski is a short-cut," says Abel Wu. "We want to inject more oriental fashionable elements in our products. We're now working closely with Swarovski to introduce a new product series sometime next year."
The brand, the finances
Who is Li-Ning? It's not a question you need to ask in China, where he is a national hero. Li-Ning won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 – the peak of an extraordinary career that made him a Chinese sporting legend. He continues to emphasise the "spirit" of sport and its potential to change lives and attitudes.
So when he founded his own sports brand in 1989, the label achieved high recognition among Chinese consumers very quickly.
In June 2004 Chinese sports apparel and footwear brand Li-Ning was finally listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
For 2004 net profit, rose 42% to CNY133m (US$16m), well above the forecast it made at the time of its IPO, as sales rose to CNY1.878bn ($227m) from CNY1.276bn ($154m).
The operating profit margin rose from 9.3% to 10.2%, but the net profit margin fell slightly from 7.4% to 7.1% because of the increase in the effective tax rate.
The product range (covering 1,000 products in 20 categories) includes sports footwear, apparel and accessories for sport and leisure use, primarily sold under the Li-Ning brand. The company also has the license for the Kappa brand for use in China and Macau.
Li-Ning has achieved a thorough penetration of the market across China with 1,000 licensed stores and 2,000 in-store shops in China, covering 95% of the key cities.
It plans to have expanded its number of stores to 3,200 by year-end, including more big city flagships and upgrading of existing sites. Li-Ning wants to have 3,900 stores by 2007 – the year before the crucial Beijing Olympic Games, when sales are expected to surge. Clearly a name to watch.
Contact
www.lining.comRelated reports
Shanghai: new Sport City storeLi-Ning supports basketball in ChinaJapanese sports firms target China
Li-Ning: China's sports brand
Frances Henzie WGSN 29.06.05
Li-Ning is a Chinese sports apparel and footwear brand with nearly 3,000 stores across China. WGSN examines a rare phenomenon: a Chinese brand with the potential to break big worldwide.
New store Beijing Wangfujing
Li Ning advert
Li Ning advert
Chinese brands have not made any significant impact in the global market. But Li-Ning, a brand founded in 1990 by Olympic gymnast Li-Ning, has the potential to change that over the coming years.
Currently, the company is opening stores at a rate close to two a day across China. In the countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Li-Ning is going all-out for growth in its core domestic market.
In an interview with WGSN, Abel Wu, Li-Ning vice president for marketing and international business, said international expansion was not yet a priority.
Wu said China will remain the primary focus for the next three years. "Before we enter the international market, we want to grow ourselves into a local brand with a global look."
Currently, Li-Ning has distributors in 20 countries outside China, including Russia, Italy and Spain. Two years ago, Li-Ning appointed a consultant, Lars Wiskum (a former president of US brand Champion in Denmark), through whom Li-Ning is pursuing distribution deals in Europe.
However, the US is not on its radar yet. Abel Wu said: "It has taken adidas 15 years to get 15% of the market share in the US. We have no time to do that at the moment."
That is good news for Nike, adidas and other international brands. And Li-Ning does indeed have a long road to travel before it can match such names.
The creation of a design centre in Hong Kong is one step on that road towards creating a product that can match the American and European giants.
Young Chinese aged 14-23 are the core market. Li-Ning, which undercuts its international rivals by around 20% in price terms, currently has about 16% of market share, ahead of adidas (12%) but behind Nike (18%).
The company has a slightly different approach to adidas and Nike. Wu said the company has been positioning itself as a mid-market brand, which has been very well-received among college students who cannot yet afford foreign brands. It is also targeting less affluent second-tier Chinese cities.
"Although the market is very competitive, we aim to boost our share to 20-25% in the next three years. We'll push the number of stores from the existing 2,500 up to 4,000 by 2008," Wu said.
Li-Ning is also currently spending one tenth of its sales income on marketing, including media advertising and industry sponsorship.
Media marketing includes events, internet and TV commercials, accounting for 70% of the company's marketing budget. The rest goes towards sponsorship of individual players, national teams or leagues.
Wu said TV commercials are the most effective marketing tool to reach its core market of young Chinese aged 14 to 23. A recent advert, produced by Leo Burnett Beijing for CCTV-5, a sports TV channel, marks a step forward in sophistication. It features a Chinese traveller stumbling across a basketball-worshipping African tribe and beating them single-handedly in a game, before fainting when he sees a cooking pot bubbling over a fire. Despite his fears, the tribe salutes him as its new leader – with Li-Ning's tagline Anything is possible.
Wu explained: "Unexpectedness is one of our brand equities. We want to differentiate our brand from our competitors. In this TV commercial, the tribal Africans are so impressed by the Chinese sports player who wears Li-Ning. A sense of globalisation coming from China instead of the West is suggested, which is quite extraordinary for Chinese audiences."
Sponsorships include the Spanish national basketball team, the China college basketball team, the China national football team as well as the national basketball team.
For the 2008 Beijing Olympics (home territory), Li-Ning is sponsoring four Chinese national teams including table tennis, gymnastics, shooting and diving.
The company has also forged marketing partnerships with NBA, Netease and Swarovski.
NBA Li-Ning has been eagerly grafting basketball into its marketing plans in China. With the enormous popularity of Chinese NBA player Yao Ming (currently signed up by Reebok), basketball has become the most talked about sport in the country.
Abel Wu commented: "Basketball has replaced football as the number one sport in China. Working with NBA can enhance our professional image as a sportswear company in the Chinese market, which is also helpful in the future when we decide to further expand our global presence."
The company recently signed a three-year marketing partnership with NBA to launch some grass-roots programmes to promote basketball among the young and to use NBA's logo in its TV commercials. The NBA is working with the company to develop suitable NBA players as its spokespersons.
Another reason why the company chose basketball is that basketball shoes can be worn more comfortably than soccer shoes as everyday footwear, Wu explained.
Netease Li-Ning has entered a three-year partnership with Netease, the number one website for Chinese college students.
"If you log into Netease's sports channel, it's basically a Li-Ning website. It's also using red, which is our colour – and our logo can be seen everywhere," Wu says. The two companies are also working together to launch co-marketing campaigns, such as online games.
Swarovski Li-Ning is keen to improve the quality of its product design, an essential ingredient if it is to compete as a global player.
A link with Swarovski is one of the ways in which this issue is being tackled. "Working with Swarovski is a short-cut," says Abel Wu. "We want to inject more oriental fashionable elements in our products. We're now working closely with Swarovski to introduce a new product series sometime next year."
The brand, the finances
Who is Li-Ning? It's not a question you need to ask in China, where he is a national hero. Li-Ning won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 – the peak of an extraordinary career that made him a Chinese sporting legend. He continues to emphasise the "spirit" of sport and its potential to change lives and attitudes.
So when he founded his own sports brand in 1989, the label achieved high recognition among Chinese consumers very quickly.
In June 2004 Chinese sports apparel and footwear brand Li-Ning was finally listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
For 2004 net profit, rose 42% to CNY133m (US$16m), well above the forecast it made at the time of its IPO, as sales rose to CNY1.878bn ($227m) from CNY1.276bn ($154m).
The operating profit margin rose from 9.3% to 10.2%, but the net profit margin fell slightly from 7.4% to 7.1% because of the increase in the effective tax rate.
The product range (covering 1,000 products in 20 categories) includes sports footwear, apparel and accessories for sport and leisure use, primarily sold under the Li-Ning brand. The company also has the license for the Kappa brand for use in China and Macau.
Li-Ning has achieved a thorough penetration of the market across China with 1,000 licensed stores and 2,000 in-store shops in China, covering 95% of the key cities.
It plans to have expanded its number of stores to 3,200 by year-end, including more big city flagships and upgrading of existing sites. Li-Ning wants to have 3,900 stores by 2007 – the year before the crucial Beijing Olympic Games, when sales are expected to surge. Clearly a name to watch.
Contact
www.lining.comRelated reports
Shanghai: new Sport City storeLi-Ning supports basketball in ChinaJapanese sports firms target China
MARKETING
Brands need to build trust
The findings from SustainAbility's recent global research indicate that there is a significant shift in how consumers view the moral behaviour of brands. Legal compliance is just not enough for this actively concerned consumer. Brands should now be looking to lead the way on moral issues rather than just following legal guidelines.
Failure to comply could result in confrontation with consumers and legal activists, who view looking after the environment and human rights as a consumer issue. Understanding the shift in consumer attitudes towards the subject will be fundamental for brand development in the future.
"The subject of trust is one all brands should take seriously," says Geoff Lye, who has been closely involved with companies such as Ford, Nike, British Telecom, Shell International and the US Government on all aspects of corporate social responsibility.
WGSN asks him to explain the findings:
Why do brands need to take trust seriously?
"Consumers now buy into a brand's values in such a big way that they want to know the company behind that brand name. They want to know they can trust it. Previously, consumers wanted reliability, now they want accountability.
"If you break trust down into its component parts to make it less 'fluffy', you get honesty, respect and responsibility and it's these qualities that need to translate into basic brand values."
How do you start to build trust in a brand?
"The starting point is always to get in tune with what your customers and shareholders expect from you as a brand. There are different issues for each industry and fashion has plenty of them, particularly in the supply chain. Brands should check theirs has integrity; are there any social, human or environmental abuses occurring? Good risk management should be looking at this as a matter of course. Don't ignore it, manage it.
"Ethical is becoming very cool in North America. Once all the legal and governmental issues are in place, brands should ask themselves if the brand also has ethical quality. All channels are pointing towards ethical responsibility being a key issue for the future. Just as we think sending children up chimneys in the Victorian age and slavery was wrong, that's how we'll think about ethical abuse. "Ford, for example, don't let anyone under the age of fifteen work in any of its factories, regardless of the fact that it might be legal to do so in the country of production. Consumers are uncomfortable with it, so Ford choses to be proactive on the issue.
"Imagine a world where you will have to pay heavily for greenhouse emissions; all damage you make to the environment will have to be paid for and you'll have to take responsibility for 'end of life' for products. Ten years on, this could be the case.
"Look towards campaign and action groups to see what they are targeting as the next major issue within industry. Campaigners are a good indicator of how consumers feel about a subject and are way ahead of the law. Whatever they're talking about now will be what the consumer will be looking at in the near future.
"I think brands will also need to decide how they implement trust issues. Compliance excellence, keeping to the law in other words, will not be enough for consumers. They want to see brands shift from passive involvement – just toeing the line – to active involvement, going the extra bit to raise the standard.
"Companies still need to 'connect the dots' from the developmental think tank departments to the advertising department; often the message is lost or confused. It's a weakness even in the best companies.
"Is it respectful of the fashion house marketing departments to use models who are over-thin, touched-up and altered to be 'false' images, as opposed to what we all know is the truth? Most current marketing is misleading even though it is legally acceptable."
Ethical Nike
The well informed green consumer
Ford trying harder with the hybrid SUV.
What are the issues for fashion?
"Trust is valuable coinage in fashion retail, just look at the level of trust consumers gave Marks & Spencer before their current problems. Most of that trust was built from simple issues like customers being able to return goods without any questions.
"The supply chain is an important area to watch. Take Nike's issues with sub-contractors that had allegedly been using child labour. The damage this caused to the brand value forced them to look at every link in their supply chain. Now they've built integrity into each section and they check for human rights, environmental and social abuses. They've made huge strides from initially being blind to the issues; now they've faced-up and engaged with them and they have a designated team looking at ethical quality. All brands should be doing this; it's good risk management.
"There's been a shift of importance from the mid-1980s when no one really cared too much about a brand's moral codes. It was always assumed that brands were not accountable for factories in the Far East, particularly the sub-contracted ones, but it turns out that they are and it's a subject the consumer feels very strongly about.
"Laws are a lagging indicator of society's opinions and may not be able to keep up with the consumers' standards. When the legal process lags behind, we move out of the court of law into the court of public opinion which is often far more damaging: consumers will boycott publicly condemned product, as they've done with Coca-Cola after the Dasani water affair."
Does the consumer really care about environmental issues?
"Consumers expect business to be squeaky clean and have high ethical standards. They also demand protection from giant corporations and put the blame for environmental damage on industry, while doing very little to help. But however selfish consumers are, they still care about the issues.
"In North America, car consumers want greater fuel economy, less environmental impact and guilt-free driving, all without extra cost. Ford have taken this and planned a strategy that means by 2030 their entire world fleet of drivers will be emitting fewer greenhouse gasses, however they drive. What they've done is say we will invest in technology that allows our – sometimes not very careful – drivers to drive Ford cars with a clean conscience."
Is this concern over ethical and environmental issues a generational thing?
"Absolutely. The older the CEO the more likely it is that they will not take the issues seriously, which ultimately could harm the brand. The bigger the company, the older the CEO and the less likely it is that ethics and social responsibility will be registering on the agenda. They're likely to think of it as 'soft stuff'."
What about Asia?
"Environmental damage is a very big issue in China and the Government is taking it seriously. China now wants to leap-frog over the recent developments to take the best ideas and be ahead of the world in terms of car manufacture and disposal. They are trying to set standards on fuel efficiency that are higher than in the US. Although we all acknowledge they do have some way to go, there is determination to get there."
Checklist for Building Trust:
Consumers want accountability as well as reliability from a brand.
Investigate what your consumer wants in terms of corporate social responsibility.
Check if your brand has ethical quality.
Watch the campaign groups to see what subjects they are working on.
Make sure the whole company understands the issues, not just the marketing department.
Check the supply chain has intergrity from start to finish.
Shift your brand from passively legal to morally active on CSR decision making.
Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR):
CSR is a term that embraces financial integrity, corporate ethics and dimensions of economic, social and environmental value.SustainAbility
20-22 Bedford RowLondon WC1R 4EBUKTel: +44 (0)20 7269 6900www.sustainability.com Founded in 1987, SustainAbility is the longest established international consultancy specialising in business strategy and sustainable development – environmental improvement, social equity and economic development. For additional WGSN research see:
Sustain Consumer Attitude Trust Consumer Attitude Ethical Consumption Industry View Massive Change Industry View
Brands need to build trust
The findings from SustainAbility's recent global research indicate that there is a significant shift in how consumers view the moral behaviour of brands. Legal compliance is just not enough for this actively concerned consumer. Brands should now be looking to lead the way on moral issues rather than just following legal guidelines.
Failure to comply could result in confrontation with consumers and legal activists, who view looking after the environment and human rights as a consumer issue. Understanding the shift in consumer attitudes towards the subject will be fundamental for brand development in the future.
"The subject of trust is one all brands should take seriously," says Geoff Lye, who has been closely involved with companies such as Ford, Nike, British Telecom, Shell International and the US Government on all aspects of corporate social responsibility.
WGSN asks him to explain the findings:
Why do brands need to take trust seriously?
"Consumers now buy into a brand's values in such a big way that they want to know the company behind that brand name. They want to know they can trust it. Previously, consumers wanted reliability, now they want accountability.
"If you break trust down into its component parts to make it less 'fluffy', you get honesty, respect and responsibility and it's these qualities that need to translate into basic brand values."
How do you start to build trust in a brand?
"The starting point is always to get in tune with what your customers and shareholders expect from you as a brand. There are different issues for each industry and fashion has plenty of them, particularly in the supply chain. Brands should check theirs has integrity; are there any social, human or environmental abuses occurring? Good risk management should be looking at this as a matter of course. Don't ignore it, manage it.
"Ethical is becoming very cool in North America. Once all the legal and governmental issues are in place, brands should ask themselves if the brand also has ethical quality. All channels are pointing towards ethical responsibility being a key issue for the future. Just as we think sending children up chimneys in the Victorian age and slavery was wrong, that's how we'll think about ethical abuse. "Ford, for example, don't let anyone under the age of fifteen work in any of its factories, regardless of the fact that it might be legal to do so in the country of production. Consumers are uncomfortable with it, so Ford choses to be proactive on the issue.
"Imagine a world where you will have to pay heavily for greenhouse emissions; all damage you make to the environment will have to be paid for and you'll have to take responsibility for 'end of life' for products. Ten years on, this could be the case.
"Look towards campaign and action groups to see what they are targeting as the next major issue within industry. Campaigners are a good indicator of how consumers feel about a subject and are way ahead of the law. Whatever they're talking about now will be what the consumer will be looking at in the near future.
"I think brands will also need to decide how they implement trust issues. Compliance excellence, keeping to the law in other words, will not be enough for consumers. They want to see brands shift from passive involvement – just toeing the line – to active involvement, going the extra bit to raise the standard.
"Companies still need to 'connect the dots' from the developmental think tank departments to the advertising department; often the message is lost or confused. It's a weakness even in the best companies.
"Is it respectful of the fashion house marketing departments to use models who are over-thin, touched-up and altered to be 'false' images, as opposed to what we all know is the truth? Most current marketing is misleading even though it is legally acceptable."
Ethical Nike
The well informed green consumer
Ford trying harder with the hybrid SUV.
What are the issues for fashion?
"Trust is valuable coinage in fashion retail, just look at the level of trust consumers gave Marks & Spencer before their current problems. Most of that trust was built from simple issues like customers being able to return goods without any questions.
"The supply chain is an important area to watch. Take Nike's issues with sub-contractors that had allegedly been using child labour. The damage this caused to the brand value forced them to look at every link in their supply chain. Now they've built integrity into each section and they check for human rights, environmental and social abuses. They've made huge strides from initially being blind to the issues; now they've faced-up and engaged with them and they have a designated team looking at ethical quality. All brands should be doing this; it's good risk management.
"There's been a shift of importance from the mid-1980s when no one really cared too much about a brand's moral codes. It was always assumed that brands were not accountable for factories in the Far East, particularly the sub-contracted ones, but it turns out that they are and it's a subject the consumer feels very strongly about.
"Laws are a lagging indicator of society's opinions and may not be able to keep up with the consumers' standards. When the legal process lags behind, we move out of the court of law into the court of public opinion which is often far more damaging: consumers will boycott publicly condemned product, as they've done with Coca-Cola after the Dasani water affair."
Does the consumer really care about environmental issues?
"Consumers expect business to be squeaky clean and have high ethical standards. They also demand protection from giant corporations and put the blame for environmental damage on industry, while doing very little to help. But however selfish consumers are, they still care about the issues.
"In North America, car consumers want greater fuel economy, less environmental impact and guilt-free driving, all without extra cost. Ford have taken this and planned a strategy that means by 2030 their entire world fleet of drivers will be emitting fewer greenhouse gasses, however they drive. What they've done is say we will invest in technology that allows our – sometimes not very careful – drivers to drive Ford cars with a clean conscience."
Is this concern over ethical and environmental issues a generational thing?
"Absolutely. The older the CEO the more likely it is that they will not take the issues seriously, which ultimately could harm the brand. The bigger the company, the older the CEO and the less likely it is that ethics and social responsibility will be registering on the agenda. They're likely to think of it as 'soft stuff'."
What about Asia?
"Environmental damage is a very big issue in China and the Government is taking it seriously. China now wants to leap-frog over the recent developments to take the best ideas and be ahead of the world in terms of car manufacture and disposal. They are trying to set standards on fuel efficiency that are higher than in the US. Although we all acknowledge they do have some way to go, there is determination to get there."
Checklist for Building Trust:
Consumers want accountability as well as reliability from a brand.
Investigate what your consumer wants in terms of corporate social responsibility.
Check if your brand has ethical quality.
Watch the campaign groups to see what subjects they are working on.
Make sure the whole company understands the issues, not just the marketing department.
Check the supply chain has intergrity from start to finish.
Shift your brand from passively legal to morally active on CSR decision making.
Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR):
CSR is a term that embraces financial integrity, corporate ethics and dimensions of economic, social and environmental value.SustainAbility
20-22 Bedford RowLondon WC1R 4EBUKTel: +44 (0)20 7269 6900www.sustainability.com Founded in 1987, SustainAbility is the longest established international consultancy specialising in business strategy and sustainable development – environmental improvement, social equity and economic development. For additional WGSN research see:
Sustain Consumer Attitude Trust Consumer Attitude Ethical Consumption Industry View Massive Change Industry View
Nike has "no interest" in major acquisitionsNike Inc dispelled speculation on Monday (February 13) that it might buy German rival Puma, preferring to focus on its own brands pushing further into football (soccer) and related lifestyle products. "We are not actively looking at acquisitions right now," Charlie Denson, head of Nike brand, told Reuters at the launch of the new kit designs for the eight national teams Nike is sponsoring at this summer's World Cup finals in Germany.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
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