There’s no denying that a social entrepreneur has a hundred battles to fight, every day. Chucking a salaried job to become an entrepreneur, to conceptualise a brand, set up the supply-chains, fund the whole thing, find a brand name, put up a website, and million more steps before a lovely product is ready to be sold is incredibly tough.
The sad part of the story is that similar to the broader Indian startup landscape—where roughly 90%–95% of startups fail within five years—many social enterprises struggle to survive beyond the initial 3–5 years. While there are as many reasons as there are enterprises, one of the major aspects we as communicators can have an impact on is how social brands are communicating with the end consumer.
I am original. I am heritage. I am an impact brand. I am contemporising ancient crafts.
Perhaps this whole arduous journey is taking up so much of the mind-space of social entrepreneurs that it’s all that they can talk about, even in their consumer-facing communication. Call it beat bias (from journalism) or occupational psychosis (which describes how prolonged immersion in a profession distorts one’s worldview), but we need to snap out of it. Go back to the basics and put the customer at the centre of all our communication efforts. Getting on Instagram is one thing, but what we say there is altogether another story.
Talking to loyal customers helps, talking to non-buyers helps, gather insights. Use the insights to craft messaging that resonates with the audience. There might be ten different ways to position the product in your customer’s mind. The insta stats are only telling us what is happening, not why. We need to create a two-way dialogue based on what we understand of the underlying motivations, the needs and the emotions of the target audience.
Perhaps our passion is getting in the way of our brand performance. Take a step back and ask the tough questions – What does this mean for the customer? What problem are we solving for the customer? What are the pain-points? When and where do they want to buy? What are the usage patterns? What are the emotional triggers we can tap to make our brand resonate with the customer?
We don’t have to discard our sustainable roots, but how are we making sure we catch the consumer’s attention, even within sustainable brands, how are we differentiating ourselves? Are we only using the word ‘sustainable’ or are we introducing a new lexicon – how about lifetime reuse, avoided emissions, repair rates, less harm vs more good, what does responsibility look like to your consumer? The brand that educates gains greater trust.
And then there are all the other elements of building brand equity and reputation – what associations do you cultivate, who is wearing your brand, which third-parties are endorsing your products, can you innovate to create proprietary assets? How are you providing value to the customer who chooses you?
Ultimately, good brand strategy hinges not just on the intentions behind the brand, but on the ability to speak the language of the customer. It’s time to rethink, reframe, and reconnect—because lasting change begins when we put the consumer at the heart of the story.
And we’re waiting on the world to change!
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