When businesses talk about the need to be transparent, it is generally assumed that this is for the benefit of investors and the financial media. That assumption is now being challenged, as individual customers are becoming more interested in what goes on behind the scenes.
As sustainability leaps higher up the agenda on an almost daily basis, more shoppers want to know what’s gone into their products and services. Of course, individual interests differ, some may want to know about the treatment of employees and suppliers, others may care more about the impact on our environment. What’s certain is that there is an increasing number of people who think about far more than just the quality of goods and services – or the brand that sits behind them – when they make a purchase. Of course, even with this increased appetite for knowledge, not many people will have the time (or inclination) to pore through small print or dry corporate web sites looking for information – most of us want someone else to make it easy for us to reach an informed decision. The question is: How will that happen and who should be responsible?
Great inroads into the transparency of information may already have been made, particularly in the supermarket sector, but there is still a long, long way to go. Fairtrade, for example, already covers the ethical standards involved in overseas manufacturing, but sometimes there are less than ideal aspects to goods and services produced in the UK. How can customers tell the difference between something that has been created from start to finish with a commitment to ethical practices, and something that has been driven solely by a strict focus on the financial bottom line? If we can feel confident that a product or service has been produced in line with our own beliefs and expectations, we will feel more passionate about it; we will probably be willing to pay more, and we will recommend it more strongly to others as well.
Clear benefits
Transparency can be a way for companies to create a deeper affiliation with their customers and employees. When a company shows people that it believes in the same things that they do, it can create lasting brand differentiation, as in the case of American Apparel’s commitment to vertical integration and all that implies for fairer labour practices. Transparency can also help to get a message through to cynical and hard-to-reach customers, an approach that Worn Again has adopted with its ethical trainers, which show down to the penny what each element of the purchase price has been spent on. In some cases, transparency is a great tool to learn more about what motivates customers, as Clarence Court found when they installed a ‘Hen Cam’ in the grounds of their barn. And, while it certainly doesn't act as a panacea, a strategic approach to transparency can add value directly to your brand – and create a hugely positive profile – as Marks and Spencer found out when they launched ‘Look behind the label’ and subsequently followed this up with ‘
Plan A’.
Strong reasons
Being transparent is not just about doing the right thing: Communicating what you believe in, and how that affects your business practices, is becoming an important driver of relationships and profits. Particularly in our current commercial climate, with traditional marketing and advertising facing challenges on all fronts, opening up and engaging people in how your products and services are delivered can be a powerful way to stand out. Transparency can positively influence purchasing decisions (by giving people more reasons to believe in and choose your brand); build and protect margins (by giving them concrete and tangible reasons to pay more); and influence advocacy (by giving them more reasons to enthuse to others). Does this sound like a clear case for action? Read on, and see how some other influential brands, large and small, have invested in and leveraged the power of transparency.
This is a very interesting subject in a time where some are fighting to make eco design mainstream, and others are still sceptical and thinking eco is hippy. I wish I could agree with David Bergman who says 'it's time to get rid of green design'...but maybe it's a little too early?! Read his article Transparent Green
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Petz Scholtus
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