Brands together – collaboration over competition

According to Retail Dive report the group of mission driven brands launched a holiday catalog and digital campaign first week of December. The catalog was shipped to 250,000 of the best customers across all brands, about 10,000 to 15,000 of each brand’s best customers — all in the hopes of driving traffic to the collective. They are heavy in apparel and accessories right now, but they have coffee and bathing products as well.

Shared values

Creating a coalition of mission-driven brands requires, of course, finding mission-driven brands. So businesses were evaluated based on a set of qualifiers and presence in social good organizations. Those included environmental action, fair trade or fair labor practices, inclusive sizing, life cycle loop, plastic-free options or plastic upcycling, responsible manufacturing, sustainable product materials, sustainable shipping practices, and participation in organizations like 1% for the Planet, Certified B Corporation, Climate Neutral Certified and The Conservation Alliance.

Mike Cangi and Brian Linton founders of an outdoor brand called United by Blue, said the company swiftly noticed that its peers were also struggling in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, and thought there may be a solution in them all banding together. The result was a joint sales event of some mission driven brands in April, dubbed “I Stand With Small,” in an effort to drive traffic and sales to each other’s businesses. Shoppers appreciated this opportunity to know new brands ont he same value base so the action was successful.

Make the world better, together

After the initial sale’s success, the companies started talking about working together again, and thus, the effort was renamed the Mission Brand Alliance and a website launched to showcase the brands in July. Hoping to capitalize on those shared traits again, the group of brands launched a holiday catalog and digital campaign first week of December.

The Mission Brand Alliance website does not function as a marketplace — customers still need to go to an individual company’s site to purchase any items — but more as a resource. By sending out the catalog and having all the brands post about the alliance via email and social media, they are hoping to drive “millions of eyeballs” back to the alliance’s brands. The philosophy around this mission is collaboration over competition and fighting for environmental and social justice. Shoppers have the power to vote for these with every purchase they make. In order to lessen the environmental impact, the catalog is Climate Neutral Certified — the company will offset emissions from producing it and mailing it — and it was made on Forest Stewardship Council certified paper.

Authenticity and storytelling

In an ideal world, the brands in the alliance all add value to each other and to consumers looking for more mission-driven companies by providing them with other brands they can trust. In order to do that, the Mission Brand Alliance website — and the catalog that was just released — focus on storytelling. The catalog gave each company two pages to talk about their mission and display their products. Patagonia as a company is highlighted that a lot of brands in the alliance could learn from.

They participate in the catalog with their Patagonia’s Worn Wear business buying back the branded clothes and redistributing to communities in need. Their is a common page with the most popular products of each brand recommended for this season’s gifts.

The Mission Brand Alliance sees several growing opportunities in turnover and in expanding out of the current narrow focus of the alliance going forward, and making sure the group of brands is diverse in other ways.