On Values-Based Eco-Chic and Story
Need an example of values-based buying appeal? Then, think about that which goes above, beyond and around price, and truly resonates with the lifestyle and core beliefs of your customers. The comparison is akin to how simple facts and figures (such as price) are made more resonant through storytelling (an expression of shared values). As I’ve written and presented on frequently, a brand’s story, when developed well, will give context and richness (or the above, beyond and around) to the linear dimensions and specifications of what might otherwise be just another commodity. (This idea is thoroughly explored in Robert McKee’s classic work, Story, if you want to learn more about great storytelling). What all brands should strive for in this economy is to reflect their products through a tale of value plus values.
Rob Walker’s “Consumed” column this past weekend in the Sunday New York Times Magazine presents a good values-based appeal example in one of the ways that Preserve, a product line of more environmentally sound Tupperware-style containers, gets its message across to consumers. Of “Gimme 5″ a Preserve/Whole Foods combined effort to promote Poly-5 plastics recycling, he writes:
“…stations set up in some locations of the grocery chain invite shoppers to dump their No. 5 polypropylene plastics, which are then collected by Preserve and converted into products. This theoretically gives people another reason to visit Whole Foods (especially in areas where this particular type of plastic isn’t accepted in municipal recycling programs). It also promotes Organic Valley, Stonyfield Farm and Brita (all of which sell products packaged in or made from this sort of plastic and sold at Whole Foods).”
The story Preserve tells therein wraps the do-good of recycling and/or re-using #5 plastics around the facts/features of the product to become a “we” value tale (for the benefit of the community, store and a few other brands). This is as opposed to the “just us” value brand narrative, which might sound more like this: “Buy our product, help us gather a commodity to benefit our own bottom line, and we’ll be really glad you did – so we can keep making money.”
Another brand that wraps “we” around its products/service is Zipcar, which was coincidentally covered in the same, March 5th, New York Times Magazine by Mark Levine. That brand delivers quality and convenience at a fair price (the facts), but today’s consumers are likely giving them extra consideration because of the shared values (using less gas, a commitment to walking) that wrap around the basic Zipcar transaction.
As Walker mentions in his closing paragraph on Preserve, these days people are scaling back to buy five products per store visit versus their usual 25, and they’d like to feel really good about those choices. The question is, can your brand do the same – identify and wrap a great “we” value story “above, beyond and around” a product’s facts and figures – to make the values-based buyer’s cut?
