As I settled into my seat at Envision Greater Green Bay’s World Futures Day event in March, the keynote speaker quickly grabbed my attention. It was as if the speaker, Victoria Loomes, senior trend analyst for the global organization TrendWatching, had gotten right into my head as she described individuals’ increasing uneasiness about consumerism and a desire to interact with more ethical companies. I suppose the term zeitgeist was coined for a reason.
Today’s companies and brands are competing in what Loomes describes as an expectation economy. Think of Spotify, which uses algorithms to learn people’s music preferences and recommend new content, she says. Consumers bring that level of expectation to all the brands with which they interact.
Beyond that, brands face an imperative to establish their relevance. Consumers are becoming more values- and purpose-driven and want to see a “we focus, not a me focus,” Loomes says. Much of that ties into increasing awareness of sustainability and a desire to consume less — or at least more thoughtfully.
Loomes points to the example of Patagonia, which in 2011 grabbed attention when it placed a “Don’t Buy this Jacket” ad in the New York Times on Black Friday. The clothing maker asserts that “to lighten our environmental footprint, everyone needs to consume less. Businesses need to make fewer things but of higher quality. Customers need to think twice before they buy.”
Other examples include the increasing popularity of clothing resale, including the online consignment retailer ThredUp, and the Right to Repair movement, which aims to prevent big companies such as Apple from forcing consumers to buy new items instead of repairing old ones.
Consumers also increasingly seek “radical transparency” from companies, Loomes says, and expect them to act ethically. Trust in brands has decreased in recent years, and embracing transparency can help them fare better, she says. Examples of this in action include FutureCard from Visa, a credit card that rewards consumers for spending with a lower carbon footprint, and Finch, a browser extension that educates users on sustainability.
If all this trips a cynical trigger within you, I get it. After all, Patagonia still wants to sell jackets, and Visa still makes massive profits. But remember that these actions can lead to a greater good, and they also come back to an issue that matters to all companies: workforce. Whether a business wants to attract new workers or consumers, the way it conducts itself matters more than ever.
“To really push the needle (on needed action), industry-wide change is necessary,” Loomes says.
To learn more about Envision Greater Green Bay, visit envisionggb.org.
