Call for Change

There is a harsh, brutal and abusive market landscape. Fairtrade is a label that wants to give retailers and consumers the reassurance that they are buying in a fairer and more ethical way. However there are two main problems. Firstly, the market is very competitive and the price sensitivity is high. Consumers are not always willing to put their wallet to the price premium of the cause. Secondly, the producers love Fairtrade but there is much more supply than demand. Rather than exploring how we can become a better trade brand, we reframed to better identify the hooks to make us better social justice activists.

Fierce Empathy

We needed to understand how to get more stakeholders to buy into Fairtrade, not only on an idea level but in terms of daily preferences and actions. Whilst many people want to be part of fair consumption practices, they still face many barriers to engage in ways that feel right for them. When desires are not properly addressed, then people are often lost to passivity. Rather than raising a voice of ethics and morale, we put ourselves into the shoes of the different stakeholders through immersive conversations in order to unveil the triggers that form a meaningful relationship and commitment.

Regenerative Impact

Thanks to the human reframe of the current business situation, we managed to identify the group of people Fairtrade wants to serve, namely the Care Activists. These people are part of a larger ecosystem of consumers, producers, companies, policymakers, governments, and academia.  We crafted a narrative that all of these stakeholders can empathize with from their specific perspectives. We developed a toolkit to engage each of them, as they all recognize that slavery, shareholder primacy, unsustainable living, and the gender gap were once seen to be normal, and today are not accepted. Together, they want to care for others and stand up against unfair practices in the world. As a result, we have helped Fairtrade grow communities of care activists who can normalize social justice.