So, to follow up on the previous posting….. Greenblatt discussed the emerging trends in order to point to the fact that businesses need to develop re-active and pro-active way to the growing trends. In order to be successful, ethical brands must have the following 5 characteristics:

#1 Mission: The ethical nature is the primary objective of the company. In reference to Ethos Water, he noted that their company mission was two-fold. First they wanted to educate the local population about water and secondly they wanted to help get clean water to people globally. Therefore, the focused on a brand that embraced both ideas.

#2 Authenticity: The authenticity of the company must be embedded in its fiber. Ethos was two guys who bootstrapped their way up- they legitimately believed in the brand, the concept and the mission. Their authenticity fostered a feeling of connectivity and helped sell a brand.

#3 Commitment: Ethical brands are not the forte of VCs; this means that the creators must be committed to seeing the company off the ground, through development and by and large through the life of the company.

#4 Transparency: The company must be entirely transparent. If you promise to give away 50% of the proceeds, you must be able to prove that you are giving away 50% of the proceeds. Transparency also contributes to connectivity and thus authenticity.

#5 Engagement: The relationship doesn’t end at the register. Customers want to feel connected to their brands, either through blogs, through choices regarding where the profits are directed, etc.

These 5 characteristics are key to the development of ethical brands. But why ethical brands?

Ethical brands fit the future of the world. They are helping people to self-actualize but only if the brand is satisfying, as good as other distributors and looks as good. People don’t necessarily switch to another brand only because it is ethical but its being ethical helps to sell the brand and helps people to choose it over competitors. If a person feels that sense of connection while also feeling like they are buying a top of the line, satisfying product there will be no reason for them to buy anything else.

Greenblatt’s company embraces these principles and he thinks within the next 5 years, Ethos water will be the biggest premium water supplier because they are more engaging than Evian, Fiji or other top line brands. His case study seems like a pretty good reason to develop an ethical brand……

Furthermore, he notes that social entrepreneurship is going to, hopefully, become a passe term as we see all entrepreneurship become social in nature- fascinating concept, right?

For more information, check out the video.

Tags: ethical branding, ethical brands, ethical guidelines, Ethos water, Evian, Fiji

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am and is filed under Innovators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.