ChopValue: Do you want lifestyle or merchandising?
IN A NUTSHELL:
We need to start thinking about the merchandising of a brand as an exceptional opportunity for sustainable brand and company practices.
THE GREAT STRATEGIC TAKEOUT:
Merchandising can be more than stamping our logo on objects that are more or less close to the DNA of our brand: it can be part of the generation of brand equity based on contemporary values.
Why should I read this?
Many brands use merchandising to ensure their presence in consumer spaces or as a way to exploit perceived value by generating additional ways of obtaining income. If we also link it to sustainable practices, it can be a contemporary equity generator.
What are we talking about?
We have selected ChopValue to demonstrate what can happen if brands do not see in their ingredients, processes, materials and residues opportunities to generate value and additional income in the current environment. More than one chain of Japanese supermarkets and restaurants must have thought that they should be the ones to do this instead of a new brand.
Merchandising is ubiquitous. Whether we print our logo on all types of products or license it to others to do it for us, extending our presence beyond the products or services we are known for and generating value is almost universal but, compared to other aspects of business, it seems not to have evolved much. This is undoubtedly due to the objectives it pursues and to the fact that in many cases merchandising is part of an “acquired right” in the relationship between brand and point of sale (especially in the case of drinks and hospitality).
What would happen if we raised this presence to a truly strategic level and considered merchandising as a way of standing out in a market that values both sustainable brands and products with distinctive histories?
ChopValue is quickly becoming the universal example of how to exploit an everyday item so that it becomes a premium contemporary source of income. Moreover, doing so allows us to build a leading brand, with perfectly competitive narratives and points of view in its categories.
By upcycling used chopsticks from Japanese restaurants, the brand has created a portfolio of decorative items and gifts applying an approach in which the object is beautiful, functional and also made with reused material. This reordering of the message hierarchy, in which sustainability is not the only driver but coexists with the value of the object itself, is what makes it strategically inspiring.
ChopValue shows us possible new avenues for merchandising our own brands. Beyond T-shirts, cups and masks, we have a new opportunity to create brand value while meeting our UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Links and what to focus on:
Chopvalue website
Chopvalue, gift guide
Chopvalue, urban impact report
The Guardian
- Message hierarchy: aesthetic + functional attributes + sustainability
- Aesthetic approaches and styles of expression adopted in product design and communication
- Communication tone
- A deliberately amateur way of presenting the brand’s corporate corpus in its report
WHY YOU SHOULD BE INTERESTED:
Brands and companies are looking for ways to increase income, raise their profile and meet the sustainability challenges that society demands. Merchandising can be a way of achieving these objectives.
What needs does it meet?
My brand/company needs to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability in a realistic, contemporary way and there are limitations to what I can do in the design of products and experiences. I can use merchandising to explain my commitments in a way that can be reflected in equity.
From a strategic perspective:
Merchandising has to be considered strategically, providing new visions so that, when your logo is on other objects, they are worthy and relevant.
Who might be interested?
Brands that want to have a distinctive and significant approach to sustainability through upcycling and reuse of their materials/ingredients and/or those that are necessary to consume them.
Where do I implement it?
Not all brands have an emotional value that can be transferred to other objects in the conventional way. This approach opens up new opportunities for these brands.
How do I implement it?
Doing so in an open, collaborative manner, taking advantage of the possibilities of e-commerce and points of sale, keeping close to targets/occasions/consumer environments and thinking about the value of the object rather than the size of the logo.
How innovative is it?
Merchandising is one of the great areas of innovation for brands of products and services that want to extend their value in a contemporary way.
Key concepts:
Merchandising, channel, DTC, upcycling, SDG, sustainability
I WANT IT FOR MY COMPANY/BRAND. WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
Who is using it already?
The field is not overcrowded with traditional brands and companies. It constitutes a fertile territory and a strategic opportunity that should be explored.
Things to keep in mind:
Merchandising and licensing have different objectives and involve different contributions for brands and companies. These are more significant in the field of merchandising.
It requires us to allocate human and technical resources with strategic aims and to be in tune with corporate marketing and communication decisions.
How do I get a clearer idea?
- Reading the UN’s updated SDGs
- Analysing in detail the brands that consider merchandising from a strategic perspective as a contribution to the lifestyle they propose (BMW)
How do I share it with my network?
“Why don’t we combine the brand’s merchandising with the sustainability programme?”
