Social with a Conscience: Alternative Holiday Campaigns
The most important reason I wanted to relaunch my social media consulting business as Totally Taryn Social this year was to work with purpose-driven brands that had a mission, and needed someone to help them realize it in social media. Since launching my business in 2014, I’d worked with over 40 brands, and was ready to take what I’d learned and apply it exclusively to social strategy for the progressive businesses that I felt I could make a real difference with. Now, less than one month after my relaunch, I’m delighted to be joined by a small team of social stars. And it turns out that our special blend of what we like to call Socially Conscious Social has proven to be in much greater demand than we even expected. We’re taking that as just another sign that values-based marketing is here to stay!
What else makes us extra confident that purpose-driven brands are more than a way to capitalize on a trend? The number of businesses that ran Alternative Holiday campaigns this year. The last quarter of the year is arguably the most important one in terms of sales, no matter what kind of products a brand sells. Consumers have gotten used to leveraging their credit cards to take advantage of Black Friday events, Cyber Monday sales, and all the Holiday Specials that pop up this time of year. Unfortunately, all these sales lead to a huge increase in shopping, and hyper-consumerism is one of the biggest threats to the world we call home. It will require a complete shift in how we produce and consume products to preserve our planet for future generations. Fortunately, there are forward-thinking brands out there who not only get it, but actually want to do something about it! So many brands in fact, that it was hard for us to pick our favorite Alternative Holiday Campaigns this year. So rather than attempt to rank them all, instead we’re sharing 3 different types of campaigns that put the focus on buying purposely and giving back.
#1 - Shop Slow
Last year, skincare brand Deciem celebrated Black Friday by closing all retail stores and blacking out its website with a single message: "We no longer feel comfortable being involved in a single day so heavily focused around hyper-consumerism.” Instead they encouraged their customers and social following to “shop-slow” for the entire month of November. And they put every product on sale!
This year they repeated the campaign and expanded on it with an informational content series called KNOWvember designed to educate their customers and encourage conscious consumption. They launched this initiative with a post on their Instagram that declared:
Bye-bye Black Friday. Hello KNOWvember.
Last November, we asked you to shop slowly. 🐢 We said that skincare purchases should be based on education, not impulse because we value conscious consumption. For us, Black Friday no longer felt like a people or planet-friendly event, and so we closed our stores and website for a moment of nothingness. We did, however, still want to bring you a saving. And so, we did something we had never done before by offering 23% off every product for the entire month.
Starting today, that 23% saving is back, but with a commitment to share daily educational content for the entire month, which we have named KNOWvember—a mindful month of education, research, reflection, and consideration. 🔬🤔...
Hyper-consumerism remains one of the biggest threats to the planet, and we know that an urgent change in how humans produce and consume products is required. The UN communicated that “according to latest projections, the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050. The equivalent of almost three planets could be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles.” (UN.org).
On November 27th—formerly known as Black Friday—we will be pressing pause. Our stores and website will be closed, once again, for a moment of nothingness.
We hope KNOWvember and our month-long discount will empower you with the resources required to buy less, but better.
Enjoy, and please remember to shop slowly :-)
Deciem’s creative and values-focused take on Black Friday encouraged consumers to really consider their purchases and only buy what they actually needed. This slow shopping push proved to be a triple win for customers, the planet and the brand! The latter no doubt benefitting from increased sales for the entire month instead of a rush of orders on a single day. Which proves that sometimes the right thing to do can also be a profitable!
#2 Black Friday Rebellion
I first discovered Angela Roi at a pop up show on top of the PETA building in Echo Park in 2014. I was immediately drawn to their beautiful vegan leather bags and bought my first one that day. I loved how the bag looked and felt, but I was really sold on the brand’s ethics. They believe in a world without compromise. Their mission is to transform the way we think about fashion with ethical accessories that are good for all creatures. Not only are their bags constructed exclusively of non-animal materials, but their artisans earn fair wages and work in clean, comfortable factories. Since that day I’ve continued to be a loyal brand advocate and now have five Angela Roi originals in my closet. Maybe one day post pandemic they’ll even get to go outside again.
Their Black Friday Rebellion was simple and totally on brand. In keeping with their mission they shifted the focus away from ‘shop till you drop’ to gratitude and giving back. The brand encouraged their followers to donate to Feeding America, or the non-profit of their choice. With a screenshot proving the completed donation in any amount, fans were rewarded with a 20% off gift code and a heartfelt thank you for being a “Creature of Conscience.”
Much like Deciem’s “Shop Slow” campaign Angela Roi’s “Black Friday Rebellion” was an ethics-focused take on Black Friday. And it was so popular they extended it until 12/6! Customers could feel better about their purchase knowing they were helping those less fortunate before sending money on themselves, and the brand cemented themselves as one that really cares about more than profits in the eyes of consumers. And if the reviews they posted on social are any indicator they didn’t have to sacrifice on sales to achieve their goal.
#3 Giving Tuesday Giveathon
OK, for the record I admit and apologize that I’m about to toot our horn a little here, but it’s only in hopes that someone copies us this year!
On Giving Tuesday last year, Totally Taryn Social posted on social that we were ready to get our Give On but needed a little help deciding where. We opened it up to the comments so that our followers could suggest the organizations that best aligned with their values. We promised to make a donation to as many as we could. By the next morning, we were excited to announce that we’d been able to donate to over 40 non-profits!
This had a larger benefit than the feel good effect it provided to our fans, the organizations we sent money to, and ourselves: it also drove engagement! In fact, a year later it is still our most engaging post to date. Now could we have just spent the money on ads to get some new eyeballs on our social profiles and website? Sure, but those eyeballs probably wouldn’t have been as likely to follow us on Instagram, sign up for our newsletter and hopefully work with us one day! So yes, we definitely did it for the warm fuzzies, but it also made sense as a business decision, too.
I don’t want to spoil the surprise but our 2021 Giving Tuesday campaign is pretty amazing! Stay tuned to our Instagram to be the first to know.
All three campaigns types described above required a little out-of-the-box thinking and faith that consumers are ready for something different. There’s plenty of evidence to support that they are! In fact, a 2019 study showed that 78% of consumers now believe it is no longer acceptable for a company to just make money. They expect companies to make a positive impact on society as well. We’re guessing that after the year we’ve all had, that percentage might have climbed a little higher. And we’re more confident than ever, that Social with a Conscience is the future.
Totally,
Taryn