by Tiffany Robertson | KEZA intern
Would you buy a diamond knowing it was harvested by child slaves? What about a cell phone, knowing that the coltan it took to create the phone batteries was harvested by soldiers that use rape as a tool of war.
What if there was a new ethical fashion brand (KEZA) created? Some form of certification (similar to fair trade and forest stewardship council certification), or ‘green stamp of approval’ that would ensure the consumer the product they are buying was produced in an environmentally, ethically, conflict-free, and socially responsible manner.
Marketing firms recognize the illustrious power a successfully branded product can have on profit. However, the consumers’ desire to want and thus purchase brands that are going to be representative of them is becoming increasingly more obvious. Branding is the process of communication between consumers and producers. I would go farther to say that branding is a relationship between the marketplace and society.
The millions of transactions between product purchase, manufacture, promotion and waste build this relationship. These transactions communicate the values, demands and interests of a society. The techniques of marketing and advertising firms, although often seen as a huge contribution to the unequal distribution of wealth in the world, can be used, and I believe should be used, as a powerful mechanism for global social, environmental, economical and cultural change.
Would you buy a product which was ‘branded (stamped) with approval’ over a product that wasn’t?? Would you pay more money for it?
Tags: africa, brand, coltan, conflict, congo, fair trade, keza
