The only thing I love more than a social enterprise is a social enterprise that is nailing it! So for this week's article, I want to show you four amazing social impact businesses who are doing just that.
Today our four fantastic mission positive brands are Thankyou, StrEAT, Who Gives A Crap and Tsuno. These are all businesses which I personally love for their great products and the equally great work that they’re putting out into the world.
Read on for a little about each, and then my thoughts on why they’re smashing it:
THANKYOU
Thankyou makes water, food, body care and baby products and gives 100% of the profits to helping people in need in those respective areas. eg. profits from selling bottled water help to build wells and profits from their baby products go towards improving maternal health standards for women in need.
For more info and the source of all images visit: https://thankyou.co/
STREAT
STREAT brings about social change for homeless and disadvantaged youth through their social enterprise cafe’s, selling amazing coffee and many other awesome programs.
For more info and the source of all images visit: https://www.streat.com.au/
TSUNO
Tsuno makes super sustainable bamboo fibre sanitary pads. Half their profits are donated to charities empowering women living in poverty. Charities they support include One Girl and Share the Dignity.
For more info and the source of all images visit: http://www.tsuno.com.au/
WHO GIVES A CRAP
These peeps make 100% recycled toilet paper, and donate 50% of profits to build toilets in the developing world. As they say “Good for your bum, Great for the world!"
For more info and the source of all images visit: https://au.whogivesacrap.org/
SO WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON? WHERE ARE THEY NAILING IT?
Uniqueness & Outstanding design
This is the first and probably most important point. All our brands have completely nailed creating a truly unique vibe that’s been perfectly designed. While it’s fantastic to make things look cool, the real benefit here is that all the brands look totally different from their competitors - making them easy to recognise and more importantly - remember!
Streat has a really authentic, rustic and community feel and is down to earth which matches perfectly with their philosophy. Who Gives A Crap have taken everything you’d assume about toilet paper and thrown it out the window - they’re bright, fun, use fantastic copywriting and have nothing ‘toilet-y’ about them at all.
Premium vibe
Building on the point above, they’ve all been sure to create a premium feel. This is so key because it completely smashes stereotypical expectations that social enterprise/not for profit products which are good for the world will lack the qualities of fashionable and premium brands. This focus on a high-level aesthetic means buyers find that they’re drawn to the sense of 'high quality' first, noticing the social enterprise factor second. Bonus! A great example of this is with Thankyou, using black plastic for the bottles in their body & baby ranges instantly brings them into the league of top-notch brands like Aesop.
They’re experts at engaging with their audience
All these brands have taken a premium aesthetic and strengthened it with clever copy and messaging. They’ve basically hit their target audience on the bullseye and are keeping their content engaging. Who Gives A Crap are really on to this in one particular area; on the inside of their toilet roll wrapping they have well-written facts about what their products achieve and some handy recommendations for how you can re-use the packaging - think joining the dots, wrapping paper etc.
Even the packaging is meaningful
These brands have all taken the opportunity to add meaning to their packaging as well. Who Gives A Crap’s packaging is gorgeous and can be re-used, Tsuno showcases different editions of an Australian artist’s work, StrEAT is always biodegradable, and Thankyou packages include a tracking code to measure the impact of the product you’ve purchased.
Consistency
Lastly but not least - This is a real simple one that I’ve mentioned a few times before, these brands are all over the consistency factor. As you can see from the images - all of their communications and graphics have the same vibe, so their message every chance to hit come, and there’s never any confusion.
So there you go! Social Enterprises are always inspiring, but now you can be double inspired by their clever branding!
'Til next time - have a good one!
P.S. While I'd love to be affiliated with these brands in some way, I'm not - this post was purely an exercise in admiration!