- Huw Hughes
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Environmentally-conscious values are key for direct-to-consumer (DTC)
brands to engage consumers – but many aren’t advertising their efforts
clearly enough, a new study suggests.
New research by Rakuten Marketing found that one in four consumers
across Europe are demanding sustainable values when choosing to buy from
DTC brands. In Germany, 34 percent of consumers said they would be
motivated to buy from a DTC brand focusing on sustainable working
practices, while in France 26 percent said the same.
Focusing on the UK, 69 percent of consumers said they’d happily move to
a subscription based model for day-to-day high street purchases including
cosmetics, cleaning products and health supplements. Price (71 percent) and
product quality (50 percent) continue to be the most important factors
driving purchases, but a brand being ethical (17 percent) and sustainable
(16 percent) also now rank among the top demands among consumers.
Anthony Capano, managing director EMEA at Rakuten Marketing, said in a
statement: “Now these DTC brands have become successful international
businesses, they will encounter rising pressure to act as ‘good global
citizens’. Legacy brands like Waitrose have very effectively leveraged
consumer interest in sustainability across the media with attempts to
minimise packaging. This is certainly an area that could put DTC brands –
many of whom rely on packaging and transporting each product individually –
on the back foot.”
Brands need to better advertise their sustainability efforts
However, despite this growing interest in sustainability-focused
companies, many brands are still struggling to effectively promote and
advertise those values. The report found that only 47 percent of UK
consumers currently feel the advertising from DTC brands online and across
social media closely follow their interests.
Capano said: “One of the key ways brands will distinguish themselves
amongst eco-friendly consumers, will be partnering with the right
publishers in order to target the most relevant and engaged audiences.
Working with the right eco-affiliates will ensure they hit the right tone
with their eco-messaging and avoid any sustainability or ethics-based faux
pas, especially when marketing to regions further afield.”
Around a third of consumers said social media campaigns (34 percent) and
affiliate sites such as voucher and coupon websites (30 percent) are among
the most effective ways of peaking their interest in DTC brands.
Capano highlighted the importance of technology in making it possible to
identify such campaign opportunities. He said: “Advancements in AI and
machine learning are catalysing affiliate marketing’s ability to achieve
scale, and to improve personalisation and contextualisation. Armed with a
new automated toolset, inspired by the success programmatic has enjoyed in
the display arena, we now have the power to transform affiliate marketing
and supercharge the growth these industry leaders are currently
enjoying.”
Photo credit: Rawpixel.com, Pexels
