Challenges Conscious Consumer Brands Face

Businesses today are redefining what it means to be a conscious brand. But there isn’t one clear solution to the cause that can be accepted as efficient. Among brands, the definition of consciousness varies. Be it a community wide change, a change in the characteristics of an existing business model or finding environmentally sustainable ways to enhance the experience of the consumer; there are various challenges that conscious brands face today.

Conscious brands tend to have an aim to encourage more sustainable, ethical and environmentally conscious development by means of their products, communication and ways in which they engage the ecosystem. This leaves the consumers with the thought of purchasing products for a cause and is therefore, more likely to grow the business once customers begin to understand and relate to the purpose that these brands are working towards. Thereby creating an opportunity to create awareness and act as a stepping stone to generating environmental impact in society.

What is Conscious Consumerism?

“Conscious Consumerism” is a term most commonly used to describe consumerism that is ethical and ‘green’. A new age attitude adopted by individuals who pay attention to the effects of their purchases on the environment before making said purchase. It encapsulates a specific set of people who tend to put their money where their mouth is and spend on products that are ethical in their practices and have little to no impact on the environment. The goal is driven by purchasing and interacting with a community that has a positive environmental, social, political and economical impact on the planet.

A radicalized movement with a view towards a better future, there are plenty of inspiring people who strive everyday to bring conscious consumerism to reality.

What are the challenges that brands face?

Finding people to agree to a cause and ride the bandwagon is the easy bit, but getting individuals to contribute to a cause and give a thought to what they purchase is undoubtedly a huge ask.

In many cases, the people may be interested in purchasing products from conscious brands, but the product may be priced quite high; leading to affordability being a factor that withholds a purchase. If the product sells well, there is a chance it’ll garner more attention and sell for cheaper. But in order for it to sell cheaper, there must be people willing to buy these products daily.

Apart from this, what most people say, doesn’t always align with what they do. Consumers may want to buy products that are ethical to the environment. But when a cheaper option is available, they’re driven to click ‘order now’.

Where does this lead to?

Having people agree with the cause is not the end goal.

Getting communities to contribute together, finding the right sources of capital — investors and stakeholders, identifying the right channels of media, finding people paying attention to that media and identifying the sector in which impact can be created is of prime importance.

How can you contribute as a Conscious Consumer?

The reality is that no human being is 100% conscious of the environment. We all have our specific needs and will buy products to meet those needs. However, making the smallest change can be easy on the wallet while helping conscious brands scale and create impact.

It’s a slow process. But by adopting basic changes in lifestyle — ones that suit us best — we can create a collaborative impact.

Experiences from Conscious brands:

Dextrus recently hosted an online convention where we welcomed the people behind 04 Indian FMCG brands, who delved into their stories, and shared insights on how we, as consumers, can help create impact.

This insightful conversation was led by Tanushri Shukla, founder of Chindi.in & Manager — Circular Apparel Innovation Factory, Intellecap, and expertise of speakers namely:

• Arshiya Bose, Founder of Black Baza Coffee Co.,
• Sahar Mansoor, Founder of Bare Necessities Zero Waste Solutions,
• Srinivas Krishnaswamy, Founder of Krya Consumer Goods and
• Dhimant Parekh, Founder of The Better India and The Better Home.

Each of whom had something unique to say.

Arshiya began generating impact by spearheading a movement to purchase what’s local. With coffee being grown in the native regions of India, there is a sense of humanitarianism which leads to ecological and economical justice being a priority. With a focus on biodiversity, local produce and consumers who are willing to pay for a cause, Black Baza Coffee generates impact in global sustainability.

Sahar focuses on zero waste and non-plastic products. Her belief is that profit isn’t the end goal; generating impact among consumers is. The narrative here being the one about plastic as a bane to society.

Dhimant has a focus on making individual homes sustainable. With the ‘Better India’, Dhimant has succeeded in bringing his voice of environmentalism to his potential consumers. He initiated the process by creating awareness and educating the masses about the need to be conscious. The way to do this is to build active communities by giving the reins to the people who invest in the product. First hand experiences from consumers allows for a community to talk and start growing organically. This is the value system Better Homes believes in, as opposed to raising capital in a set time.

Srinivas saw the invisible problem of the water crisis (pollution and scarcity) and began raising awareness for the same through Krya. With the name itself meaning ‘mindful action’, taking every step in the right direction to reduce chemical impact on the planet has been his goal.

With these agendas and a focus on generating impact across the years to come, the conversation gave us an insight into how businesses inculcate consciousness among us, and how we, as a community may choose to react to it.

The above instances are from a live panel discussion as hosted by Dextrus in association with Sankalp Intellecap. At Dextrus, we encourage collaborative efforts among communities and brands that can come together to create and innovate.