I should preface what I mean by sustainable marketing. It is not about greenwashing or sustainability or ESG. What I mean here are brands that have created clever, often simple marketing and PR that have allowed them to create a sustainable business.
What tactics are they using that you too could harness?
Budgets for fully integrated marketing campaigns are few and far between these days, and Meta algorithms make it hard for any small business to cut through the noise and reach its consumer. I have built four different PR agencies (one acquired and swallowed up, two that are still thriving, and the fourth being my current iteration). The fact that three are still thriving and not even competing with each other means that there was something very sustainable in the DNA, offering and bones of it. It’s these kinds of stories I want to unearth in this column.
Hannah Lavery specialises in capsule clothing in neutral colours for everyone
I have followed Hannah Lavery for years. I have shopped in the Parkhurst store once or twice (so yes, the online experience matches the physical), but, post-COVID, the online experience is still where ease is for most time-strapped people.
And it’s hard to keep sustaining there when you are a small independent retailer that specialises very much in capsule clothing in neutral tones (nothing yell-y, shouty, or pop culture-y happening here). And yet I never stop looking. Why?
I love that they bring their classics back often
The founder/owner lives the brand. She seems to be ageing backwards, rather annoyingly – but she gets in the clothes, she shows you the cleverness of the cut or the drape. And then she pulls her team in, which I love, often handing over the videos to them. Real people, all sizes, showing what one dress looks like on different shapes (hugely important when online shopping). I love that they bring their classics back often, as is, or slightly reinvented, it makes you feel that these clothes are in it for the long haul and that they are living their promise. Neutral. Capsule.
I also love that they have a WhatsApp group where you can ask questions – where they ENCOURAGE questions and engagement. It reminds me of the Habits days of old, where Jenny le Roux’s team of stylists were on WhatsApp hand to advise you on what was right, wrong or could be considered.
There are many local fashion brands on Instagram that are hopeless at engagement: answering DMs, following up on WhatsApps. I am not into naming and shaming, but the higher-end the brand or boutique, the less they could care: clothes and jewellery – throwing away a captive audience.
Last but not least, as Hannah Lavery’s team seems to grow, it’s also great to see that they have become more experimental with their social media. Small and big brands are always at risk when everything is built around the founder, and so when companies show you the team and other people behind the scenes, it gives you a sense of the depth and breadth of the business. Also, as a fellow entrepreneur, give me real. I love that they have their end-of-year party in January. Because WHO has time in December?
- Read more of Keri-Ann Stanton’s columns here
- Disclosure: Keri-Ann has her own strategic communications consultancy that is at full capacity – the brands featured here are not clients, or potential clients, they are simply brands that have caught her eye and inspired her with the POV of sustainable marketing or communication. Twyg has been a past client of her consultancy, and she has conceptualised brand collaborations with them in the past
- Images: Sourced from Hannah Lavery by the Twyg team
I should preface what I mean by sustainable marketing. It is not about greenwashing or sustainability or ESG. What I mean here are brands that have created clever, often simple marketing and PR that have allowed them to create a sustainable business.
What tactics are they using that you too could harness?
Budgets for fully integrated marketing campaigns are few and far between these days, and Meta algorithms make it hard for any small business to cut through the noise and reach its consumer. I have built four different PR agencies (one acquired and swallowed up, two that are still thriving, and the fourth being my current iteration). The fact that three are still thriving and not even competing with each other means that there was something very sustainable in the DNA, offering and bones of it. It’s these kinds of stories I want to unearth in this column.
Hannah Lavery specialises in capsule clothing in neutral colours for everyone
I have followed Hannah Lavery for years. I have shopped in the Parkhurst store once or twice (so yes, the online experience matches the physical), but, post-COVID, the online experience is still where ease is for most time-strapped people.
And it’s hard to keep sustaining there when you are a small independent retailer that specialises very much in capsule clothing in neutral tones (nothing yell-y, shouty, or pop culture-y happening here). And yet I never stop looking. Why?
I love that they bring their classics back often
The founder/owner lives the brand. She seems to be ageing backwards, rather annoyingly – but she gets in the clothes, she shows you the cleverness of the cut or the drape. And then she pulls her team in, which I love, often handing over the videos to them. Real people, all sizes, showing what one dress looks like on different shapes (hugely important when online shopping). I love that they bring their classics back often, as is, or slightly reinvented, it makes you feel that these clothes are in it for the long haul and that they are living their promise. Neutral. Capsule.
I also love that they have a WhatsApp group where you can ask questions – where they ENCOURAGE questions and engagement. It reminds me of the Habits days of old, where Jenny le Roux’s team of stylists were on WhatsApp hand to advise you on what was right, wrong or could be considered.
There are many local fashion brands on Instagram that are hopeless at engagement: answering DMs, following up on WhatsApps. I am not into naming and shaming, but the higher-end the brand or boutique, the less they could care: clothes and jewellery – throwing away a captive audience.
Last but not least, as Hannah Lavery’s team seems to grow, it’s also great to see that they have become more experimental with their social media. Small and big brands are always at risk when everything is built around the founder, and so when companies show you the team and other people behind the scenes, it gives you a sense of the depth and breadth of the business. Also, as a fellow entrepreneur, give me real. I love that they have their end-of-year party in January. Because WHO has time in December?
- Read more of Keri-Ann Stanton’s columns here
- Disclosure: Keri-Ann has her own strategic communications consultancy that is at full capacity – the brands featured here are not clients, or potential clients, they are simply brands that have caught her eye and inspired her with the POV of sustainable marketing or communication. Twyg has been a past client of her consultancy, and she has conceptualised brand collaborations with them in the past
- Images: Sourced from Hannah Lavery by the Twyg team
