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What is in a claim? Sometimes, a product cannot be defined by its claim, and that has become a big problem for the consumer -packaged goods industry. Take Dr. Bronner and PhrasesFor example, they both recently announced that they are dropping their certification B Corp so they perceive that we must weaken the standards that allow green washing.
The panorama of changing claims
What b global lip has done is admirable. In 2006, they set out to recognize companies that were a force for good: comply with high standards for social and environmental performance, transparency and responsibility. They deserve credit on the other hand in starting a global movement that redefined the role of business in society and helped mark the beginning of a new era of capitalism, where the purpose and profits are priorities.
But something fundamental happened on the path that revolutionized how deeply we can understand the products, but B Corp and many of today’s products statements do not take into account: the proliferation of data. Initially, consumers saw the “B” and assumed that it meant health, sustainability or ethical practices. But as access to information increased, people began to dig more deeply. And what did they find? Sometimes not much. The B Corp label, like many generic statements, became a general term that indicates different things for different people, or nothing at all.
A consumer calculation is here
This problem is not exclusive to B Corp; It is a smaller symptom of consumers. Consider the term “clean beauty.” It lacks a standardized definition, leaving its meaning to interpretation. For some, it is equivalent to products with safe ingredients; For others, it could be sustainable containers. But even “safe” and “sustainable” are too lazy to tell us what we really want to know, as if a fragrance does not contain allergens or if your packaging is composable. Purchases have almost become a riddle game; But it is one that the modern consumer refuses to play.
I had my own “Aha” moment when I was pregnant with my first daughter and I began to be hyperent of what ingredients and materials were in the things I was putting in my body. Through my extensive research, I quickly discovered how much of what we are exposed is toxic to human health and even started an Excel spreadsheet of what to avoid, that I consulted every time I made a purchase. It is what led me to find Novi Connect, which gives brands and retailers the tools to provide data, signals and even stories to consumers about their products.
Ten years ago, this could have sounded excessive. But today, more consumers demand this level of transparency. They want clarity and precision, not ambiguity, and it is time for brands and retailers to deliver.
The power of granular data
Here are the good news: they can. With the proliferation of data and AI, we are quickly advancing beyond binary labels and adopting a world of sophisticated and specific products attributes. This granularity allows brands and retailers to attend the nuanced values of their customers.
My favorite illustrative example of how this can appear is glycerin. Glycerin is one of the most benign and non -controversial ingredients and is present in almost all the products we use. But depending on how it is done, you can serve consumers with very different values. If it derives from plants, that means it is vegan; But that also generally means that it derives from palm oil. Was palm oil obtained responsible? If so, this claim can be ensured that no unfair deforestation or work practices were used in glycerin production. Or perhaps the palm and glycerin were not used, it was derived from a less common raw material such as coconut oil. Now you can make a claim without palm, which could be important for those looking for products that align with their environmental values.
These are the questions that buyers ask, and demand verified answers before deciding where to spend their money.
The retailer’s responsibility
While consumers are promoting this change, responsibility is in brands and retailers to adopt it and discover how to make it work for their customers and, ultimately, their businesses. It is important to keep in mind that there is a delicate balance between presenting information for a perfect purchase experience and providing detailed products of products.
Amazon is an example of a poster of how this can be. They use the green leaf symbol to provide a high level signal and attract the customer, then they also allow it to explore the details of why a product obtained that designation. Its program includes 55 unique certifications for which a product can qualify. That may sound overwhelming; But it takes into account that not all buyers care about the same things, and not all certifications are relevant to all products.
With this system, it is easy to identify products that meet their personal criteria, whether focused on the health and safety of ingredients; emissions and carbon reduction; agriculture and how products are grown and process; And so on. You can see how this approach respects the need for the buyer of simplicity and depth. And Amazon is strengthening its final result in the process, promoting increases in two digits both in the discovery of pages and in sales with its flagship program. This is how the purpose and profits align.
When companies properly take advantage of the data to allow people to buy with a purpose aligning belief purchases, create a more personalized purchase experience that keeps the customer returning. In the current market, where there are endless options and instant access to information, loyalty is essential. After all, if you don’t have regular customers, you don’t have a business.
So, the choice is clear: embrace transparency or irrelevance of risk. The future of retail trade belongs to those who train consumers with the truth. Tell them exactly What is in a claim?
Kimberly Shenk is co -founder and executive director of Novi Connect.
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