Facing up to negative brand issues

Cato Hunt at Space Doctors explains why embracing your dark side helps you see the light

 

People today are more aware, empowered, and more vocal than ever. They are paying closer attention to what businesses believe in, what they value, and how they behave.

 

For many years, big business has put the onus on consumers to change their behaviour – and of course, many are. But we need more than individual action to create the change we need to see. We need deeper, systemic transformation from organisations who can influence and scale change.

 

People are looking for brands and organisations to step up, be honest about their impacts and explain what they are doing about it. People don’t expect you to be Patagonia, but they do expect commitment and transparency.

 

Identifying your shadows

Every successful organisation creates ‘positive’ impact in some way – solving a clear need, making people feel good, helping them do something faster, or giving access to something they couldn’t do before. These benefits are the core of any traditional branding or marketing campaign.

 

But we don’t spend time thinking about the costs to these benefits: the energy we use, the waste we create, the creation of needs we didn’t know we had, the negative contribution that any product or service creates. These are our shadows, and every business has them.

 

As we move to a point where multiple systems are in collapse and we continue to push beyond planetary boundaries, we urgently need to address our shadows. All organisations are feeling the pressure of environmental threats, fragile supply chains, resource constraints, rising costs and new legislation.

 

One way in which businesses can facilitate these conversations and encourage introspection is through ‘Shadow Mapping’. Taking its name from Jung’s shadow archetype theory, this process builds on the concept of semiotic mapping to dimensionalise a cultural space, idea, or category – with the negatives taking centre stage.

 

Turning your shadows into light

Take the world of fashion as an example. For some brands, it’s fast, it’s fun and it’s constantly new, giving people the ability to affordably and accessibly experiment and express themselves in a playground of ever shifting identity play.

 

But the shadows of this space are deep. Excessive landfill, addiction, sweatshops, child labour. By mapping our shadows, we reveal the tension and the issues to be resolved. How can fast fashion brands offer affordable clothing without contributing to these negative social and environmental harms?

 

To tackle these tensions, brands need to innovate through cultural resolutions. A great example of this comes from Depop, who encourage circular fashion through preloved clothing. A slick digital interface creates a dynamic peer-to-peer marketplace, meeting the need for newness and identity play for their (predominantly Gen Z) community.

 

Overall, the focus on addressing wastefulness is growing fast - even high-end department store Selfridges has launched ‘Reselfridges’ which encourages people to purchase preloved designer clothing in store and online.

 

But let’s not forget the space of practical, comfortable clothing – not high fashion, but purposeful. Even this can have its shadows. For example, the ‘forever chemicals’ that create waterproofing on performance fabrics never degrade or disappear, they will forever be in our water, soil, wildlife, our bodies.

 

A brand that’s seeking to resolve this tension is Pangaia, which is championing nature inspired innovation – think dyes created from bacteria, coats that use a feather-free down made from wildflowers or ink that’s extracted from air pollution by capturing carbon particles. 

 

Then we have the space of high-end glamour and aspiration – the world of high fashion, artistry, flamboyance. But it’s also the space of body dysmorphia, status anxiety, unpaid internships, and waste – around 30% of clothes are routinely destroyed each season.

 

Copenhagen Fashion Week is leading the way in inviting us to reimagine what high fashion could be. Think outside runways (no staging, sets, or lighting), and a careful selection of brands which adhere to 18 different environmental and social standards including: smart material choices, working conditions, and show production. All the requirements were fully implemented in its autumn/winter 2023 show, proving to its global counterparts that real change is possible, and offering a blueprint on how to make it happen.

 

And lastly, there’s the world of craft, of timeless items and classic designs which are always in style and made to last a lifetime. As ‘slow fashion’, it cuts waste, keeps dying craft traditions alive and supports highly skilled craftspeople in local communities. But it’s also expensive, exclusive, and doesn’t work for a decent proportion of your wardrobe needs - think gym gear or school clothes for your kids.

 

Creating a brighter future

Every category will have its own shadows to face. But, by identifying their shadow sides, companies can find the opportunities and the resolutions that can lie at the heart of more transformational change.

 

Of course, no brand can operate in a way that’s wholly without its negatives, but businesses need to face facts: what has made you successful thus far cannot continue in the future. Ask yourselves: ‘What do you rely on to be successful?’

 

By peeling back these layers you will start to reveal a complex, interdependent and increasingly fragile system. Focusing on what will make you more resilient and more capable of dealing with these inevitable changes will set you on a different, and ultimately more meaningful path.

 

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Cato Hunt is Joint Managing Director at global cultural and creative consultancy Space Doctors

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com