Header Leitartikel One of Us

Who is running our sneakers?

Ceri and Nat von eatsleeporganic
Ceri and Nat from Great Britain: Ethletic supporters by conviction.

“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come”, the old quote says. Plus, there’s nothing more powerful than a community with shared values to live by. This is what we experience first-hand – with you, our customers and supporters aka the Ethletic “Fair Family”. Our new ONE OF US campaign wants to celebrate this spirit: On the occasion of this year’s Fashion Revolution Week, we are going to start a series of portraits showcasing the diversity and strength of our community. Why? Because it’s you who make this “small Fair Trade project” – as our boss likes to put it – work! While Mark Zuckerberg’s new Facebook algorithm wants us to spend more and more money on marketing, we want to say: No! And rather clear the stage – for you!

The 24th of April, marks the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster, in which more than 1,100 people lost their lives due to the collapse of a textile factory. Every year, our friends from Fashion Revolution call people out around the world to ask fashion companies: “Who made my clothes?”

Since we at Ethletic know our producers and their working and living conditions very well, we thought that we would just turn the question, “Who made my clothes?” around.

We want to know, who are the people who pay attention to social and environmental issues, buy sustainable products and do their part to make sure the world keeps on turning?

Who are our customers and what makes them different?

From this, the idea was born to further involve our Ethletic Community. We asked several people if they would like to share some things about themselves, so that we could introduce them as people who have already taken steps to change our world.

In our section ONE OF US, it’s about you – our Ethletic friends. We will gradually introduce more and more people from our midst, and show how diverse our community really is.

“We want to build a strong community of people that inspire and motivate each other.”

It’s fun to create a spark in a community, and see how it takes shape and evolves. We are thrilled with all of the participation and with all of the photos that have been voluntarily submitted free of charge. This helps us a lot because our current marketing and advertising budget is self-limited.

“Sustainability does not stop with marketing. Ethletic is not just a sneaker brand, it’s primarily a Fairtrade project.”

A message by word of mouth

We also want to spread our message and promote our ethical alternative. Instead of spending money on the high cost of marketing, we contribute to our employees select joint projects through the Welfare Society. Thus, our advertising expenses are always less than the social premiums that Ethletic pays. Companies that prefer to spend their money on advertising rather than controlled production are more likely to incur bad luck through purchases – like Rana Plaza’s.

Through our purchasing decisions, we as consumers can influence the fashion world. Even more important for Ethletic is the way you can influence your friends, families and colleagues. Word of mouth is more valuable to us than any social media advertisement – because nothing is as credible as the recommendation from a good friend.

Sabina (31) aus Berlin
Sabina from Berlin: She will be the first person to be portrayed for ONE OF US.

This year, Ethletic will introduce not only the people who make our sneakers, but also the people who wear our sneakers. By doing this we are helping to ensure that disasters like Rana Plaza on April 24, 2013, won’t happen again. This year we ask you:

“Who is running our sneakers?”

If you want to introduce yourself and become a part of our ONE OF US campaign, check this link for all the details.

We thank you for your support!

Your Ethletic-Team

 


Text: Marc Solterbeck, Sandra Laffrenzen & Annika Langhagel
Translation: John Jeffrey Collier