Ethical promotions - Keeping it all fair

This is a trend no marketer can afford to ignore. Whereas a few years ago it was predominately charities and the public sector that showed a commitment to ethical products, this is now the case across the board, with many blue-chip companies making it a part of their corporate social responsibility policy.

"It's not a point of difference, but a requirement for companies," says Matt Franks, director of Eco Incentives, which provides eco-friendly and ethical promotional items. "It's a very hot agenda politically and it's driven by consumers."

The availability of Fairtrade and ethical products has also grown. In the promotional marketplace, House of Sarunds, Everything Environmental, Eco Incentives and Tomato Source are a few of the suppliers out there, with Pink Shrimp Sustainable Promotions launching in February from Blue Fish Promotions. "What was a gap in the market is closing," says Marc Penn, director at Blue Fish.

Stringent standards

To be marketed as Fairtrade in this country, a product must have Fairtrade Foundation approval, and to get this it has to meet the standards set by certification body the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International. These standards include the payment of decent wages, the freedom to join trade unions and a good standard of housing (if provided). Minimum health and safety and environmental standards must be complied with, and there must be no child or forced labour.

Many other products are also fairly traded, but don't have the Fairtrade Foundation certificate. Reasons for this include:

- where a product comes from (to meet Fairtrade criteria, it must originate from a developing country),

- what a product is (the standards cover only certain products, mostly food items),

- the proportion of Fairtrade ingredients or components within an item for a composite product such as chocolate (to qualify, 50 per cent of its ingredients or volume must be sourced from Fairtrade-certified producer organisations), and

- cost (to be accredited by the foundation and carry the logo, a company must pay a licence fee of 1.8 per cent of the net sales value of all products to the organisation (a price that some companies feel is too high).

Certifications

"We get asked every day whether there is a Fairtrade T-shirt," says Evan Lewis, managing director of Everything Environmental. "This means two things: is it fairly traded and made in a proper environment, or does it carry the official Fairtrade logo? Our products are fairly traded, but not all carry the mark. Over 2008, more will do so, but we will continue to carry others as they're cheaper."

There are a number of other certifications companies can look for if they are seeking a supplier that trades ethically: SA8000, created and managed by Social Accountability International, is a standard for decent working conditions.

Another standard comes from the Ethical Trading Initiative. Members adopt a code that helps improve working conditions all along their supply chain. There is also the Fair Wear Foundation, which promotes humane working conditions in garment factories with its code of practice and factory audits.

There is, however, no catch-all certification, so the advice is to not accept anything on face value. Emma Beeson, director at Tomato Source, says: "You need to ask suppliers how they know they are using ethical practices. In the absence of a single standard for the promotions and incentives market, tread with care and use reputable suppliers." For companies that want to check out their own supply chains, regular audits are advised.

"You should have a trail of paperwork to back up your claim and make you accountable," says Margot Parker, board director and spokesperson on European issues for the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA). "You have to have inspectors to ensure that the quality of what you are doing is taken all the way down the line."

The risks of getting it wrong are huge - and not just ethically. The damage to Gap's brand when consumers discovered it was using child labour will take a long time to overcome. Nike found itself in the same boat over similar claims about how its trainers and footballs were made. "If you're doing a promotion and are found to be using child labour or to have substandard accommodation, the damage to your brand is immense," says Graham Howarth, director at online and printed catalogue sourcing firm Source-e. "The factories we use are to the SA8000 standard. We also go in and check the living accommodation."

There are, however, a couple of big issues. In the incentives market, products are often needed quickly - and a company looking to source new or bespoke Fairtrade products can run into difficulty, says Peter Martin, managing director of continental chocolate and confectionery supplier House of Sarunds, of which Traidcraft is a customer. "You need a long lead time to give the Fairtrade Foundation time to approve it," he explains.

One solution is to personalise an existing product, although this has its limits. "You can personalise an existing product and keep its brand name, but if you change the brand name you'll need reapproval," he says.

Another issue is cost. Fairtrade products typically cost twice as much as non-Fairtrade ones. But as consumers grow more interested in ethical products, Eco Incentives' Franks believes companies that give them these products will be better considered and remembered. The products are also likely to stick around for longer. "The point of promotional items is the psychological element behind them. If a gift ties in with the recipient's own beliefs, it will stand out, so you get a lot more value for money," he says. And that, surely, is one of the biggest incentives of all.

SOURCING INCENTIVES THE ECO-FRIENDLY WAY

The desire of companies to do more for the environment has led to a steady expansion of the range of ethical incentives. Items such as recycled pens and recycled plastic mugs are now becoming mainstream. However, alongside that growth, buyers need to be scrupulous in understanding what it is they are buying.

According to Eco-Incentives founder Matt Franks, the phrase eco-friendly is in risk of being devalued by the questionable credentials of a number of products that carry it. "When you look at some of these products, the claims are very dubious," he says.

Many buyers want to tick the environmentally-friendly box without doing any research, and it is their responsibility as much as the supplier's that the product is all it claims to be. "Buyers need to dig deeper and satisfy themselves," says Franks. "Transparency is going to be a bigger issue and you should be able to provide written answers. A lot is taken at face value."

Evan Lewis, managing director of Everything Environmental, agrees. "On the one hand it makes me laugh, but on the other it makes me put my hands up. For example, I came across a mouse mat that was claiming to be eco-friendly because it was made from polypropylene rather then PVC, and an umbrella with a wooden handle being called eco-friendly. Lots of people are jumping on the bandwagon."

Companies also need to look at where a product was manufactured. It is self-defeating to buy a T-shirt made with organic cotton if it was made in a sweatshop in China and flown over to the UK. "You can go down the route of asking for audits," says Lewis, "but you can always just ask where it's being made."

Would-be buyers of ethical products are also advised to avoid over-complicating things when looking at what to buy. There is little point asking for something as exotic as a recycled bean bag, says Lewis, when there are a variety of simpler items, such as pens, which can be introduced overnight.

Another point is to throw away any misconceptions about eco-friendly products, Lewis says. These include the idea that eco-products are more expensive or drab or simply based around the desktop. But Franks says one of the most important points to remember when buying products is that the product needs to be right in itself.