TRANSCRIPT

Glady Llanes (Host): In a world where consumers are increasingly conscious of their impact on the environment, businesses that prioritize ethical and sustainable practices not only benefit the planet, but also gain a competitive advantage and build long term consumer loyalty.

Today, let’s dive into ethical green marketing and how words and ideas could spark change.

Welcome to Grassroots in Action, where we catch up on grassroots experiences and practices that impact one person, one community at a time. In this podcast, we invite emerging leaders and change makers to share their firsthand impact experiences on solutions to issues from climate change to public health impact investment to humanitarian protection and so on, giving insights to impact solutions across the globe.

This is Gladys from Diinsider Life. Your host for today.

Today’s guest is Lara Eviota, who has more than four years of experience in journalism, writing content creation, video production, branding and social media marketing. She’s worked with impact driven organizations such as Make Sense, the piece timeline, Gabriela youth and basically borrowed. She is also published in remake Rappler of and of course, Diinsider Life, among others.

Today we will be diving into the world of ethical green marketing with Lara. As I know, she has been focusing her career in this aspect. Well, hi, Lara. How are you today?

Lara Eviota (Guest): Hi, Gladys. I’m doing okay. I am pretty busy today, actually. Like, I just caught on a meeting before coming into this interview for the podcast and then I have like an article that I’m that’s due tomorrow. It’s about colonialism in fashion, so. Wow. Yeah. A lot going on. 

Gladys: Busy, busy. But thank you for being here.

Lara: Yeah, sure. I’m also glad that you invited me. I can’t wait to sit down and talk about, in fact, with you and how I do it in my own ways.

Gladys: Yeah. So to get started, I think you can. Maybe you could tell us more about who you are and what you do.

Lara: so I am Lara, and I’m a storyteller, first and foremost. So but what I really do right now is I help sustainability and impact driven brands, acquire leads, donors, customers, etc, through strategic and ethical content marketing. But yeah, that’s what I do. It looks different for clients, for projects. So sometimes it’s focused on social media. So I’m working on like social media marketing the calendar, the design, stuff like that. Another it’s for like blogs, like articles. So it really varies. But the, the core of what this week is really to write and to market ethically, like green products, sustainable products. Yeah.

Gladys: I guess let’s, let’s dive into that because this is a very modern concept, ethical green marketing. And I know that this is a big word buzzword on these days. Can you tell us more what this is all about? And, you know, why are you choosing this career over many other careers that you can have? I Guess.

Lara: Okay, Sure. So as you may already know what our listeners don’t yet know, I’m a storyteller, but I start. I started with writing before I went into the design and all that. So of course when you’re writing the natural progression, guess for me anyway, was I went into content writing, so I started doing blogs on the side when I was in school so I could earn extra money. And then later on that became copywriting. So this is when I write to sell things to get money.

So it became more like there was a lot more responsibility to it as opposed to just content writing where I just write, I don’t really think much about like itself things will it do this, do that. But when it came to copywriting, I really had to write with the goal of selling things and understand why, like businesses have to sell things because of course that’s how they their profit and that’s also how they sell their solutions to people. So like they’ll be helped, right? But I noticed in the industry that there are a lot of sleazy copywriting and marketing tactics, like there’s when there’s a lot of copy or like writing that guilt trips people to buy or they employ these really weird tactics that like gets you to buy even though you actually don’t want to buy it or you’re not ready to buy it. But I also thought like it was so unethical and like, sleazy, like, I don’t want if I’m selling something, I don’t want to force it on people down people’s throats. I don’t want to guilt trip them like buy products.

I just felt like the more and more, the deeper and deeper I went into that industry, the more I felt like I was going against my values and like I’m compelled or like forced to do things that just didn’t align with my personal values.

So I was really challenged with that. Like even until now, it’s something I, I struggle with, like balancing, like drawing the line between like, values and work. It’s like especially with like copywriting and marketing where you have to get people to spend on sometimes not very, very affordable things, you know. So yeah, that’s something I had to, I, I struggled with and that’s also what led me to do ethical marketing. I tried to it’s still marketing, but I don’t use those sleazy tactics.

Mhm. So like what, what does sleazy tactics like for example in the context of green ethical marketing? So just to break down the two descriptors, because we all know that marketing is about like selling things, selling product selling. Green is when you’re like promoting or selling a sustainably driven product. So it could be consignment store instead of like a fast fashion brand. It could be selling as source garments or it could be selling an aqua flask, which end up in in the sense that it helps you save up on like it helps you, like not use plastic, you know? So it could also be like something like bamboo straw or something like that. So it’s selling green products, basically. That’s the way to green marketing. And then ethical is just doing going about it in an ethical way because there’s a lot of things in marketing, lots of tactics that are bordering unethical.

Gladys: I have a very interesting question because advertising and marketing, that’s really how the consumerism works these days, you know, and and I know that people or sorry brands wanted to to be on the ethical side like they want they, they use like green branding for these things because it has been a buzzword and also it has been the, the, the uh like the context that, you know, way forward, especially with the climate change, um, issues that we have.

So I’m just wondering, how do you, how do you feel about big brands, you know, like big corporations doing this type of marketing and like is what’s, what’s happening with big brands right now and in, in terms of their marketing and green marketing that they’re doing? And I don’t know, maybe you could also give some insights from your research comparison and so on. Like, is this sustainable and or is is this just tricking people to buy things?

Lara: Okay. Well, marketing a lot of marketing and what makes it like green and ethical depends on the product that it’s also like trying to sell.

So just for an example, I had a client, they said they were a sustainable fashion brand and then this was one of my first clients. So I was like very excited and I didn’t really think much of it yet. I was just like really excited to work with a sustainable fashion brand and their market. So I kept asking them questions because of course I wanted to sell their product well, right? I really wanted to communicate their their story and their values well. So I kept asking questions and then these questions would always get cut down or like they wouldn’t answer me clearly or they just didn’t give me a lot of information to begin with.

So I started like doing research on my own, like the documents of the files they sent me and even things I found online about them. So like looking through their own website, their own social media. And it didn’t take me long to realize that they’re not actually sustainable. So I was promoting their products as sustainable. But when, like the further I dug into them and their product, I realized that they’re not actually sustainable.

Like they don’t disclose. They don’t disclose anything to me about their supply chain, the way they were very secretive about it, the way they would always like shoot down my questions gave me the impression that they probably did not know much about what they were doing. They just hopped on the on the bandwagon because, like you told me, that sustainability is big nowadays and like there are more and more sustainable brands like cropping up and that’s good and well.

But there are also like people just riding that bandwagon not to actually push for sustainability, but just to like get more profit. This is what’s trending nowadays. So when I when I wrote this that, you know, perhaps the spread, the spread isn’t exactly like as sustainable as it makes itself have to believe. Because I noticed that they were using like fabrics that weren’t actually like sustainable in the first place. When asked about sourcing, they wouldn’t answer much. I left that, um, client.

So that’s just an example of not all sustainable brands or not all brands that claim to be sustainable and use these buzzwords such as ethical, sustainable, ethically sourced, cruelty free. It doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily sustainable. 

Gladys: Yeah, I think it’s called greenwashing. 

Lara: Yeah, it’s called greenwashing. And not to not to discount that, of course, like the efforts that brands are making.

Gladys: Right.

Lara: Just like there are like very big brands and big corporations that started like on an unsustainable foundation and they are super big. It’s so hard to make them like 100% sustainable or like sustainable to our standards, right?

But greenwashing, that’s when it becomes an issue because these like big brands, even though they’re taking steps to the right direction like they have, um, they’re giving out sustainability reports, they’re using more ethical materials, ethically sourced materials, for example. And all these other initiatives. They sort of inflate that, inflate their actions and make it out to be bigger than what they really are. The cover up for things that they still do but are not sustainable. I’m not sure. Does that make sense to you?

Gladys: Yeah. I mean, it’s hard. It’s hard to to get away from from this, you know, because everyone we can see the efforts that these big brands are the new exciting brands are doing. But yeah, I think that just plain lying to just cover up bigger issues that’s the where where everything is is not good for for this.

But um going away from all the, um, the, the, the negative things about, uh, ethical marketing and also with greenwashing. I want to know some impact actually, because for sure there are some stories that you can share with us. So I was wondering if on top of your mind, what’s the most impactful thing that you’ve experienced in this line of work so far?

Lara: Um, let me think.

One of my most favorite projects, I would say, yeah, it’s with another sustainable fashion trend. And this one I can say actually really does think about sustainability and is not just there to turn a profit.

What I did for them initially is actually started by interning with them. So this was in my college days and then after my internship they took me on as a freelancer. I started with graphic design, just graphic design and then copywriting. But then I told them, okay, let’s try to do like social media marketing, like I can take social media or social media marketing world off your back. So I did their social media marketing and I helped them like connect with their audience better. So when I started out, they didn’t get a lot of engagement from their community, so they would just get a few likes here and there. Zero comments or no, like a comment here and there as well. And the founder wanted me to engage the audience better, to get to understand the audience better and to get them to talk to us.

So what I did is I kept putting out like value adding content, and I would also publish market surveys, the quick market surveys. So I was doing their Instagram and I would like all the followers like what they need help with, what they struggle with in terms of fashion. And then I would also put out like content that helps them with thrifting, helps them with decluttering and so on, so forth.

That was it was a sustainable fashion brand. So it started with that. It just started with a lot of like talking with the audience, helping the audience.

And then eventually I noticed like a trend, which is this was in the middle of the pandemic. So get this, that the people need to declutter because they have so many clothes and they have nowhere to put it in anymore because they don’t use them anymore. And they notice that nobody else in the virtual space at the time was really helping with that problem that they had. And this is a sustainability related problem is what do you do with all these unused clothes? Like if you just discard them like like through the garbage or trash bag that’s going to end up in landfills. And a lot of those clothes are still like wearable, right? Or they still can be reused for something. Yeah. So I was thinking in my head already, even though it was not exactly within my job description, I wanted to to give something back. So I pitched to our founder, Hey, what if we do a virtual swap party? So a clothing swap. So we have been totally online and then people from all around the Philippines can like swap clothes. So we’ll just like show their clothes, talk about it, talk about the size, the fabric and all that stuff. And then if someone wants it, they’re gonna take it. And then if you want something from their closet, the then you take it first come, first serve and it’s completely free. The only thing you have to pay for is the shipping or delivery. That’s basically what a swap party is.

That’s also how I pitched it. The founder. My client. And she thought it was like, okay, I’m not sure how the logistics will work, but let’s give it a try.

So when we I led the social media marketing efforts again and I think during the first event there were around like eight or so who joined, if I remember correctly. And then it went so well, like people like that. And people kept inquiring with the brand later on, Hey, do you have more swap parties coming? They have more this and that. When can we join the next one? How does it work? And we didn’t even like reach out for them anymore. These were people that naturally just messaged the brand because they wanted to join the swap parties.

Eventually we made that swap party a short book lead magnet. So if you’re not familiar with that, with what that is, since it is a technical term, a lead magnet is how it’s basically like content or a sort of project that helps you. It just helps. It helps you get your target markets on facts. So we didn’t even reach them much faster. So in this case, the brand just started making their own Facebook group and yeah, that takes a while to build up, right? So yeah, when we started it was still at zero and we wanted audience or customers to join that Facebook group.

So that was the challenge for me. Like, how do I get these people to join the Facebook group? Our platform is predominantly in Instagram and then we’re asking them to transfer all the way to Facebook. For what reason? Why would they join our. We used that swap party as a lead magnet to get them to join the Facebook group because only like Facebook group members could join the swap board. Even though I’m not with them anymore, the swap parties helped it grow to 1200 members. 

Gladys: Wow. That’s amazing. Yeah. 

Lara: And then it grew to be its own group. So it’s where people go for fashion help when they need, like tips for mending, when they’re looking for good places to thrift at or they’re looking for people to swap garments with. That’s like secondhand garments with. That’s where they go. So it’s become like a community of sustainability minded fashionistas and, the swap parties, they still keep on going.

They actually recently had their first in-person event. So the all in all I would estimate that we swap parties, help reroute like over a hundred, 700 loads from landfills, help reroute those secondhand clothes. And it also help a community of sustainability minded, like fashionistas, grow from 0 to 1000 plus. So that’s just one of the impacts that I’ve made, it’s still one of my favorites because it’s just something they did not expect to happen. But it’s really about like communicating to your audience. You’re like really understanding their problems before trying to get them to do something.

Gladys: It’s amazing story. I mean, can you believe that you created a community during a pandemic? I mean, that’s that’s amazing. And kudos to you and the team that created that. Wow.

Lara: Thank you. Thank you so much. I’d also love to you like I won’t go into detail like this. We’re running out of time. Uh, but there’s another one. So it was with a community pantry.

Gladys: Oh Yeah. Yeah.

Lara: I led their social media campaign, and because of that, we raised 30,000. Around 30,000 pesos in seven days. Wow. Which from 0 to 500 followers or likes in a month. And the most important impact of all is we put food on around 120 plus people’s tables. So that’s amazing. That’s another one.

Gladys: It’s amazing how just by doing, you know, this, um, social media can reach a lot of things. And imagine if people are doing social media for good. How many goodness will be there in the world, right?

Lara: Exactly. And see what happens if you talk to people or like get people to do things with from a from a conversational and empathetic standpoint. I’m not I’m not screaming at people’s faces like, hey, you should donate to this place or, hey, you should join this swap party. Start from an empathetic place and say, I know you’re having trouble with decluttering because it’s the middle of the pandemic. This is one way that will help, you know, like, don’t be so forceful and just talk to it. That’s my approach.

Gladys: Um, speaking of approaches, maybe you could give some advice to our listeners. Um, maybe some of them are also have, have social enterprises or some of them are also into marketing. Maybe you could give three tips to them in terms of ethical marketing.

Lara: Okay. Sure. One is really to look at your target market as not just a target market, because like when the term target market is so impersonal. Uh, I would say beyond the brand personas and the numbers, they’re people just like you. They have lives, they have values, they have preferences, and they also value their privacy. So if you’re just going to keep pushing things onto them without actually respecting that, you’re going to lose them and you’re not going to make much impact, you really have to talk to them from an empathetic standpoint. So that’s one tip like be empathetic and don’t just like sell, sell, sell all the time. And then another tip is to help them understand the product that you have.

This is especially important for brands or social enterprises that have complicated products. So sustainable products are very new, right? So a lot of people are unfamiliar with them. So for example, menstrual pods. When I first started hearing about menstrual cycles, I was like, what are those? Like? I had like so many inhibitions because you put that into your inside your body and don’t know how it works. I don’t know what’s in it. I don’t know the materials. Like there’s a lot of inhibitions inside of me, even though I know that it’s supposedly good for the environment, right? So, yeah.

Lara: Tip number two is to help them understand how your product works, especially if it’s like a new innovation or a novel product or service.

Tip three would be being mindful about the words that you use, because a lot of them are undoubtedly, I’m sure, going to involve some buzzwords sustainability, eco friendly, ethical.

These are buzzwords that don’t really say much. Instead of saying we’re an ethical brand, this product is ethical, You explain why it is why it is ethical. So instead of just saying we sell ethical products, you can say something like we sell products that so on and so forth. You explain like what makes it ethical instead of just saying. I’ve seen some brands like instead of saying we’re an ethical brand, they say we practice ethically or we practice being ethical in our brand by paying our workers a fair wage and practicing I forgot what they used, but something about their working conditions. So this is more specific, right? That’s compared to just saying ethical brand. How are you ethical? Because no one no one brand is completely ethical, completely sustainable. There’s always going to be something that’s like not exactly sustainable. So at least explain how you’re ethical, how you’re sustainable.

Gladys: Yeah, Well, well, thank you for that tips. Really. Our audience would be very grateful to this, and especially to those who are listening right now with, uh, we’re running a social enterprise or doing some marketing for your brands. This is really a great, uh, tips from Lara.

Um, I guess we’re running out of time, but I have one one one more question for you, Lara. Um, I know that you’re, you’re of you’re young and you’re doing a lot of things aside from doing marketing. Just want to ask personally, personally, like what excites you these days in terms of your career and what are you looking up soon.

Lara: Yeah. So. In the short term, What I’m really excited for is I’m working on an article, so it’s with a nonprofit, a global nonprofit on sustainable fashion. It’s called Remake. And I’m doing a feature story on the colonialism in fashion. So it’s due tomorrow. 

Gladys: Well, good luck. 

Lara: Yeah, Thank you. It’s not due tomorrow when? When their listeners hear this, but after this interview. I’m really excited about it because I get to tell people about how how the fashion industry is still very colonialist under under all its glitz and glamour. So that’s for the short term.

What excites me these days is I’m really going a lot freelancing. I just graduated last year and it’s only recently that I started doing freelancing full time, so I’m really excited to pop on to the client search, finding brands, finding people who share the same valuesas I do, and helping them make an impact through ethical marketing. So that’s just something I’m really excited about.

Gladys: Yeah, well, I hope that these people are listening right now. Where can they find you? If ever they want to contact you?

Lara: lf you’re going to find me on LinkedIn, you can just look up my name. Laura Eviota. And then you can also email me. You can find my email on my LinkedIn as well.

Gladys: Well thank you so much, Lara. I think we learned a lot from you and your experiences for today. And I hope that a lot of entrepreneurs and also a lot of people in the marketing industry will be focusing on ethical marketing since it is. I mean, climate change is one of the biggest problems that we’re facing now. So I hope that everyone, even in the marketing industry, can give their share for, you know, a better future for all of us. Yeah.

Lara: Yeah. Thank you.

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