“Veja” means look in Portuguese and this interpretation can take different paths. While reading this article, look deeply into the details that run through purpose and brand.
For fashion brands, marketing and advertising are crucial. These tactics can promote brand awareness, foster a positive reputation, and increase revenue. Entrepreneurs can successfully market their goods and position themselves as industry leaders by utilizing various strategies.
Even though it’s crucial, we can inquire: Is it possible to grow a company without advertising?
Besides being more challenging, building a brand without investing in advertising is possible. It requires a more organic and grassroots approach, relying on word-of-mouth recommendations and building a community of loyal customers.
In addition, the main investment of a brand can be in another pillar, such as sustainability. Prioritizing ecological awareness is an important and emerging purpose for the industry.
In this case, we’ll discuss Veja – a French shoe company founded by Sébastien Kopp and François-Ghislain Morillion.
Our group from the Paris Business Mission had the pleasure of visiting Veja’s office and flagship store. Keep reading to learn more!
A Leader On Sustainable Fashion
Before jumping into our experience at Veja, you will first learn about the brand’s story.
Veja is a French footwear brand founded almost 19 years ago by François-Ghislain Morillion and Sébastien Kopp. The brand mainly focuses on creating sustainable, eco-friendly footwear using ethical practices.
Morillion and Kopp were traveling in Brazil and became interested in the country’s biodiversity. They saw an opportunity to create a business to support the Amazon communities and promote sustainable practices.
In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to consider the impact of our actions on the environment. That’s why the sustainable fashion brand Veja is popular among conscious consumers.
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. According to the Global Fashion Agenda, the fashion industry produces 10% of global carbon emissions and consumes more energy than the aviation and shipping industries combined.
During our visit, we learned that Veja’s mission is to create a sustainable and ethical supply chain, from sourcing raw materials to production and distribution.
Also, they always rely on transparency and prioritize working directly with small-scale producers in Brazil to ensure fair wages and working conditions.
A Face-to-Face Experience
One thing that caught my attention during our visit to Paris is that you can see the values running through the entire structure of Veja. In all the offices and rooms where we were received, we noticed the attention to detail and everyone’s commitment to the brand and its values.
François-Ghislain Morillion’s quick visit was crucial for better understanding the brand’s commitment to sustainability and its inseparable ties with Brazil.
Everything is thought out from the beginning, carefully and genuinely responsibly. Even those familiar with sustainable fashion in our group learned that day. The visit taught us that a shoe is not just a fashion garment, but there is a story behind every production. And this story was told in a subtle and inspiring way.
Lack of Advertising Investment Is Not a Problem for Veja
Now that you understand Veja’s market presence and sustainable identity let’s turn to a curious fact.
Despite its growth, Veja has not invested in advertising. The brand has relied on word-of-mouth recommendations and a loyal customer base since its foundation.
This approach is unusual in the fashion industry, where many brands spend vast sums on marketing to reach a broader audience. However, Veja’s focus on using sustainable materials and ethical practices has helped them stand out and attract customers who share their values.
The brand prioritizes greater investment in quality raw materials, contributing to the product’s durability and longevity. Veja also works directly with organic cotton producers and pays the price correlated to the market price, which is 50% higher than the average market price.
In 18 years, the brand has sold over 12 million pairs of shoes and remains committed to its core values of sustainability, transparency, and social responsibility.
Invest in Purpose & Values
It was clear that a brand goes beyond services and products. It is necessary to have well-established values and purpose applied in productions and day-to-day in the office.
Not investing in your brand’s values can lead to a lack of direction, inconsistency, and a weaker connection with your customers. Besides that, it can be challenging to build a positive reputation.
Therefore, we learned from Veja that it is crucial to align sustainability and purpose. And most importantly, you can do all this by investing little or nothing in advertising. And even so, it can be a successful brand in the market, resulting from years of planning, production and social responsibility activities.
To Sum Up
With that in mind, building a loyal customer base and growing its brand without spending much money on advertising is possible.
Understanding the history of the brand and its purpose, we realized that its priority is something else. It goes beyond reaching large numbers suddenly or creating quick collections that follow disposable trends.
We definitely saw that sustainability for Veja is a theoretical and practical value that starts organically and is effectively applied on a daily basis.