Wheeler-dealers and conscious consumers
For the first time in many years the Brass Monkey Motorcycle Rally lived up to its name. A hoar frost spray-painted the Maniototo into a crystalline world of white, while the inversion layer kept temperatures south of zero. The hamlet of Ophir managed -14 degrees Celsius, and the rally site itself managed -11C.
This didn’t deter 1200 well-wrapped-up motorcycle enthusiasts turning up for the iconic event, including hundreds of Wellingtonians and Cantabrians making the pilgrimage.
This year was my 22nd Brass Monkey and it still surprises me how many people misunderstand the event and what it’s about.
It’s not a bogan festival of drinking and burnouts, where leather-clad alpha monsters beat chests and exude toxic masculinity.
It’s more like an ecosystem of motorcycle enthusiasts, who move like royals in exile; where social status is irrelevant and there’s a feeling of trust and shared values.
Unsurprisingly, this sees a good amount of business being done.
Over the years I’ve witnessed a cacophony of commercial deals put together at motorcycle events. And not just small-time deals either.
I’ve seen the likes of Kerry MacDonald, Joanne Morgan and Phil Lough hammer out sizeable deals in their leathers and lids.
This concept – values-based commerce – is old news in the United States. It includes companies as diverse as Patagonia (sports clothing), Ben & Jerry’s (ice cream) and Zappos (footwear).
All of whom have an ultimate purpose about building a better world rather than selling more sandals or icecream cones.
I went to a Facebook symposium recently in the US where they shared that 90 per cent of members were likely to change a buying decision if it benefited a cause they believed in.
As a result, they are taking a valuesbased approach to all their vertical marketing.
Here in Godzone, a company called Conscious Consumers is going to market with a platform that will allow Kiwi businesses and consumers to experience the same thing.
The proposition is that if consumers and retailers each know what the other values, we will get a better world. Not just a better buy for consumers,nor more gross sales for retailers; but a better world for everyone.
Consumers sign up to the service and select the things they care about; for instance, paying a living wage to staff, climate change, animal welfare, clean rivers or what-have-you.
The Conscious Consumer platform then links their eftpos or credit card to their profile, so that every time they spend money, the platform sends a message to the business, expressing the stuff they care about.
The platform then does three things. First, it matches the consumer with businesses that are actively doing stuff to address the issues. So this could involve telling them which businesses pay a living wage, are committed to carbon zero, or whatever.
Second, it provides a verifiable way of ensuring that everybody understands what ‘‘organic’’ or ‘‘living wage’’ might mean. Effectively, it’s an accreditation of the practices of businesses in consumer language.
Lastly, it sends a signal to similar businesses that are laggards. So a sporting goods store in Christchurch gets a message telling them $400,000 is being spent every month by Cantabrians who are committed to clean waterways, and asks them what their business is doing about it.
The idea appeals to me because it combines the frictionless distribution of the web with social enterprise; but then harnesses both carrots and sticks to make things happen.
So, let’s say you’re opening a craft beer bar in Hamilton (which isn’t a bad idea actually). The Conscious Consumer platform will send you information letting you know that the Waikato consumers really give a damn about worker welfare, and those people buy 1000 pints of draft craft beer a week.
As a result, you choose to support paying a living wage, and harness the Conscious Consumers platform to to telegraph that to all those craft beer aficionados.
A few weeks later the platform details how many new customers they have acquired from their change in behaviour and their action in supporting the social cause.
It’s a textbook win-win. Consumers feel like they are changing the world and businesses can measure the uptick in dollars.
The company itself has solid people cred. It’s headed by Ben Gleisner, who’s got 20 years in social cause commerce; and chaired by Serge Van Dam, a smoothheaded and environmentally-minded local tech investor.
Having already operated a limited beta service in app form, the company goes to market next month with a comprehensive platform buoyed after a successful capitalraise.
Along with other recent social enterprise businesses such as The Good Registry and Akina, Conscious Consumers is a sign that values-based commerce is coming of age in Godzone.
Now if there was just one catering to ageing bikers who feel the cold …
It’s a textbook win-win. Consumers feel like they are changing the world and businesses can measure the uptick in dollars.
Mike ‘‘MOD’’ O’Donnell is a professional director and eCommerce adviser. His Twitter handle is @modsta and it’s time he gave up on midwinter motorcycle rallies.