How important is a brand’s value proposition? Any feedback is genuinely appreciated!

[katautumn]

Charity driven business

Hey everyone! I’m in the process of building a small t-shirt business whose value proposition is to donate a certain % (tbd) to fund the education of underprivileged children in the Himalayan region. As most of you know, poverty in third world countries is drastically different from what we call poverty here in America. Being a Sherpa and having my roots in the Himalayas gives me a sense of responsibility and purpose to help those that are not as fortunate as me.

The idea is to design contemporary, minimalistic tees that look cool to wear. I’ve noticed there are a few brands out there that have similar motives and that’s great! However, I haven’t seen anything that I personally would wear because most products have bold logos that make it obvious that you’re charitable. In today’s world it seems like everybody wants to show off everything they have and everything they do. The goal here is to be charitable when you purchase a tee from us but also remain subtle with it.

The reason I’m writing here is to gauge what you all think about it. I’ve done some research among people I know and they all seem to think it’s a good idea. I want to know what a stranger feels about it. Every single one of you that’s reading this, I’m interested to know what YOU think about this idea. So if you have the time, please provide any feedback you may have - no matter how harsh it may seem! All is welcome. Thanks for your time y’all.

Peace and love.

 

[enoch27]

@katautumn Your "Value Proposition" is making a statement on a quality garment.

Funding the education of underprivileged children is a global cause that resonates with certain groups.

The question is what differentiates children in the Himalayan region? And who would be motivated by the area specifically? Can you define your target audience?

What country are you in? In what country are the children that you are going to support?

And how are you going to support them? Do you have concrete viable plans? How are you going to show progress?

Maybe work on a Brand Story. Google "Building a Story Brand."

Charitable contributions are about emotions. Stories can trigger emotions.

If you had the assignment of getting your story into various news outlets, what would the outlets be and what kind of story would get you noticed and given the spotlight in your targeted outlets?

Keep in mind that news outlets and social media are full of noise. To connect and engage with your target audience requires that you GROK them.

 

[jayaprakash]

@enoch27 100% agree that working on building a story brand is the first place to start. What you'll discover there is that you need to make the people purchasing your products heroes in a bigger story - the story of helping children in need.

 

[katautumn]

@enoch27 Thank you so much for your response! I have to sit and think about the questions you’ve posed. I do have answers but they’re not concrete so that’s something I’m working on. When I run into someone who’s successful or someone who knows more than me, I like to try and find out how they know what they know. Do you mind if I ask you what drives your thought process? I really like the advice you’ve provided and don’t want this to be a one off thing so knowing how you know what you know could help me immensely!

Edit: just purchased Building a Story Brand.

 

[nessa1234]

@katautumn To start with. Who actually buys this shirt? To validate if the idea is viable as a business you need to know who your customer is?

 

[katautumn]

@nessa1234 The initial plan is to target Gen z from within those communities that live in America since their population is rapidly growing and the fact that Gen Z’s purchases are highly driven by social causes. What do you think?

 

[klm1234]

@katautumn I want to echo the points already made, you need to niche down to a very focused audience so much that people can easily say, "Yes! This speaks to me" and "No! I don't care" — for emotional triggers, the middle ground just won't do.

 

[favor2020]

@katautumn Read How to Win Friends and Influence People. Probably one of the best books you can read and was wrote in the 1900s. Read it a few times and you'll be generally happier plus you'll learn a lot