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This is why both B2B and B2C jewelry players should embrace Super-Sustainability through brand and transparency

28/10/2021

“It won’t be a choice or an advantage to have a sustainable brand or product; it will be a must-have,” says a De Beers executive. However, sustainability itself as we have traditionally defined it might not be enough either. There’s a new term in town: super-sustainability, says leading brand consultancy FutureBrand.

 

What is super-sustainability?

Super-sustainability is a seismic change in the perception of the consumer. Until now, low-carbon emissions combined with a luxury product, for instance, were enough to capture market share. Take Tesla as an example: design plus low-carbon. However, after the frenetic social upheaval seen with a global pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, the climate crisis, and much more, low-carbon has become the bare minimum that consumers expect. Now, consumers are asking themselves questions such as, how does a Tesla benefit the communities involved in its production? Is the lithium mining for Tesla battery production supporting our collective health and wellbeing?

These new questions define super-sustainability and they apply to all sectors and industries, including jewelry and diamonds. Super-sustainability in its essence responds to how customers nowadays want to see a sustainability impact across the following four pillars under which they make decisions in their life:

      1. Environment: workplace, neighborhood, resources, planet
      2. Health: physical, mental, emotional, public
      3. Community: family, local, professional, social network, society
      4. Money: security, status, investment, consumption

So, what’s the mental health of someone working at a Tesla factory? That is what super-sustainability is bringing to the fore, redefining the way brands are perceived and chosen by consumers. This, of course, applies to the jewelry and diamond industry too.

 

So, how can a jewelry brand respond to super-sustainability?

There are two powerful ways:

  1. Transparency: Be easy, straight-forward and honest: answer consumers’ questions by proving where and how your materials are sourced, what working conditions your pieces are manufactured under, and what standards your luxury product meets. Communicate this to a curious consumer because a “I am sustainable” claim no longer has any meaning without this kind of information.
  2. Experience: Let your consumer explore the impact of every single material, process and certification. Make them part of your jewelry’s journey and reward them for choosing your products. Just like Tracemark does.

What about B2B companies? They can play a part with solution providers like Tracemark that enable them to participate in the super-sustainability conversation by creating super-sustainability value that is passed on to the consumer and by differentiating themselves, and their product, from the rest. A Tracemarked piece of jewelry is not the same as a non-Tracemarked piece. The first has information about the origin of its materials, where the diamonds were sourced, how was the manufacturing process and the unique positive impact it has had throughout the supply chain. The second one, non-traceable, is taken at face value by the consumer, which in a super-sustainable world, means very little.

According to FutureBrand’s report, 73% of business buyers say their standards for good experiences are higher than ever – compared to 64% of consumers. 51% of business buyers say that most companies fall short of these standards. This shows us that companies in the supply chain are also adopting this super-sustainability mindset, and also need marketing to.

For instance, if a manufacturer is evaluating a new gold supplier, they are going to ask themselves about the social impact of that gold. Companies themselves think super-sustainably just like consumers do. Now, this can be answered by a tangible product that generates real revenue.

Tracemark is here to bring transparency to the jewelry industry, allowing our growing list of Partners and Certified Brands to connect both between them and with the consumer like never before, showing commitment, concrete action and impact in all of the dimensions outlined under Super-Sustainability.

If you or your organization is interested in becoming part of the change to respond to Super-Sustainability, don’t hesitate to contact us: info@tracemark.tech.