May 2020

Thank you for continued support of Fair Trade. It has been heartening to see during this time, when retail businesses are under so much pressure, the continued dedication and enthusiasm for the Fair Trade movement from our members.  

We are always looking to see how we can further support our members and wanted to provide a brief update on the outcomes of the Shopping Guide, and a preview of future activity we have planned.  

As we continue with more activity, we are also very keen to get your feedback and input. Included below is a link to a summary of the results from the survey we conducted last year. We have included a link to a new survey to get feedback on the Shopping Guide.

Shopping Guide

Thank you to all those who participated in and supported the Fair Trade Mother’s Day Shopping Guide. It was a great success.

The guide itself had 2,952 Impressions and 2010 reads. There were 654 clicks on links within the guide.

We were pleased with the positive feedback from other organisations who support our cause. The guide was shared by Fairtrade Australia, Moral Fairground, Oxfam and EY.

The guide was shared across social media on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. We also conducted a test of some paid promoted posts which were quite successful.

• FTAANZ Main Guide post = 12,274 Reach; 872 Engagements
• Accessories Post = 3,428 Reach, 612 Engagements
• Wellbeing Post = 2,696 Reach, 344 Engagements

We achieved a great 56 shares of the main Facebook post of the guide. That does not include members and others who shared the guide link directly on their own social media or websites.

In addition to the success of the guide itself, since the launching of the guide our Facebook Followers increased from approx. 4000 to 4500+. We also had a spike increase on followers on Instagram and LinkedIn.

The success was good, but we know this first attempt wasn’t perfect and we can do better. We have received some good input into how we can further improve the guide and the process. To help us with this we ask that you assist us by completing this short survey:

2019 Survey Results

You may recall we conducted a survey with our members towards the end of 2019. The aim of the survey was to better understand the sort of activity members would like to see from the Association. In the interests of transparency, which is one of our guiding principles, we are providing here a summary of the results. We hope to conduct similar surveys in the future as we continue to work together to lead and grow the Fair Trade Movement.

More Shopping Guides and Website Listing

Several members have already asked if we will be doing more shopping guides. Some also requested a more permanent version of the catalogue.

Speaking with marketing professionals on these questions, we learned that we are better to have focused guides around specific seasons or events, which are separate to a more permanent listing. The reasons for this are:

• It is more effective to promote a guide around a specific event. You are able to gain more interest by linking to events/seasons.
• By having a static guide (that is, once the guide is published it cannot change), with an expiry date, this creates more urgency with customers.
• A guide with an expiry date can be more easily linked to campaigns, for example with vouchers or promotions.
• A permanent guide is very hard to maintain. In addition to the association having minimal resource to do this, many businesses do not have all of their products in stock all of the time. Guides can quickly go out of date if they are not constantly maintained. A customer who goes to a link to find the product is not available has a poor experience.

So how do we provide a more permanent listing as well as continue to do targeted campaigns and guides? Here is the plan:

• We will run a mini-project to re-vamp our business listings on the website. We are not sure exactly what this will look like as yet – we’ll be in touch as we flesh out more details.
• We are planning to do up to three more shopping guides this calendar year. The next iteration will be published leading up to August, in line with Fair Trade Fortnight. At this time we will aim to publish two: one aimed at consumers and one for wholesalers to list who wish to target businesses. This will also align with timing of Trade Shows in August. We then plan to do one more consumer focused guide for Christmas.

We will take into account feedback from the survey in our next iteration of the guide and will be in touch with more details as soon as we can.

Marketing and Online Events

Some of the feedback we have received from members included requests for more sharable content, talking about Fair Trade and the 10 principles. We are currently building a campaign to be run across the last week of May and June talking to the 10 principles. You will start to see this on social media.

We will continue to link our campaigns to the WFTO global campaigns where possible. We also try to connect with global events and international days – which help to raise credibility, visibility and reach.

As part of this campaign and future campaigns, we are planning to run some online events and webinars. Some of these will be for members only, to enable members to connect with each other directly. Others will be focused on key topics, including guest speakers and panel events. Keep an eye out for these coming – and please as always send through any suggestions you have.

AGM 2020

As the year marches on, it is time for us to begin thinking about the AGM 2020. Traditionally the Association has held the AGM at the same time as a conference and used it as a time for members to get together in person. Members have provided positive feedback on connecting with each other at these events. We have also had positive feedback on the guest speakers that joined us at the conference part of the event.

However, we have also had consistent feedback that the timing of the AGM, which is required to be in the months leading up to Christmas, is challenging for many business members as it is peak period. In addition, this year we have the additional uncertainty around the ability to travel interstate and whether or not gatherings of large numbers of people will be possible due to COVID-19.

For this reason, we have decided this year to hold the formal part of the AGM on Zoom, and hold a separate Fair Trade Conference in May 2021, around the time of World Fair Trade Day. Exact timing is yet to be confirmed – we’ll let you know as soon as we have confirmed dates.

Onwards

As the world starts to peek it’s nose out from under the covers of quarantine, many of us are looking at the world in a different way. This time has forced us to confront what is really important, our health and our connection to each other. Faced with the challenge of staying safe and making ends meet in this new world, many people are thinking about how to re-shape their lives in this new reality.

How can we work together to take the lessons we have learned, to make the world a better place? This Fair Trade community has an important role to play in answering that question. I look forward to working with you as we find the answer together.