How to bring an ethical product to market
Have you got a product that is having a positive impact on people or less of a negative impact on the planet? Hear from John Pritchard (PALA Eyewear) and Jeremy Jacobs (Cookie Jar Consultancy) on what it took to bring their sustainable product to market and what lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Bringing a product to market has more challenges than developing a service which is reflected in the higher failure rate than average, a whopping 95%.
So how can you beat those odds?
“It’s about keeping things simple. So not to chase every opportunity, rather be really selective on who you partner with, what channels you market through and not to over-develop the product range.”
John Pritchard, PALA Eyewear
John Pritchard is the founder of Pala Eyewear, an eco-friendly and sustainable eyewear brand that funds eyecare in Africa. Read about their mission here.
What’s your product and what stage are you in your business journey?
“Pala’s product is, at it’s core, bio-acetate sunglasses that are handmade in Italy, however these have been retrofitted around the cause that I wanted to help: Funding affordable and accessible eye care facilities across Africa. Pala help to fund this through the sale of our premium, more eco-friendly sunglasses.”
I recently celebrated Pala’s 6th birthday. Woohoo! I’m still very much in the start up phase of business when it comes to Pala. We’re a humble team of two, with a touch of freelance and community support to help us out on when we’re lacking the expertise (or sanity!)”
What steps have you taken to introduce your product to the market?
“For me it’s always been about developing our product over time, making small positive tweaks and changes that either make our eyewear less impactful on the planet, utilise better quality materials of work with suppliers that we can grow long term relationships with. I would say that only really now, about 6 years in has it all come to fruition. There is more to go, certainly, but I feel very happy with what we have in market right now.”
What did you find to be the biggest challenge in launching your product that you weren’t prepared for?
“I think that it was defining what a Pala collection looked like. When we first launched I decided on producing some classic, familiar styles, such as a Wayfarer style, Clubmaster style, oversize cateye and so on. The reality was that by creating similar styles to what were already popular styles in market, meant that the competition was incredibly tough and whether we had a good story or not, people shop with their eyes. Therefore they would more than likely choose the more familiar brand, rather than an unknown brand from Brighton!
We’ve refined the collection over the years and have curated what now feels like a Pala collection that has its own defined look and feel about it.”
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned (maybe the hard way) in your journey to launching your product?
“Probably trying to do too much, but the reality is that there are so many disciplines to my role that actually, it’s about keeping things simple. So not to chase every opportunity, rather be really selective on who you partner with, what channels you market through and not to over-develop the product range. Test and learn of course!”
Are there any creative approaches you’ve taken that you’d recommend to others?
“By virtue of being an impact brand with our work in Africa, this gives us a very different leverage to our competitors when it comes to our story-telling. So whilst of course we will always talk about the style, quality and materials of our product talking about our work in Africa and the people we are helping to empower, provides a new, more creative narrative that puts purpose behind our sunglasses.”
What would you suggest to businesses launching new products?
“Be patient. When I first founded Pala I had a grand business plan predicting we would move into profit in 4 years. With the X-factor of Covid and now cost of living, this has been revised to 2024, so twice as long as I had hoped. It means keeping things tight in the meantime!”
“If you have done your planning and are clear on the positive impact your product will make, this will keep you going on challenging days”
Jeremy Jacobs, Cookie Jar Consultancy
Jeremy Jacobs is the founder of Cookie Jar Consultancy
What’s your product and what stage are you in your business journey?
“The product is a range of sweet baked cakes and treats. The products were developed to bring plant-based ingredients to the mass market. We produced cakes that went out large brands within in the travel and retail markets so it was a huge opportunity to make an impact in large supply chains.”
What steps have you taken to introduce your product to the market?
“For us, the most important step in the process is to validate your product as much as possible. Get as much feedback from people as possible. For us, we developed a product for a B2B customer that was then served to consumers. We had to get feedback and validation from both groups, especially when you are making claims or doing something that is disrupting a market. You need to make sure the customer’s view matches yours. Does it really do what it say it will? The consumer may see things differently.”
What did you find to be the biggest challenge in launching your product that you weren’t prepared for?
“The key thing to remember in my experience is that your product is not going to go to market perfectly. There are likely going to be issues and problems in the process. Make sure you accept and build this into your process. Always give yourself as much time as possible to develop and launch the product. Tight deadlines are not conducive with a successful product launch. The biggest skill you will learn when launching a new product is to be able to accept and deal with problems that arise in a calm manner with a solutions based approach.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned (maybe the hard way) in your journey to launching your product?
The most common thing I see when people are launching any product and I did myself is we were so keen to get it out to market we failed to do proper user testing.
I’ve learned to take time to test the product with your target market to get as much feedback, whether that be positive or negative. Then you can be more confident that when you do launch people want to buy it.
Are there any creative approaches you’ve taken that you’d recommend to others?
A really great way to get ideas for your product or how to launch it is to look at other brands or markets that sit outside of yours for clever or innovative ways you can take inspiration from. There are many great businesses out there doing very clever and amazing things that you can use to develop ideas to bring a new or exciting way to launch your product.
What would you suggest to businesses launching new products?
Get clear with the why for your product and business. The reason why you exist and the problem you want to solve. Get a clear vision and mission written down. You will face lots of challenges from your customers, your market and competitors. There will be days when you question what you are doing and if your product will work. If you have done your planning and you are clear on the positive impact you will make this will keep you going on those challenging days.”
If you’re new to bringing a product to market, as all these businesses were, take their lessons and avoid the common pitfalls on your journey.
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