M. Jericho Banks PhD

Sevenly Takes 'Do Good' Approach to Building Business

January 25, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Cause marketing to the power of seven. That's the hook of Sevenly, a California start-up that sells t-shirts and hoodies for periods of seven days and donates $7 (30 percent) of each sale to seven causes. Will will see an explosion in the number of do-good firms such Sevenly and TOMS in the years to come?      [more...]

Collect 'em all! This could explode. Just one appearance of one shirt on a show like "Two And A Half Men" could send Sevenly into seventh heaven. Or, it could wither away for lack of energy. Either way, something more than social networking must be added to the marketing mix.

Allow me to demur regarding the attractiveness of Conscious Capitalism. This is a fashion play, plain and simple. The supposed altruism included in the sales pitch qualifies it for big tax breaks and even eventual tax-free, non-profit status. Who knows what the long-plan is? The ".org" address is no accident.

Regarding the metrics of the business model, short-run printing of the shirts limits economies of scale - unless they are set up to print them themselves. If these shirts become collectibles, look for ebay auctions. And, you can be sure that Sevenly has access to the mailing lists of all of the charities they support, giving them the ability to appeal directly to members and supporters with shirts that say "I belong." They'll wear them to rallies and meetings as badges of honor and, seven weeks later, they can buy a new design! Is this a great country or what? Sevenly is definitely a repeat-purchase business.

"All we ask is just one shirt (insert your own phrase here) a week." Where have you heard that pitch before?