ONE432 Case Study: So you want to advertise about your impact? Not so fast

Messaging on Impact or Product Benefits?

A major business trend of the past few years that reached a tipping point in 2020 is social impact. More and more startup brands are integrating product and profit donations to those less fortunate into their business models, corporations are beginning to pay more than just lip service, and investors are finally beginning to care about ESG and stakeholders, instead of merely shareholders. To be clear, Rostock is fully supportive of these shifts, and is a part of this story. In fact, due to Covid and adjacent economic, mental health, environmental, and social justice crises taking place, we pivoted to focus exclusively on helping social impact brands and organizations. However, we have also learned that leading with impact is not always the right answer. Our work with ONE432 in the Summer of 2020, whose strong overall results speak for themselves, is a case in point.

By The Numbers

ONE432 is a social impact fashion brand with an unprecedented giveback model of donating 50% of profits to artisans and to sponsoring a child's education. Not only do they make gorgeous footwear and beautiful clothing, but they are truly empowering the people and the communities crafting the products in the founders’ home country of Pakistan.

We began our partnership by testing. One of our first major tests asked the question of whether to focus the messaging on ONE432’s impact, versus the primary benefit of their product: that it’s fashionable. The A/B test was straightforward. One set of ads highlighted the donation element in the ad copy, and the other focused on the fashion and comfort-oriented value propositions. The creative imagery and all other elements of the ads, which were targeted in Pakistan, were identical. Which segment won the test? No cliffhanger here, the fashion-focused messaging performed 22% better in terms of CTR (click-through rate), and all purchases from the test campaign were attributed to the fashion ads.

The lesson here is not to ignore impact or reject touting it if it is part of your brand, which it should be! Rather, commit to a robust testing program so you can understand the nuance of how various segments in your target audience respond to your differing messages and value propositions. One432 is still proudly promoting it’s impact, but now it knows to do so more as a subheading rather than as the primary headline, especially for messaging in Pakistan. What’s right for your brand?

The A/B test was straightforward. One set of ads highlighted the donation element in the ad copy, and the other focused on the fashion and comfort-oriented value propositions… the fashion-focused messaging performed 22% better in terms of CTR, and all purchases from the test campaign were attributed to the fashion ads.

Interested to better understand how you should advertise about your impact?