Candice Barthes
Published on 18 January 2022
How can we give meaning and value back to our purchases? For about 50 years, in the West, we have been buying products and objects for their practicality, their trendiness or for their brand. We have thus almost totally lost sight of the origin of the products we buy as well as their emotional and creative values.
This type of consumption “without conscience” is currently in crisis. The consumer wants to get involved in the construction of a fairer, more balanced world. Thus the craft industry has a great opportunity to evolve with products made locally by talented designers and craftsmen. Moreover, the craft, long discredited, like all manual trades, has for some years now the wind in its sails. Numerous young talents are launching themselves to rediscover the pleasure of creating and living from their passion.
Over the past few years, the team of Le Studio Labonheure has provided support in France and Belgium to promote creators and crafts. Moreover, on our e-shop Feww, we offer gift boxes made of 100% artisanal products. We love to support a fair, creative and motivating consumption!
We have gathered in this post all the useful tips for the communication of artisan creators. How to propose a local way of consumption, how to valorize its artisanal work thanks to the communication and finally some examples of craftsmen who succeeded with talent to build a strong brand.
With the idea of reducing long transports of goods and supporting the local economy, consumers have opened up to new, closer consumption solutions. This is true for food products as well as for decorative objects, tableware and textiles. There has been a real increase in interest in craftsmanship. Even if it does not yet have the means to completely replace industrial consumption, it is a growing sector.
The craftsmen can thus propose new products to replace industrialized products. This is the case of care products or home maintenance, indeed many local or artisanal brands have already a good reputation in this sector.
Here is an example:
La Ressource is a cooperative of sustainable and shared drugstores. The recent project seeks to facilitate access to quality environmentally friendly products for the skin and the home. They are all of Belgian origin, handmade and without packaging to promote zero waste. In addition to having impactful brand values and trendy communication, La Ressource offers a unique experience to its consumers: a shared lab. Shoppers can learn how to make their own products from passionate artisans, a way to raise awareness about the importance of handmade products.
The know-how of creative craftsmen is considered a guarantee of excellence. Consumers are looking for quality, authentic products. However, the artisan represents creation on a human scale, responsible consumption.
With craftmanship, the consumer is almost guaranteed to have a unique object. Glassware, ceramics, caning, modeling, weaving or embroidery are more and more successful. Indeed, the consumer is ready to pay a little more for a product of better quality and more aesthetic.
Digital technology has greatly contributed to the development and success of this new craft. Indeed, the possibility to easily share one’s work, on a blog or on social networks and to create a community around one’s realizations has helped a lot the craftsmen to be known.
The arrival of Etsy in 2005, offered a new visibility and attractiveness to the craft industry. It is a true global showcase for crafts and DIY, a marketplace that brings together thousands of small stores. However, the impersonal functioning of the marketplace bothers more and more creators because there are many products of poor quality that harm the image of the artisans. Moreover, the American multinational makes the life of the craftsmen sometimes complicated by modifying the rules of the game of the platform without their knowledge (article in french – article in english).
Thus the creation of a website, an e-shop and pages on social networks are always essential to build a community and support a quality image as a craftsman.
Recently, online stores have also been interested in the creations of artisans. Le Studio Labonheure recommends its online store Feww, which offers boxes of sustainable, trendy and artisanal products. You can also visit Minuit Céramique to discover talented French ceramists through private sales.
The presence of artisans on social networks and the Internet is constantly increasing. However, many of them are still not using these communication tools which have become essential.
Lack of time, lack of training, lack of motivation, the reasons are numerous for not communicating. Thus the craft is often devalued for this reason: photos of poor quality, brand identity without personality or shifted, lack of explanations on the creations, shyness of the artist ….
However, lifestyle communication is perfectly suited for craftsmen, as they can talk about their life, their work, their friends, their workshop… the topics are endless. The more spontaneous they are, the more their community appreciates them (as long as they have a style they like of course!).
The history of the craftsman and the artisanal adventure are essential to give the product a depth, an emotional value. They build loyalty and create a link, the public buys a product and supports, at the same time, an artisanal project. Showing the face behind a brand is a plus!
Moon Society is a textile brand imagined by Sophie Hanniet. On their network and website, they talk to us about the fabrics they use, the embroideries they make, and their Japanese inspirations. The story-telling is at the heart of the Portuguese brand.
The origin of the product is a very important element to underline to include the public in a new consumption approach. Indeed, the latter favors the purchase of local or, at least, European products. Thus, we support our communication with a territorial or geographical origin evident for the public. One takes pictures of one’s workshop, one participates in the local economic life, one meets other craftsmen of the region.
Rampal Latour is a traditional French soap factory. The products are all made in Provence. As a Living Heritage Company, it creates authentic Marseille soaps according to the rules of the art.
For a long time, handicraft was considered as “old fashioned”, no one dreamed of a hand knitted sweater or a macramé object. Even handmade ceramics had disappeared from our closets. Thus the revival of the craft industry is also accompanied by a revival of the proposed styles, it is necessary to follow the trends and to propose original objects which answer the current expectations of the public.
La Rochère is a store of French handcrafted glass products. Since 1475, it offers objects always at the forefront of the trend. The photos used on social networks, in particular, are the proof of an effective communication. The scenes set up are always aesthetic.
In fact, the longer the list of components, the less attractive the product is. It is necessary to communicate on the quality of the products, but also on the composition of the products and on their packaging. Recycled or totally natural materials are to be preferred.
Floratropia perfectly combines 100% natural and responsible packaging. The objectives of the perfumery are to offer a pure composition and less packaging to their consumers. Their bottles are refillable and the components used are announced on the first page of the website.
Here is a small Instagram selection of our favorites in the craft industry. They have understood everything and spread a hyper seductive communication.
For communication advice on a local craft or creative brand, please feel free to contact us. 🥰
