Branding workshop empowers FPOs and women entrepreneurs in rural India
Imagine your favorite brand took over your social enterprise. What are three changes they might make? Would you carry any of them out?
We asked Perplexity AI what a big brand would do if it took over a fictitious Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) brand. It offered these examples:
- Streamlined user experience: if Apple took over, they might simplify the organization’s processes and interfaces, making them more intuitive and user-friendly for farmers and customers alike
- Sustainable packaging: a brand like Patagonia would possibly introduce eco-friendly packaging solutions for an FPO’s products, aligning with environmental conservation goals
- Storytelling-driven marketing: Nike could implement powerful storytelling techniques to showcase the journey of farmers and women entrepreneurs, creating emotional connections with consumers
These are interesting ideas. To really fine-tune what of the many branding choices are best for your organization, you will need to dig deep and explore topics such as those covered in a workshop in West Bengal that we facilitated for SwitchOn Foundation (Environment Conservation Society) and the Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) Haridthan.
A branding masterclass to equip farmers’ organizations
Women on Wings branding expert Judith Heijnen (who consults pro bono) posed the question above to kick off two days in Kolkata. Judith and our senior business consultant Chanakya Mehta were there to equip the SwitchOn team with an understanding of and tools on how to guide FPOs and women entrepreneurs on their branding journeys. To do this, Haridthan joined the workshop to act as a working example as we supported the building of their brand.
Intense and productive days of discussion and group assignments centered around:
→ factors for a strong brand
→ positioning your brand
→ elements of a brand manifesto
→ the brand pyramid
→ vision + mission and applying it to Haridthan
→ consumer benefits ladder (features and benefits)
→ customer segments/personas and needs exploration and value propositions
→ brand architecture
→ visual branding, packaging, color, logo, fonts, tone of voice, tagline, photography
→ brandbook
Think about the question above once more. Which big brand? How might your organization iterate on what they would do?
Women on Wings consults ONganic Foods Pvt Ltd and its parent organization, SwitchON Foundation on their joint goal to increase the number of jobs and co-create livelihood opportunities for women in rural India where the social enterprise is working.
