Promotional activity

This year, we held insert campaigns in magazines such as Amnesty International, Ethical Consumer and Earthmatters, which explored how our finance is impacting Ivorian cocoa producer CAYAT and Mexican honey co-operative EDUCE.

In September, during Fairtrade Fortnight, we commissioned a cover wrap with The Big Issue magazine, which shared the story of Ugandan coffee producer Banyankole Coffee Services.

These activities underpinned our relationship with fair trade and demonstrated the impact of our members’ investments as a means to strengthen enterprises and support smallholder livelihoods.

We strengthened our digital marketing presence through advertising packages across leading ethical media platforms, spanning the websites and social media channels of Ethical Consumer, The Guardian, The Big Issue and The Independent.

Every year, we produce an Annual Review for both the Society and Foundation, and include a summary of these documents within the winter issue of Quarterly Return (QR). For our younger investors, we produce a ‘Little Book of Fairness’ as part of our efforts to engage members under the age of 16. The theme for this year’s edition was Mexican honey production and the content featured our customer EDUCE, alongside our new honeybee mascot ‘Zumbido’ (buzz in Spanish). Targeted at primary school children, this publication continues to evolve and is now part of a comprehensive set of resources. 

Click here to view our full list of publications.

Online Promotion

The ability to apply for a Share Account online remains key to member acquisition, with most Share Accounts opening with the minimum investment of £100 and gradually increasing over time.

With the support of our volunteers we improved the multilingual content of our website, improving its accessibility to website visitors.

Our blog provides us with a platform to share content on a variety of topics and we continue to collaborate with our Lending Team to share reflections of their trips to visit producers, as well as updates on their experiences at key industry events.

Our social media presence strengthened significantly in 2024, showcasing customer stories, team updates, project impacts, and campaign content across all platforms.

Although our communications span both recruitment and retention, one message remains constant: the power of collective action to create positive change. Over the last three years, we have seen changes in consumer behaviour, desires and demands following the continued impact of the pandemic. According to the 2024 Global Consumer Trends report by Mintel, consumers are increasingly valuing human relationships and community, as well as dealing with the reality of climate change and economic uncertainties.

Click here to connect with us on social media.

Click here to read our full Social Accounts 2024.