January 21, 2025

Why tanners hire marketing staff for trade fairs

Marketing communications relate to the where and the how of telling customers about what a company does. Leather is not sold directly to consumers, apart from hobbyists, but is used as a component. Its importance in these varies – it is the primary material in leather goods and furniture but for automotive and wristwatch bands it is not the main reason for purchase, but in most instances well-chosen leather can be a major selling point.

This explains why tanners often hire marketing staff largely to handle trade fairs and the management of promotions of seasonal ranges to brands and product makers, and why we see less of tanneries in general advertising situations. Instead, we depend on our customers, largely the brands, to promote leather to the final consumers.

There are two aspects to this that get overlooked. First, the direct customers usually have a buyer, but they are normally no more than a front for a largely group, sometimes called the decision-making unit (DMU) by those who like jargon, who will include people such as designers, finance and marketing staff and, in certain situations, the CEO. Historically, buyers like to have multiple suppliers for every line in case of supply disruption, but this pushes leather towards a commodity and soon towards the downward price move that has made tanning a low margin business for many.

Component branding

The task of the tannery is not so much for a salesperson to have a friendly and trusting relationship with a buyer but to widen the audience to include more of this DMU, especially the designers. To reach such people, new communication routes are needed via distinct types of public relations in a wider range of outlets, social media and direct marketing including events. In the past, I have been known to put expensive adverts into specific magazines with the sole objective of getting a specific designer to attend a presentation meeting along with the buyer. The best current example of the working with designers are the annual Hot Shops held by Ecco Leather. These have been oversubscribed in recent years.

The second element which tanners often forget is the potential of component branding, most recognised through campaigns for artificial sweetener in Coca-Cola, along with Vibram soles, Gore-Tex garment membranes and Intel semiconductors. These can be very expensive so need good margins if they are to be afforded. Sometimes this has been achieved via patents or through exclusive deals and it requires the leather to be continuously advanced to stay ahead of the competitors as well as a plan for when any patents expire. In leather, patents have had a history of being almost impossible to enforce, though they are more secure in our leather chemical supply chain.

Some years ago, Vivian Peters, an outstanding marketing communications head at Stahl at the time, explained to me how social media could be used to reach quite different audiences with separate and appropriate messages. With even LinkedIn moving to more humorous and more personal “journey” messages, it is not so easy today as they all have slipped more to the lowest common denominator.

Their importance is still immense in marketing communications as shown by President Trump moving from zero to hero with TikTok. The 45^th President demanded it be banned but the 47^th one wants to keep it open. The issues: their power of persuasion and influence and the data they collect about us all.

Nearly all brands now spend serious money on social media and it dominates consumer marketing, with TikTok the best at facilitating integrated impulse purchasing. In this regard, the “cookie” put onto computers to aid consumer tracking seems to have been an environmental disaster as, within seconds of looking at something online, brands are alerted of the perfect “marketing target” to exploit and persuade consumers to buy more things. A process that diminishes purchase consideration and the need to buy less, but better quality that will last longer.

A brave new world

It reminds us of the words of how back in 1932, author Aldous Huxley in Brave New World shows a society overloaded with distractions and entertainment using pleasure and consumerism to achieve happiness of a sort; a trap underlined by Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death in 1985. Perhaps best described as “the subtle enslavement of the mind through desire and distraction”.

For leather to sell, great emphasis must be made of its beauty and its touch to support instant gratification for these impulse consumer moments, as well as getting social media influencers wearing and using it. Longevity, care and repair will be relevant but initially secondary.

Simultaneously, we must support the institutions to work on promoting sustainability through educating the press, institutions and NGOs and protecting the name and image of leather through legislation and enforcement.

Michael Redwood

Leather chemist, writer, and advisor on responsible leather manufacturing and material strategy. This article was originally written for ILM.