I'm reading through an advance copy of Seth Godin's new book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. As usual, it's quite good. I've been a fan of Godin since my high tech days, even sending him a soccer ball when we first launched Fair Trade Sports two years ago.

Godin talks alot about marketing; he is the defacto guru for internet marketing. I find his views on the subject fascinating given that I teach the Marketing class at Bainbridge Graduate Institute for MBA candidates. Godin is usually controversial in his views on Marketing, and usually correct.

In Tribes, he says (emphasis mine),

Marketing is the act of telling stories about the things we make-stories that sell and stories that spread. Marketing elects presidents, and marketing raises money for charity. Marketing also determines if the CEO stays or goes (Carly Fiorina learned this the hard way). Most of all, marketing influences markets.

This is what we're attempting to do with Fair Trade Sports. It's the reason our home page is the blog, rather than the ecommerce store. We're trying to tell stories that spread.

It's the reason we designate our after-tax profits for children's charities. We're trying to divert money in the direction of "helping organizations", rather than organizations that continue to destroy our culture, communities, and planet.

It's the reason we created Fair Trade Sports as a for-profit company. We're trying to influence markets in North America, Australia, and the UK by bringing a line of sports balls that is certified Fair Trade as an alternative to the normal sweatshop-made ones. I want to help change Nike, Adidas, Baden, and the rest of the big players into truly sustainable companies by showing them a company can compete and thrive in this market with a non-sweatshop ball and eco-materials.

Godin goes on to say,

Marketing used to be about advertising, and advertising is expensive. Today, marketing is about engaging with the tribe and delivering products and services with stories that spread.

At Fair Trade Sports, we eschew normal advertising (and the related paid celebrity endorsements) in favor for positive word-of-mouth. We ask our customers to help us spread the word about these alternative soccer balls that are the same quality and price (sometimes even more competitive on price) as the Top 5 brands we all know, but made under certified Fair Trade conditions and with eco-certified materials.

And you know what? Our customers say yes. I receive mail every week from more customers explaining how they are spreading the message of Respect in their own unique way.

Join us and help us spread the story!