Branding a Social Enterprise – The Case of L plus H Fashion
(Keyword: branding, social enterprise, value alignment, social media)
By Dr Elaine Chan and Ms Chen Shangshang, Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong
Branding, an activity that is typically reserved for the commercial marketing world, is becoming more and more important for the nonprofit world. However, adopting branding strategies from the for-profit to the nonprofit sector may introduce certain complexities and dilemmas to the latter group, which traditionally has limited budget for marketing activities and tends to downplay self-promotion. In fact, branding can be particularly challenging for nascent social enterprises since they have a double bottom line: financial sustainability and social responsibility. Moreover, they are confronted with the decision to either market their products and services or promote their values. The case of L plus H Fashion (L plus H) represents an example of how a social enterprise resolves its branding dilemma. This case illustrates L plus H’s branding strategy and its effort to align its organizational values and missions with its internal identity and external image.