Many causes have been suggested for this financial crisis, but it can be ascribed to one problem – sub-prime mortgages. But what is a sub-prime mortgage? It is providing loans to people who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule, and ultimately these are loans paid out to people who will most likely renege on the repayments.

So how did this turn into a financial crisis? Well I’m not an expert in economics, but if I were to write a book on it, I would ask Dawie Roodt to co-author it. But here’s what I do know: at some point, investment bankers placed these sub-prime mortgages on the stock market and as it happened, the people who received these loans started to default on them. This means that the value of the stock had no value at all. So the people who had bought these stocks where in fact buying nothing.

This disconnection between the things you buy and their intrinsic value is a financial epidemic that will only evoke the question: Wouldn’t it be better to invest at the source so that I understand where and who it comes from? 

Our understanding of value and our belief in a brand are moving towards the age-old principles of “localisation”. Or are they? During the economic crisis, Portugal was one of the countries that did the financial flip-flop, and I got to experience the realities of it through my grandparents. They live in a small town outside of Lisbon called Antas and home to about 300 residents. Financially, things did not work out well for them or the rest of the people in the town. As the price of food went up, they quickly realised that they would need to be less reliant on money and more reliant on each other. You see it’s true what most people think of the Portuguese, we are a resourceful nation, with most of the residents having grown vegetables in their back yards, baking bread or even farming pigs under their houses, each household had something to trade. This meant they could connect with one another and trade what they had for what they needed with the people they knew, loved and trusted.  

The truth is that as humans, we want a human connection. We love connecting with one another, and it is through this connection that we associate value. Social media have given us the opportunity to go back to a time where the world is transparent, and we know where things come from and who are behind them. The proverbial butcher, baker and candlestick maker have managed to connect with us in a more personal way through a sense of localisation, but it’s not about close physical geography it’s about close online geography.

What better way to illustrate the power of people connecting to people around a product or idea than Kickstarter, a global crowd-funding platform based in the United States? The company’s stated mission is to help bring creative projects to life. Kickstarter has reportedly received more than $1.5-billion in pledges from 7.8 million backers to fund 200 000 creative projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, and food-related projects. And they did this with one principle in mind; what better way to get funding for a product or idea than from the people who are most likely to purchase it in the end? It’s simply genius. Connect the maker with the potential buyers around the product or idea, have them buy into it, include them in the process of getting it to market, reward them with one of a kind experiences in exchange for their pledges and presto. Now we have a loyal client base that has bought into the value because they helped conceive it.

Like Portugal in 2013, I was dealt a massive blow. Divan Botha, who was the head of marketing for FNB Business and who at the time was our biggest client, gave me the news that he had decided to resign. The only thing that ran through my head was that this could mark the end of our relationship with the bank. He then proceeded to fill me in on his plan to open a coffee shop in Linden.  I must be honest, I didn’t think that Divan was thinking rationally, or even thinking at all, but it was the core reason for his idea, the why, that got me interested. You see Divan had a grand plan that would, in his own words, “Uplift the community of Linden”. You see Linden, like so many other bordering communities in Gauteng suffered from the same problem; the people of Linden spent their money elsewhere and as a result the business hub of the area collapsed. Divan’s plan was that a Coffee Shop could reignite commercial activity, not only by securing a local client base but also committing to a localised supply chain. Bread could only come from the local baker, meat from the local butcher and so on. I loved the idea, and we started our plan to inspire a neighbourhood to regain its sense of community over a cup of coffee.

Placing a board in front of the empty store, we invited the people of Linden to help create a coffee shop and follow the progress online. With a blog site linked to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, we created a strong social platform that allowed people to not only follow the progress, but also contribute, suggest, give advice and ultimately help us build a brand for the community, by the community.

We helped Divan create a supply chain within a street block radius to support the local economy. The butcher, the baker, the bicycle maker … and even the beekeeper, carpenter, potter and photographer in the area all contributed to the Whippet, be it by supplying fresh produce or creating bespoke items that are sold in the shop. 

Starting with the localised supply chain, we used the geographic location (the corner of 7th and 4th avenues) as the core of the identity, we also depicted the heritage of the area and the mark for local, the Whippet.

Sales targets for the first two months were exceeded in the first week. Turnover has doubled month-on-month since the launch.

But most importantly, the local community started benefiting from this co-created venture. The butcher and baker reported doubling their turnover month-on-month since the launch, and our local potter is now exporting to Australia. The store now features on the first eight pages on Google and has featured in numerous magazines and blogs.  

Ultimately, the lesson to be learnt here is that people connect with people, around an idea, a product or brand. It’s the brand’s job to facilitate that connection and to ensure the well-being of its community. Companies, corporations, financial institutions, banking models and investment schemes will in the end only answer to one economy and that’s the Face Economy.

For more information on Etiket Brand Design, visit www.etiket.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook and on Twitter.