Did you see American Idol last night? Like Shakira, I was born in Colombia and I felt very proud seeing her, but what really like is that she is using her fame to help Colombian people.
About five years ago we moved to the US for various reasons, and though my husband has a very good job and we live in a wonderful place, half of my heart is still in Colombia. Ever since we got here I've been trying to find a project that will both, give us an additional income but most important, help my country in some way. On my last visit to Bogota I finally found it. On December, there is a huge craft show in Bogota and I was amazed by the quality of the things I found there, but what caught my attention was some seed every body was talking about, they are called TAGUA seeds. Every body was wearing jewelry made with them and as it seemed to be a very strong trend I decided to find more about them....that's how I found my project. They are making such exquisite objects that I wouldn't call them jewelry,I'd call them works of art. Each of them is individually created by native artists, and each one of them has an incredible amount of time and labor invested .
Tagua nuts look exactly like animal Ivory, that means that no Elephants are killed to get them.. Ain't that cool?
But also, Tagua nuts come from a Native Palm that grows in the Colombian Pacific jungle, that means that the more Tagua they sell the more Palms they have to plant....so, when people gets a product made with Tagua, they are helping reforest the jungle, and creating jobs for artisans and (cultivadores)...also cool, don't you think?
Our project is called Baloka which is the name of a Colombian native Indian tribe
I'm really glad, me, like Shakira, have found ways to help our people and our environment.
Now to my questions:
If your product offers and ecological benefit or helps a "cause", should you use it? Or is it kinda cheesy
I was wondering, should I use it as the main focus of my marketing campaign? .
I was also asking my self : If I send an ecological message to my target market (fashion conscious women) will they appreciate it? Should I also address the ecological conscious market? How do I get to them?
Ok...lots of questions....can you help me?
