Ethical Clothing Australia Week 2021 Business Toolkit

2021 TOOLKIT HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION SAVE THE DATE ECA WEEK 2021

DOWNLOADABLE DIGITAL ASSETS HOW TO ENGAGE YOUR LOCAL MP/SENATOR MEDIA TIPS HELP US SPREAD THE WORD KEY LINKS

CONTENTS

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

2020,

WHAT

A YEAR !

While some of us made the transition to working from home, others faced uncertainty and extended isolation. We are so proud of our local industry and most importantly our Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) accredited businesses for adapting throughout the COVID-19 crisis, transforming their manufacturing capabilities to meet new demands and for coming out stronger as we navigate 2021. During last year, as local manufacturing became more important than ever, we launched the first ECA Week as part of our 20-year anniversary to shine a spotlight on the importance of a robust ethical and local TCF manufacturing industry.

ECA also saw a significant rise in the number of new accreditations and as we write to you, we are nearing 150 accredited businesses!

Our mission remains to continue to protect and uphold the rights of Australian garment workers. Supporting the local TCF industry through ECA’s accreditation program which ensures a business’s entire supply chain is compliant from design to dispatch in accordance with Australian workplace laws.

INTRODUCTION

Reflecting on the year that was 2020, the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) industry faced challenges like it has never seen before.

ECA WEEK 2020 +1,122

new followers across social

259

post tagging #ECAWeek2020

+192

new EDM subscribers

OVERVIEW 351

303,900

total impressions (content view)

0.84%

average engagement rate (normally 0.38)

2020 OVERVIEW

event RSVP’s

SAVE THE DATE

Ethical Clothing Australia Week is back in 2021!

We are thrilled to announce that after a smashing inaugural digital debut (despite the challenging times), Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) Week is back! Save the dates, 29th August – 4th September 2021.

ECA Week is the only week focused on ethically accredited Australian manufacturers and locally made textiles, clothing and footwear. It’s our chance to celebrate and promote ECA-accredited businesses and most importantly the skilled local workers behind the garments in Australia.

To make it a success we’re looking to you, our ECA-accredited businesses, to embrace the week and start thinking about how you can get involved. As we continue to navigate COVID-19, physical distancing measures may still be in place. However, we encourage you to plan both in person and digital activations to help spread the word about #ECAWEEK2021.

29TH AUGUST — 4TH SEPTEMBER 2021

ECA WEEK 2021 SAVE THE DATE

We’ve got lots of ideas for activities with impact, whether you are a sole trader, small business or country wide business, there are many ways in which you can take action and show your support for #ECAWEEK2021. A few ideas to get you thinking.

HOW

Celebrate and Recognise Your Workers.

ECA exists to protect and uphold the rights of our talented garment workers. Last year during ECA Week many ECA-accredited businesses hosted events and utilised our postcards to say a special thank you to their teams both in house and to their outworkers. We encourage you to use ECA Week 2021 to highlight the workers in your businesses supply chain by sharing their stories across your digital channels. A few ideas to get you thinking below.

• Host a special lunch or meeting for your workers.

• Send an ECA thank you postcard to your outworkers.

• Create ECA themed cakes/cupcakes as a treat for your team or, • Interview your workers and share their stories across your social media and • Share insights into your local manufacturing operations and production staff and your capabilities.

TO GET INVOLVED

Here are some other ideas on how your business can get involved in ECA Week.

• Host a factory or studio tour (you can also live-stream it).

• Host an event for the public.

• Record an Instagram live conversation for your audience.

• Share photos of the people who make your clothes and share it on social media.

• Invite your local Member of Parliament or Senator to visit your business or, Important: Please submit your ECA Week 2021 events & activities to ECA before FRIDAY 30th JULY 2021 via the button below. If we have not received your activities by this date, we unfortunately will not be able to include them in our promotional materials.

SUBMIT YOUR ECA WEEK ACTIVITIES HERE

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

• Create a social media competition.

DOWNLOADABLE

DIGITAL ASSETS

We understand that you are busy, to make it a little easier for you we have created a suite of social media, email newsletter and digital assets for you to download and rollout across your promotional materials during ECA Week.

EMAIL NEWSLETTER ASSETS

ECA WEEK POSTERS

LETTER TO MP TEMPLATE

WEBSITE ASSETS DOWNLOADABLE DIGITAL ASSETS

SOCIAL MEDIA ASSETS

MEDIA RELEASE TEMPLATE

WORKER THANK YOU CARD

ECA WEEK FACT SHEET

Don’t forget to tag us @ethicalclothingaustralia and #ECAWEEK2021 in your posts so that we can re-share!

Hosting an event during Ethical Clothing Australia Week is a way to celebrate your valued workers, your business and create relationships with other people in the industry.

We’ve come up with a list of event ideas, but don’t feel hemmed in, (scuse the pun), even in a COVID world the possibilities are endless! Here are a few ideas for events you could run, restrictions permitting of course.

• Host an open studio / open factory and live stream it across your social platforms.

• Join with other ECA-accredited businesses for a collaborative discussion, online or in person.

• Organise a meet the makers event or content series to run online.

• Run an online competition or giveaway using the hashtag #ECAWeek2021 and tag @ethicalclothingaustralia.

• Host a breakfast, morning tea or BBQ for your workers, (or send a celebratory email). Talk about your ECA accreditation and the importance of your team and supply chain.

• Take workers offsite for a social event.

• Incorporate ECA Week celebrations into your BAU regular activities, (e.g. meetings or lunches).

EVENT

TIPS

EVENT PLANNING TIPS

PLANNING

SUBMIT YOUR ECA WEEK ACTIVITIES HERE

Things To Remember

A Physical Event, or Digital? Many physical events translate easily into virtual events.

An Instagram live tour of your studio or an online Q&A with special guest speakers, for example.

Get Feedback Ask your workers/team members for ideas about how to run the event. Engage with them early to get them excited about the week. Ethical Clothing Australia Week is a chance to celebrate the skilled workers behind the garments, so find a way to incorporate them in the event e.g, as one of your speakers.

Event Size Bigger is not always better. Larger events can take more planning and resources.

Keep it manageable for your business and workload.

Collaborate Consider partnering-up with another ECAaccredited business for an event. We can help put you in touch with other businesses that are interested in collaborating.

Timing Ideally your event will be held during Ethical Clothing Australia Week, but what day and time? A daytime event is great if you’re holding an event for your workers but consider an after-hours or weekend event if you are targeting customers or the broader public. Don’t forget to check your

peak engagement times on social media if you are live streaming too!

Venue It isn’t always possible to hold an event onsite. Alternative venues include meeting rooms at your local council building, local library, café’s, event spaces or neighbourhood house. OR online via Zoom!

Speakers and Special Guests If you want to invite a special guest to attend your event, try to lock them in as early as possible. You might want to invite your local MP, or someone from ECA or the TCF Union. Send them a save the date invite ASAP while you’re nailing down the details of the event.

Budget Your event doesn’t need to cost a lot to have impact. Q&A sessions, conversational events and online events are great low-cost options.

Promotion How will you let people know about your event? Social media is a great way to get the word out.

Create a Facebook event and post regular updates from your social media channels encouraging people to RSVP. Don’t forget to use the #ECAWEEK2021 hashtag and tag @ethicalclothingaustralia when promoting your event so we can share!

EVENT PLANNING TIPS

Audience Who are you targeting with your event?

Is it a celebration to thank your workers or an event to raise the profile of your business in your local community? Are you wanting to reach existing and potential customers or drive sales through a special promotion?

HOW TO ENGAGE YOUR LOCAL MP OR SENATOR The following letter can be mailed / emailed to your local state and/or federal member of parliament.

MPs are interested in what’s happening in their electorate, so make sure you include plenty of information about how many people you employ, how the business has changed, and why you’re committed to producing locally. As ECA is funded by the Victorian Government we

encourage you to engage with your local MP. Any businesses outside of Victoria are encouraged to contact their federal member and/or senators via the links below.

• If you are in Victoria you can find your local state member HERE • If you are located outside of Victoria you can find your Federal Member and Senators HERE (use the search function at bottom).

TAKE ACTION

DOWNLOAD ECA’S LETTER SUBMIT YOUR ECA WEEK TO MP TEMPLATE HERE ACTIVITIES HERE

TIPS FOR If you are holding an event (digital or in person) during Ethical Clothing Australia Week 2021, let local media know in advance so they can help you to promote it! We have put together a few tips and a media release template to help!

The best way to let media know of your ECA Week event is via email, with a follow-up phone call. Contact details for your local newspaper can be found in the print version of the paper, (usually on the inside first page) or on their website’s contact page.

Tip 1 Local newspapers will want to print the story during Ethical Clothing Week, (newspapers usually come out on a Wednesday), so you need to distribute the media release in the week commencing 16th August or earlier.

Tip 2 Draft a media release with the basic details of the event, plus some important information about your business, along with some background information about Ethical Clothing Week.

Tip 3 Think about something that may attract the eye of your local media. The media will be more likely to attend if you have an interesting picture opportunity

DOWNLOAD MEDIA RELEASE TEMPLATE

(E.G., ‘Local MP meets garment workers during Ethical Clothing Australia Week’ or ‘Longest serving staff member cutting fabric at factory’ or ‘Garment workers sorting and packing uniforms’ in your local neighbourhood).

Tip 5 Use current events, such as the impacts of COVID-19 (If applicable) as a hook for your media story (E.G. Mention in your media release how the business has been affected by the pandemic (if there has been some good news), or how you have changed your production to respond to the pandemic).

Remember: A winning media release should be short and snappy, use simple language, and be limited to one page only.

ENGAGING MEDIA

TIPS FOR ENGAGING MEDIA

Tip 4 Mention trends or data that paint a picture about the demand for ethically made garments. (E.G. how many pairs of jeans produced each day/week? Or showcase your businesses recent achievements locally).

HELP US SPREAD We’ll have a dedicated web page, blog, events, email newsletter and social media activity to support ECA Week 2021.

We encourage you to submit your activities, events and digital activity to us so that we can include this in our promotions and in turn help promote your business during

the week. Reminder, all activities MUST be submitted to ECA by no later than Friday 30th July, 2021.

A simple way that you can show your support is by downloading and displaying an ECA Week 2021 Poster in your shop windows or at your factory/offices. You might also like to photograph your workers with these posters and share across your digital channels.

THE WORD HELP US SPREAD THE WORD

KEY LINKS SUBMIT YOUR ECA WEEK ACTIVITIES HERE

LINKS SOCIAL MEDIA ASSETS EMAIL NEWSLETTER ASSETS

ECA WEEK POSTERS MEDIA RELEASE TEMPLATE LETTER TO MP TEMPLATE WORKER THANK YOU CARD ECA WEEK FACT SHEET

KEY LINKS

WEBSITE ASSETS

ETHICALCLOTHINGAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU