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July 16, 2024
Etsy Takes on Mass Production in ‘Keep Commerce Human’ Campaign
Promoting the value of unique, high-quality handmade products over cheaper, mass-produced items from SHEIN, Amazon, and others, Etsy launched a “Keep Commerce Human” campaign featuring a number of its artisans and craftspeople sellers.
The marketplace, best known for selling handmade goods, also introduced new regulations aimed at elevating transparency and authenticity, ensuring buyers know exactly what items they are purchasing and the level of human involvement involved in creating them.
The campaign and updated creativity standards come as Etsy has been facing criticism for allowing a flood of AI-generated, mass-produced, and drop-shipped products to reach its platform in recent years to the ire of traditional artists and buyers.
One 30-second television spot begins by asking: “What does a robot know about love? How to translate that leap inside the human heart into something we can see and hold?”
The voiceover concludes, “The fingerprints we leave behind show how determined we are to give the world a piece of ourselves.”
The spot, as noted by Adweek, is seen as an antidote to Apple’s recent “Crush” campaign that depicted a tower of creative tools and analog items literally crushed into the form of the iPad, which many saw as a vision of technology overriding human creativity. Wide criticism prompted Apple to offer a rare apology and retract the ad from television.
“Our film isn’t anti-tech, it’s pro-human,” said David Kolbusz, chief creative officer at Orchard Creative, the agency behind the campaign, in a statement. “It’s a reminder that the things that arrive on your doorstep can come from someplace more meaningful than a fulfillment center. They can come from the homes and studios of the people who labored over their creation.”
Another spot features three of Etsy’s craft sellers with the conclusion, “The next time you’re shopping, choose something handmade, hand-picked, or designed for you by a real person. Shop Etsy.”
The television spots, which are running during the Paris Olympics, will be complemented by prominent billboards in New York City and London and social media coverage.
Brad Minor, Etsy’s chief brand officer, said that the campaign showcasing sellers reinforces “the importance of our mission to Keep Commerce Human in a world of increasingly commoditized, soulless manufacturing.”
The move underscores Etsy’s renewed commitment to sellers to remove unauthorized items from the platform to counteract the backlash over AI-generated products infiltrating the site. The push to re-embrace its artisanal roots is also designed to better differentiate the platform from lower-priced, mass-produced online options.
“Almost everyone is losing share to Amazon, Walmart, Temu, and SHEIN,” lamented Josh Silverman, Etsy’s CEO, on the retailer’s fourth-quarter analyst call. He noted that inflationary-weary consumers are spending primarily on “essentials” and at sites offering “deep discounting.”
On the positive side, he noted that Etsy added 8 million new buyers in the fourth quarter, 2023 ended with 92 million active buyers, and the average buyer on Etsy is spending 20% more versus pre-pandemic levels. Still, he admitted that Etsy will face challenges in the near term with discretionary spending focused on travel and dining.
Silverman said, “This is a time when I think products that are not the cheapest possible are out of favor. And I don’t think that’s forever.”
Discussion Questions
Does Etsy’s “Keep Commerce Human” campaign send the right message to the platform’s sellers and online shoppers?
What other steps could Etsy take to better compete against Amazon, Walmart, Temu, and SHEIN?
How much of a threat is artificial intelligence to makers of hand-crafted goods?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
David Spear
President, Retail, OrderlyMeds
James Tenser
Retail Tech Marketing Strategist | B2B Expert Storytelling™ Guru | President, VSN Media LLC
Gene Detroyer
Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics and University of Sanya, China.
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Generally, I think this is a good campaign that helps to define why Etsy should be different to other marketplaces. I say should be, because while shopper still can connect with great creators, the site is way more junkified than it used to be. It is now much harder to find truly individualistic and unique products without sifting through a lot of clutter. I also wonder how this sits with Etsy’s recent decision to allow AI generated artwork (so long as it is flagged as being created by AI). I don’t have an issue with this, but it really jars with the messaging of keeping commerce human.
It’s a logical approach, and while I wouldn’t call it “brilliant”, or (really) even “memorable”, I think it gets the job done of getting people to equate “handcrafted” with etsy. And that’s the crucial thing – a bit of abstract thinking – since particular products aren’t advertised, people need to be conditioned to make that connection long bfore they actually begin to search for something specific.
Every company needs to periodically reconfirm and recommit to it’s brand values and promise. It’s nice to see Etsy appearing to do this, especially given the current economic, competitive, and consumer trends.
Love it. I’m not poor, and Etsy will have to reach them a different way, but I love the emphasis of the human touch.
artificial intelligence is not yet good enough to compete with hand done art. You can spot it a mile away. Some people like it. Most of it seems weird to me, but that could be the digital creators mindsets.
Etsy is smart to differentiate its positioning by contrasting rivals’ mechanistic mass production with its humanistic, one-of-a-kind assortment.
Quality, care, craftsmanship and the inspirational brand stories behind the creations are unique benefits. Etsy can help artisans sell with passion, emotional appeal and a human touch.
Etsy made its name as an artisan marketplace, and it’s become just another platform to sell “stuff.” Highlight the makers, the artists and the craftspeople, as they are the backbone of what makes Etsy great, not mass produced knockoffs and garbage.
“Commoditized, soulless manufacturing?” Really? Our quality of life as humans has arguably improved because of “commoditized soulless manufacturing.” Remember when we celebrated Ford’s democratization of the automobile?
I think it’s a bit disingenuous to call everything that is mass produced “soulless” especially when those things have real value. And that’s what Etsy is: a niche, value play. The reality is that there’s a greater market for the “soulless-but-quality-of-life-improving,” mass produced products sold on Amazon and Wal Mart.
I think it’s important for us to continue to support “humans” even if there’s no “Amazon Money” in it. I applaud Etsy’s commitment to their brand, values and artisanal roots but I disagree with the marketing. I find their commitment incredibly admirable and brave and sincerely hope they can establish themselves as the biggest fish in the little pond that is “artisanal, soulful, human made goods.”
I agree with John – mass produced is not inherently bad, it ensures consistency and standardized quality in what you buy, giving consumers peace of mind. There always will be – and should be – a market for more customized, artisanal products, which varies in size by market.
The challenge for retailers is to determine why people want to buy these artisanal goods – perceived higher quality, product customization, as a status symbol, etc. I’m reminded of a quote from Fight Club: “I had it all. Even the glass dishes with tiny bubbles and imperfections, proof that they were crafted by the honest, simple, hard-working indigenous peoples of… wherever.”
I saw the ad and I liked it immediately. Not a breakthrough by any means, but Etsy has staked out a commendable alternative position compared with the disposable-fashion retailers and online junk dealers. It’s worth reminding people about that.
The issue around AI-enabled creativity is actually quite profound. I’d like to think of generative AI tools as a new kind of art medium. When used for visual design, the outcome is a reflection of the artist’s vision and skill in manipulating their “materials.” How is that different from oil paint, clay, or a camera?
Was photography considered “art” when it was first introduced in the 1800s? This article suggest it was widely derided as something less, “a thoughtless mechanism for replication,” that would put painters out of work.
So it’s OK, I think, for Esty makers to use AI tools to design and produce their creative works. A very few of the results will be truly inspired. Most will be mediocre at best. Many more will be appalling. Just like every other mode of human expression I can think of.
Excellent response; I was going to use the photography example myself.
I think this offers great positioning for Esty and serves a a differentiator in a sea of mass produced sameness. It is also important to justify the higher prices relative to Amazon or Shein. That said, customers will ultimately choose and I am sure there are many customers who choose both depending on the budget and circumstance they are shopping for.
I like to shop on Etsy and I like this campaign. Good on you Etsy for supporting and pointing out the importance of real live artisans. Now please get rid of all the ready made fake craft crap that clutters up your site.
I like the notion and creativity of Etsy’s “Keep Commerce Human” ad campaign, because it’s the first campaign that uses that theme, but I wonder if the consumer will question its sincerity? AI will be used by many of Etsy’s merchandisers, and consumers still don’t differentiate third party sellers from the platform. Db
“Keep Commerce Human” is a really nice way to differentiate from the likes of Amazon and others but also represent their sellers.
I am not sure that AI threatens Etsy’s hand-crafted goods – however technologies like Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) may have an impact in terms of being able to customise products for specific customers. It may well be that Etsy sellers embrace these technologies more rapidly.
One of the immutable laws of branding is to not be everything to everyone. So, I applaud Etsy for staying true to their brand promise and spotlighting what makes them different and unique from others. The campaign showcasing artists who pour their love and talent into the creation of their products is a smart, timely move with the ‘City of Love’ Olympics ready to take center stage.
Etsy has a conundrum. Do they want to be a big online retailer, or do they want to serve a unique silo of consumer desires?
Etsy should not even consider what Amazon or Shein are doing. They do not compete. If shoppers want to pay less for a mass-produced product, they think differently from anything on ETSY.
AI and whatever tech tools are developed to enhance creativity are still creativity. James Tenser’s comment about photography is a perfect example.
Etsy’s campaign works. Its differentiated brand position of genuine and handcrafted still resonates to the customers they seek – those who prefer buying from a single artisan or made in small batches. It also reminds large audiences that before buying mass made stuff at below market prices that there is an alternative.
Etsy can’t compete with mass production or mass retailing, nor should they. If anything, they can build a bigger tent of small companies by giving them a marketing and visibility boost in local communities. Maybe it’s not even adding more shippable merchandise from the Etsy site so much as it is building an “everything local or made by small companies” kind of platform?
While I am encouraged by their stated direction and philosophy, we are still seeing plenty of intellectual-property theft happening on the platform. It has been a steady game of whack-a-mole, as there’s a never-ending supply of IP-naive makers who don’t do their homework.
I really like the message of the campaign, but as Silverman noted, unfortunately, many consumers are prioritizing low prices and discounts over anything else. Sellers will really have to lean into the quality and uniqueness of the products in order to compete because there’s no way they can, nor should they, drastically discount their items.
This campaign is effective in my view precisely because it goes in a different direction from competitors AND it taps into the increasing frustration with all of the automation that mostly (as of now) produces irritation. The 20 seconds it takes, for example, for the cell phone automated message to play before you can leave your message. And on it goes.
It strengthens and differentiates the brand, and for that Etsy’s marketing team should be congratulated.
Has anyone here actually shopped on Etsy lately??? The problem is it HAS become another Amazon, another Shein. Just try to look for anything and it’s page after page of the same mass-produced stuff. Ardent Etsy sellers have long complained about the erosion of what made the marketplace great – can’t help but feel this is very disingenuous.