Growing TenTree

(TT)
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, SOCIAL
MEDIA & ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY

Group members
PIRASANNADEVI SIVAKUMAR
MBS141021
RASIKA PRIYA RAMACHANDRAN
MBS141020
JAISRI KARUNANITHI
MBS141019
POOWESNA S.R.PERUMAL
MBS141022
SRI MANUVIDYAA SWAMINATHAN
MBS141074
KAITHIRI MORGES
MBS141016

INTRODUCTION TO THE SOCIAL

TEAM

INTRODUCTION TO THE SOCIAL

TEAM

Social Network:
A network of social interactions and personal relationships.

A dedicated website or other application which enables

users to communicate with each other by posting
information, comments, messages, images, etc .

Social Networking:
The use of dedicated websites and applications to interact
with other users, or to find people with similar interests to
one's own.

Social Enterprise:
Businesses that trade to tackle social problems, improve
communities, people's life chances, or the environment.
They make their money from selling goods and services in
the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into
the business or the local community.

Cont
Social Commerce:
A subset of electronic commerce that involves
social media, online media that supports social
interaction, and user contributions to assist online
buying and selling of products and services.
Social Media:
Computer-mediated tools that allow people to
create, share or exchange information, ideas, and
pictures/videos in virtual communities and
networks.

TYPES & EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

TYPES & EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL NETWORKIN

TYPES OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Community Development
Finance Institutions
Communi
ty
Enterpris
es
Cooperatives

Credit
Unions

Social Firms

Developme
nt Trusts

Public
Sector
Spin-Outs

Trading
Arms of
Charities

Fair Trade
Organizatio
ns

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL
ENTERPRISE

Atrium Health Ltd,

Coventry
An employee led social
enterprise delivering
essential cardiac and
pulmonary rehabilitation
services for heart and
lung patients.

First Honey Co-operative,

Warwickshire
First Honey was established in
1994 by a group of Midlands
beekeepers with the vision of
starting a honey marketing cooperative, enabling members to
work together for mutual
benefit.The co-operative
enables its members
(independent beekeepers) to sell
their honey at fair prices.

TYPES & EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL

COMMERCE
Online Marketplaces & Auction
Sites
Social Network Shops &
Shopping Apps
Daily Deals & Group Buying
User Review Sites
User-curated Pick Lists
Crowdfunding / Crowdsourcing
Social Shopping

PROS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Growing TenTree: Social Enterprise, Social

Media and Environmental Sustainability

Case Study Summary

Description
Two friends have launched TenTree (TT), a Canadian entrepreneurial
venture that sells an environmentally sustainable and trendy brand of
apparel. For every product sold, TT plants 10 trees in locations around
the world. Although TT is still in its infancy, it is already experiencing
huge growth. The entrepreneurial founders now face several
challenges: how to keep pace with the growing demand; how to plant
as many trees as they can while staying true to their sustainable,
environmental philosophy; how to break into the U.S. and other
markets; and where to source their product.
Learning objective:
i. To explore the creative use of social media and Internet, especially
in new ventures.
ii. To understand the demand for sustainable products and supply of a
sustainable business model for a cause and a for-profit company.
iii. To illustrate how entrepreneurs can ascend learning curves,
leverage networks, and exploit Facebook and other social media to
drive traffic to their website.
iv. To discuss the conflict between commercial imperatives and a
social mission.

Founder of TenTree

The Ten Tree management team:

(from left: Kavin Emsley (CFO), David Luba (Founder)
and Derrick Emsley (Founder)

THE TENTREE
Website Link for all the social media
http://www.tentree.com/
https://www.facebook.com/tentree
https://twitter.com/tentree
https://www.youtube.com/user/TenTreeApparel
https://instagram.com/tentree
http://www.tentree.com/blog/

THE APPAREL INDUSTRY

Key facts of North Americas apparel industry included the following:
Apparel imports to Canada had grown consistently from 2004 to
2008. China represented the major source of this import growth.
During this period, purchases from China rose from $2 billion to
$4.2 billion. At the same time, Canadian exports to the United
States lost market share, dropping from 2.2 per cent in 2004 to 1
per cent in 2008.
Canada and the United States had experienced a significant
crowding-out effect from import penetration in a market that
was increasingly sensitive to product pricing. The overall number
of apparel-producing firms had decreased over the past decade,
with surviving firms actively exploring and adopting new strategies
designed to take advantage of the paradigm shifts resulting from
the increasing impact of global value chains.

THE APPAREL INDUSTRY

On the retail side, trends showed massive consolidations that led to
a global marketplace with a high concentration of large and powerful
apparel firms involved in the following activities:
Augmenting their global sourcing capabilities, thereby increasingly
sourcing product directly from offshore factories and eliminating
North American apparel suppliers from the supply chain
Building global brands that often excluded North American apparel
suppliers
Developing their own private-label lines rather than suppliercontrolled brands, thereby reducing suppliers profitability and
suppliers importance to the retailer and consumer
Exerting tremendous price and performance pressures on
traditionally smaller apparel companies

CONT
Forcing consolidation and vertical integration within
the retail market space (e.g., many retail chains
being owned by larger companies)
Retailers refusal to take inventory risks and
demanding, instead, that manufacturers produce
shorter runs with shorter lead times, higher
customization and better quality
Increasingly levying charge-backs on suppliers,
requiring payments for a percentage of the cost of
unsold product, whether or not the item was
returned to the supplier
The sharing of advertising costs between retailers
and
producers/distributors
(i.e.,
co-op
advertising)and the negotiation of other discounts,
such as volume rebates or discounts tied to new
store openings.

Tentrees Learning Curve

Trade Show:
Learned that wooden hangers were the industry standard, so they
ditched their plastic hangers to avoid embarrassment.
Billabongs display was a massive spectacle that involved
entertainment, plush carpets, food, drink, models and an
impressive display of the companys logo and TenTrees display had
little to none of this splash.
TenTree team was introduced to the two-season cycle:
All the other companies at the event were presenting long-sleeved
garments, jackets and winter gear, while TenTree had brought tank
tops and were attempting to sell a month and a half in advance.
They later discovered was that retailers placed orders that would
then be delivered four to six months later to allow companies
sufficient time to efficiently set up their production runs.

CONT
Sales Aspect:

TT hired sales representatives in different parts of the

country as managing a start-up required their attention to
more important tasks other than bringing in sales.
In an attempt to sell as much as they could, TT set an
ambitious target of being represented in 100 stores by
the summer of 2012.
The result was that TT products moved through suboptimal sales channels where product was often placed in
retail outlets that did not fit TTs image or brand. Some
products ended in shops that became notorious for
holding back payment or for placing orders and then
disappearing, making it difficult to predict cash flow.
New sales representatives were quickly brought on board.

CONT
Consumer Behaviour:
Small details such as the weight and grade of a paper tag were often
associated with the quality of a product. so TenTree moved to heavier
tags.
The team also began to notice overall apparel trends and this
observation kept them mindful not to over-specialize their brand
image to fit a particular existing niche market.
Supply Chain:
TenTree team recognized the value of using consolidated warehouse
distribution for both retail and online sales.

As a result the company adopted an integrated approach that

matched demand more accurately to supply.
Evolved information systems and control systems gave the
company more flexibility and lowered the risk associated with new
product lines.
They were able to forecast each seasons product demand, the
number of production runs needed, the faster- and slower-selling
products, and the amount of cash they needed on hand and when.

The Environmental & Social

Cause
Offering to plant 10 trees for every product
sold
To inspire consumers to purchase in an ethical
manner
To encourage people to enjoy and appreciate
the outdoor environment

The Environmental & Social Cause

Social Cause collaborations with non-profit organizations:
o

Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) + TenTree (TT)

Represent similar mission values of informing, inspiring and educating
across wildlife conservative issues
To attract younger generations

WeForest (WF) + TenTree (TT)

To restore environment on an international scale through targeted

permaculture
(ecological engineering to develop natural
ecosystem) and silvaculture (practise of controlling quality of
forest) projects.
By partnering with WF, TenTree could participate into wide range of
global projects that offered benefits beyond planting trees such as
promoting food security and restoration of failing ecosystems.

CONT
o Additional benefits of partnerships:
Able to sustain as eco-friendly products by using green
energy sources
Free from associations with sweat shops (workplace
that has socially unacceptable working conditions)
o Disadvantage of using high quality manufacturers
Push the product points higher
Cost of trees planted raised
o However, TenTree team did not concern about competitive
positioning as they believed they were selling more than Tshirts, they did not have any direct competitors as well.

Enter The Dragons

Canadian Broadcasting Corporations popular reality television show:

Dragons Den
Series of reality television programmes featuring entrepreneurs
pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance
from a panel of venture capitalists.
TenTree team decided to try out for the show, by appearing on
Dragons Den could help to promote their environmental message and
secure their growth capital and in overall will help them to plant more
trees.
TenTree team enlisted help from bankers, financiers and local
entrepreneurs.
Their episode aired in October 2012, received overwhelming and
national scale.
Not wanting to lose the momentum gained from the reality show
exposure, the team leveraged their new fame by launching a new,
improved and innovative social media campaign.

Social media

For many new ventures that

depend on the Internet for
sales, bring in their business
to a website represents a
major challenge.

TenTree was aware of this

challenge early on and
quickly developed a wide
range of social media tools
to achieve their objective.

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL

Each social media tool was found to have a
specific use.
YouTube
Twitter
Instagram
However, all of the social media platforms
available, by far the most effective was Facebook.

CONT
The content posted on the TenTree Facebook
page came from three sources:
content aligned with its social message created
by TT designers,
content received from its users that reflected
positively on their brand or
message and popular content found by searching
the Internet.
After that, Facebooks sponsored, paid ads.
Facebook represented one of TTs marketing
pathways. TT collected information about
customers from several sources, using tools such
as Google Analytics.
TT currently generated a significant amount of its
revenues from advertising through affiliates.

The interaction between TenTree website and

Facebook

The system interaction between the TT website

and the TT Facebook page was complementary.
Knowing that the sales needed to meet their
social objectives, TT used a more sophisticated
process to "soft sell" to people who visit your
website
After implementing automated processes emails
always thank users for their support and invite
them back to the TT website or Facebook page to
"like" TT or part of the contents.
Feedback for e-mail users are very positive.

CONT
Link to a website that has been adapted to obtain
more information from the user and to educate
consumers about the environmental benefits of
trees are planted.
While this tactic is not new or innovative ways to
get more consumer information, it is different
from the tactics used by other companies by
offering to plant trees regardless of the purchase,
instead of offering incentive-related purchases

Poised For
Growth

TT founders candid their

objective of creating a manmade forest.

Their apparel shelves was

more than 300 Canadian
stores.

Critical Issue Early On their

Offshore Production
of clothing line to keep this demand.
Venture

To maintain the ethical environmental standards consistent

with TTs eco-friendly brand.
TT was unable to source higher-ticket items.
In, generally higher average quality was available in North
America. TenTree charged higher price for its clothing than
comparable products for the extra costs of planting trees.
To find manufacturing capacity in North America that could
produce TenTrees clothing while satisfying all the criteria of
ethics environmentalism and efficiency.
In addition, overseas production
was challenged by
increasing number of factories in China

CONT
TenTrees social mission element might be
jeopardized if, manufacturing was moved to
offshore.
TenTree did not want to be perceived as
profiteering if, its products were made outside of
North America.
Furthermore, middle East and South Asia being
externally audited and approved by WRAP
(Worldwide Responsible Accredit Production

Three Choices that TT team

Consider and Believe
o Advantages
It s easy to market business with the quote
Made in America
o Disadvantages
TT faces economic issues due to maintain
customization flexibility.
The problem they foresaw in Pakistan were less
precise stitching and limited flexibility of mixing
and matching colors

 Production to China would have faces fewer

problems with stitching quality but it requires
higher minimums to production processes for
dyeing, cutting and sewing.
The facilities in China offered one- stop shopping
to all the service requirement.
Chinese manufacturers had better social and
environmental practices but were not as
inexpensive as the Middle Eastern options

o The Popularity Growth of TTs

TenTree could not survive a customer service shock and
could not afford to take a hit to its reputation as a bona
fide social cause company.
This risk was balanced by the possibility of new
customer interest and further growth potential in the US
and other markets.
To building a new product via new ideas such as hats,
backpacks and cellphone covers branded with the
TenTree logo.
Moreover all associates to plant 10 trees for each item
sold

Questions for Social Networking

Sites Case Study

Question 1
Does TT have a sustainable business
model, as a high-cost producer with social
mission? Or its business model just an
easily imitated fad cannot ultimately
survive competitive marketplace?

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
MODEL
Sustainable business, orgreen business, is an enterprise
that has minimal negative impact on the global or local
environment, community, society, or economy. Often,
sustainable businesses have progressive environmental
andhuman rightspolicies. In general,businessis described as
green if it matches the following four criteria:
i. It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of
itsbusinessdecisions.
ii. It suppliesenvironmentally friendly products or services that
replaces demand for non-green products and/or services.
iii.It is greener than traditional competition.
iv.It has made an enduring commitment to environmental
principles in its business operations.

THE ANSWER IS.. YES

TenTree Apparel is a clothing company based North America with a unique
promise to its customers, this company plants Ten Tree[s] for every item
sold. Trees are planted through a company founded by the same
entrepreneurs in Ten Tree, as well as through WeForesta company that
plants trees in developing countries such as all areas of Canada, UK,
Netherlands, and France.
We can determine that TenTree has a sustainable business model by
considering its social mission strategy, brand of the product and social media
networking sites that bring the uniqueness of TT business model. These three
factor has become the harness of sustainability and global citizenship of TT in
selling apparel products even at a high cost.
Currently, TenTree has a great sustainability business model and the
environmental mission will not fad easily in the North America market. Those
customers buying clothes from TenTree Apparel gains happiness not only for
own needs , but from the positive impact theyre having on the earth.
Essentially, this unique business model is able to empower consumers
through the purchase of their clothes, giving more incentive to continue
buying their products in terms of the quality, .
Ten Tree Apparel has combined fashionable clothes with an increasingly
important global issue of saving the environment.,

By addressing this global competition through cost and other

factors, this company might have some obstacles to maintain
their business model and an environmentally sustainable in
future.
The reasons are:
Process and product innovation alone aren't enough
New business models always transform industries
Business-model innovation catalyzes broader systems
change
The TT team clearly needed to identify their key success
factors and use them to shape a strategy that could help them
sustain into market form long term and also achieve growth
consistently

Question 2
Could TT achieve the same success if
it were organized as a not-for-profit
rather than for-profit enterprise?

THE ANSWER IS..

TenTree might not achieve the same success if it were
organized as a not-for-profit enterprise;
There are so many existing not-for-profit organizations,
TenTree presented itself uniquely for-profit organization.
Not-for-profit organizations cant spread the message as
fast as TenTree did because they need lots of funds and
supports from other for-profit enterprise to create social
awareness.
Even though TenTree collaborate with not-for-profit
organizations yet they have their own unique mission and
objectives compared to normal not-for-profit organizations
partnering does not affect their mission and objectives in
any way and it also help not-for-profit organizations to
create awareness about their organizations.

CONT

Tentrees objective and mission is different than the normal

not-for-profit organizations, two fold objective:

To purchase in an ethical manner and also to encourage people to

appreciate and enjoy the outdoors

TenTree spread the message quickly through their brand

image and online apparel sales and they do not have any
direct competitors as well.

TenTree do not need any extra fund to create awareness

and to achieve success, yet they only need extra capital
when their business started to boost up so that they can
supply enough apparel according to their customers
demand and forecast.

Question 3
How has TT innovatively
exploited social media?

THE ANSWER IS..

1. TT is distinguished from all its competitors
is that it does not use traditional
advertising to sell tangible products.
2. Link to a website that has been adapted
to obtain more information from the user
and to educate consumers about the
environmental benefits of trees are
planted.
3. Developing their own brand private label
lines rather than supplier controlled
brand,
thereby
reducing
suppliers
profitability and suppliers importance to
the retailer and consumer.

CONT
TT is distinguished from all its competitors is that it
does not use traditional advertising to sell tangible
products:
Instead, TT used social media such as Facebook to
share its message, providing compelling content
and build communities
To do this, TT-themed content recorded in
accordance, which aims to get users to "like,
share or comment." Such actions effectively
linked Facebook page that the user to the
Facebook page of thousands of fellow users.
These partners will also be prompted to visit TT
Facebook page. The visit provides "edge ranking,"
the TT can then check to assess whether they
have been in the content stream.

CONT
Link to a website that has been adapted to obtain more
information from the user and to educate consumers about
the environmental benefits of trees are planted.
The program also helps TenTree to further develop and
update the preferred customer profile, which can then be
uploaded to other platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
Developing their own brand private label lines rather than
supplier controlled brand, thereby reducing suppliers
profitability and suppliers importance to the retailer and
consumer.
While this tactic is not new or innovative ways to get more
consumer information, it is different from the tactics used by
other companies by offering to plant trees regardless of the
purchase, instead of offering incentive-related purchases.

Question 4
How has TTs use of social media
contributed to its success to date?

THE ANSWER IS..

TenTree with strategic approach to social media have a
competitive edge. They're tapping into customer
information available in social networks, engaging with
customers more quickly than their competitors, building
business models successfully.
TenTree team embraced the social media like Facebook,
Google, You Tube, Twitter, Instagram as platform for their
business modal with social mission. TenTree realized that
the social media is not about pushing out promotional
materials to their audience. It's about having collaborative
interactions with customers, prospects and even employee,
allowing these TenTree to gain valuable insights, solidify
long-lasting relationships and customer loyalty.

CONT
Therefore, TenTree use the social media in many way that driven them to achieve a
successful business model :
1. Customer support thru social media
TenTree received a lot of customer questions and feedback over its social channels for
each item that promoted. Therefore, TenTree provide excellence customer service thru
social media by comment box and also message box. TenTree give a feedback to
comments and questions that asked by customer and guide them for those customer
need any assistance.
2. Integration of all social media (Diagram Exhibit 2)
TenTree has integrated social media into almost every aspect of their website. Theyve
created a social network on their site thats completely linked from other social networks
like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Google.
3. Posting image
TenTree used photo galleries for all their product which is a active across most major
social media platforms with product-specific presences. Not only can the TenTree also
watch the progress in pictures where by the social medial followers can share their
excitement about the product with their family and friends on social networks that
enhance the brand name. This is a great strategy for TenTree, to gain excellent social
proof and even more visibility online via these photos as seen thru social media. For
example Facebook, Instagram , twitter.

CONT
4. Link to shopping page
With innovative business modal, TenTree linked the shopping
page thru social media page that help customer gain a good
purchasing experience with the simple step. For example, thru
Facebook, customer can purchase the product, by clicking on
the shopping icon that will bring to the online shopping page
automatically.
5. Like and follower of social media
TenTree has used one-click like process or be a follower to join
the TenTree follower group thru social media . This method
make TenTree easy to educate about the environment and at
the same time offered a discount to all new members with
their promotions. In fact, TenTree also collect and keep all
followers profile information as customer database.

THANK YOU