Burt’s Bee’s: Leaving the Hive
Burt’s Bee’s: Leaving the Hive
01-26-2013
Burt’s Bee’s is committed to providing the best products for its consumers by ensuring they are 100% natural and produced in environmentally friendly conditions. I believe it is possible for the company to become the “Starbucks of personal care” without foregoing the initial values established by Roxanne Quimby. Roxanne’s original vision was making Burt’s bees a big brand, not an exclusive brand, and so moving into the mass market sector is in-keeping with this idea. Arguably, moving away from a specialty and health product, to a mass market brand is risky and results in specialty stores pulling back and reducing shelf space.
However, the company today is very loyal and focused on their core values. They insist on only developing products that serve an explicit healthful purpose. They delayed launching the shampoo, for example, because they wanted to create a natural, cleaner shampoo that also lathered, to meet customer needs. The company pursued products other firms didn’t, like carrot lotion, adding to Burt’s authenticity. As well as this, they make all their packaging from recycled materials and encourage customers to reuse or recycle shampoo bottles for example. I believe that if they keep this up, they can definitely become the “Starbucks on personal care” without foregoing the values and narratives that made the brand successful.
In my opinion this model is replicable. All Burt’s Bee’s is trying to do is what’s best for consumers and the environment. No matter how big the brand gets, no matter how much profits increase by, the firm in question should try follow in Burt’s Bee’s footsteps, and continue focusing on their core competencies and outsourcing tasks where they are not as efficient. In Burt’s Bee’s case, by fully disclosing ingredients, they promote transparency; by not testing their products on animals they communicate their values to the consumer; finally, by striving to use 100% natural ingredients
01-26-2013
Burt’s Bee’s is committed to providing the best products for its consumers by ensuring they are 100% natural and produced in environmentally friendly conditions. I believe it is possible for the company to become the “Starbucks of personal care” without foregoing the initial values established by Roxanne Quimby. Roxanne’s original vision was making Burt’s bees a big brand, not an exclusive brand, and so moving into the mass market sector is in-keeping with this idea. Arguably, moving away from a specialty and health product, to a mass market brand is risky and results in specialty stores pulling back and reducing shelf space.
However, the company today is very loyal and focused on their core values. They insist on only developing products that serve an explicit healthful purpose. They delayed launching the shampoo, for example, because they wanted to create a natural, cleaner shampoo that also lathered, to meet customer needs. The company pursued products other firms didn’t, like carrot lotion, adding to Burt’s authenticity. As well as this, they make all their packaging from recycled materials and encourage customers to reuse or recycle shampoo bottles for example. I believe that if they keep this up, they can definitely become the “Starbucks on personal care” without foregoing the values and narratives that made the brand successful.
In my opinion this model is replicable. All Burt’s Bee’s is trying to do is what’s best for consumers and the environment. No matter how big the brand gets, no matter how much profits increase by, the firm in question should try follow in Burt’s Bee’s footsteps, and continue focusing on their core competencies and outsourcing tasks where they are not as efficient. In Burt’s Bee’s case, by fully disclosing ingredients, they promote transparency; by not testing their products on animals they communicate their values to the consumer; finally, by striving to use 100% natural ingredients