At first glance, it might seem like an oxymoron: creating an anti-brand on the coattails of another, mammoth brand.

But Kalle Lasn, founder of Vancouver-based anti-globalization journal Adbusters, has done just that, with a grassroots marketing scheme touting the Black Spot Sneaker. A de-logoed Converse-lookalike shoe that directly challenges Phil Knight’s Nike brand, the Black Spot is set to enter the market this spring, after accumulating 2,500 pre-orders, heavy publicity and lots of retailer interest, thanks to a growing consumer base that has become anti-brand.

‘There is a general jadedness about branding right now, especially among young people,’ says Lasn. ‘The feeling of animosity against some brands is so big that it can launch a brand all on its own. And, if we can do that with a sneaker, then maybe we can do it with hamburgers and other things as well.’

The segment to which Lasn refers – the anti-brand set – is a tough one to reach, since it’s a group that doesn’t necessarily embrace advertising. But, some more mainstream marketers, such as Mountain Equipment Co-op and The Body Shop, have effectively lured such consumers by flying beneath the radar of traditional marketing practices. For these companies, social responsibility is reflected in their values, and in turn, their marketing initiatives, which include community outreach programs, partnerships with key organizations and taking a leadership role when it comes to ethical sourcing and environmental issues.

While the big WTO protests have died down and it has been three years since the release of Naomi Klein’s seminal anti-brand tome, No Logo, the book still tops bestseller lists, and similar books, such as Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, an investigative account of the evils of corporate fast-food giants, is still in the top 10 on the non-fiction paperback list after 99 weeks. It appears that the anti-brand movement is still alive and well.

And this may be something more marketers should wake up to, according to youth consultant Max Valiquette, president of Toronto-based Youthography. ‘We’re a country that for whatever reason, breeds anti-globalists,’ says Valiquette, citing Klein and Adbusters – both homegrown voices – as examples. Valiquette says the anti-brand movement is growing; though it’s difficult to quantify in numbers, he points to recent telling research findings.

‘We’re seeing more [youth] telling us they don’t like brands. When we ask 1,000 young people what movie they’re looking forward to, 90% of them will answer. But, if we ask what brand is the coolest out there, only half of them will answer. For some of them, it’s a desire to say, ‘I don’t identify with a brand,” says Valiquette. ‘Young people are far more media-savvy than ever before and it causes them to think about brands differently.’

So how do you reach people who don’t necessarily like being advertised to? One way is to make your principles an inherent part of everyday operations. This has been the strategy of Vancouver-based outdoor gear retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op, which was founded in 1972. ‘We’re sometimes regarded as the anti-retailer,’ says Tim Southam, communications manager at MEC. ‘A lot of people with no-logo values fall within our membership.’

As a co-op, the company strives to be accountable to its members first and foremost, as opposed to maximizing profit.

MEC’s members tend to be highly concerned about social causes, says Peter ter Weeme, senior manager of marketing and communications at the company. In fact, research has found that 75% of members are attracted to the company because of its values, which include policies and initiatives around protecting the environment, as well as an ethical sourcing program. The Co-op’s Web site (www.mec.ca) extensively lists its core values and social and environmental responsibility initiatives.

The Body Shop, meanwhile, has also practiced social responsibility as part of its core value system. Tony Hamill, communications manager for Toronto-based Body Shop Canada, says the company has five values flags – stand against animal testing, support community trade, activate self-esteem, protect our planet, and defend human rights – which have been integrated into the beauty care retailer’s communications initiatives. And most recently, U.K.-based The Body Shop International has undertaken a global initiative to define the role of business in human rights.

But marketers also have to practise what they preach; by getting involved with their respective causes locally. For MEC, the obvious choice is environmental organizations. ‘Our goal is to get people outside, so protecting the outside playground is very important to us,’ says ter Weeme.

Each year, 0.4% of the previous year’s sales at MEC are set aside for the company’s Environment Fund, and since 1987, $4 million has been raised for environmental conservation and wilderness protection programs.

The company has also taken a non-traditional approach to marketing; MEC relies on word-of-mouth and implicates itself in the outdoors community through relevant partnerships with organizations such as the Canadian Avalanche Association.

‘Consumers are becoming more conscious of [spending] their money in a way they can feel good about, and it’s helped validate what we do,’ says ter Weeme. ‘We’re taking a leadership role and we’re trying to encourage others to follow suit. Out of respect for our members, we try to ensure that they make choices in an informed manner. An educated member is our best member, and they are the kinds of people who are integral to the success of the Co-op.’

And this strategy is working for MEC; the company is just shy of 2 million members and achieved $170 million in sales last year.

For The Body Shop, getting involved locally is paramount. Hamill says the company is in its 10th year of conducting its ‘Stop Violence Against Women’ campaign, which has included in-store fundraising, as well as a candle-lighting ceremony. In addition, each store has a community service partner – an abuse prevention centre, for example – where staff volunteer for 16 hours per month.

The Body Shop also runs a ‘speak-easy’ community outreach program in which store staff visit schools and organizations to raise awareness of the issues, and to educate students about The Body Shop’s community programs. ‘The Body Shop has always been seen as a friendly company; it’s not a multinational corporation, but a multi-local one,’ says Hamill. ‘We’re seen as a member of the community.’

Hamill says the company has also made strides in reducing plastic use through its ongoing ‘return bottles’ initiative. On a global scale, The Body Shop International has seen sales increase by 2% in 2003 over 2002.

Probably the key to marketing to the no-logo crowd is to shun traditional advertising. This has been an ongoing strategy for The Body Shop, despite being in business for over 20 years in Canada. The U.K-based founder of the company, Anita Roddick, felt that advertising would increase the price of products, so The Body Shop instead relies on PR and word of mouth. The tactic also fits the brand’s values of showing concern for human rights by resisting huge, glitzy ad campaigns that cost millions to produce.

But that’s not to say all advertising is off limits – particularly if a brand wants to make a point on principle. For the Black Spot Sneaker initiative, which seeks to ‘uncool’ corporate culture while adding fuel to Adbusters’ social marketing campaigns, Lasn and his team have embraced advertising as a way to get their message out. Funds are being raised to run a full-page ad – using the tagline ‘Rethink the cool’ – in the New York Times (which costs US$47,000), and billboards will hang outside Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike in the coming months.

All in all, Lasn says the initiative is going ‘better than we expected’ and capturing media attention across the globe. The New York Times Magazine, in fact, recently named the Black Spot Sneaker one of the best ideas to emerge in 2003.

Meanwhile, it’s no coincidence that the Adbusters sneaker – which will sell for around $40 – looks a lot like erstwhile counterculture sneaker Converse. Lasn chose the shoe as the model for Black Spot as a way to reclaim the sneaker for the anti-establishment set shortly after Nike acquired the company last summer.

‘We’re tapping into the market of people who used to buy Converse, and now refuse to own it because it’s owned by Nike,’ says Lasn. ‘All those [big] companies that relied heavily on branding and put that nuclear glow around their logo are going to have to do a bit of rethinking.’

However, any rethinking on the part of big brands will require a lot of patience, says Valiquette. ‘You will make mistakes because the boundaries are set and reset all the time. The big thing is to be much more mindful of how we market to young people, since some are going to reject brands just because they’re large.

‘What some marketers are doing is marketing stealthily and doing whatever they can to hide that they’re marketing, but that’s bad for your brand. It’s important to be as culturally mindful as possible: Don’t market just for the sake of marketing; there’s value in silence.’