Innovation

The Peace Collective is a Canadian lifestyle brand which celebrates the pride of living in Canada. The company was established in 2014 in light of the Toronto Raptors playoffs. At the time, the Toronto Raptors had not built a strong repertoire within their industry. In response to Toronto’s borderline anonymous identity within the league, the slogan ‘Toronto vs. Everybody’ was coined by Yanal Dhaileh, the founder of Peace Collective. What had started out as a simple slogan on a T-shirt evolved into an entire organization. The slogan’s success stemmed from the message it sent. As Ram Palao, the head of product design and development said, “the message of the shirts is that Canada is the best place to live in and this is represented through not only the clothing which we sell, but also the community we create." This bold message established a sense of community amongst Canadians. The organization now carries many variations of fashionable garments with bold messages printed across the chest to emphasize their messages with a handful of words.

In addition to uniting Canadians, Peace Collective seeks to promote the idea that Canada is a humanitarian nation. The Peace Foundation acts as the humanitarian extension of the Peace Collective’s business plan. The Peace Foundation collects a portion of all the proceeds from Peace Collective and donates them to the ‘Breakfast Club of Canada’ and ‘Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada’. Both are humanitarian organizations involved in facilitating healthy lives to promote a general well-being among Canadian youth. This refocuses a ‘One- for-One’ model to a ‘One-for-All’ model which seeks to help as many people from the purchase of one garment. The organization also encourages its employees to take time away from the office to go out and volunteer once a month in order to maintain an interactive role in their local community.

Dhaileh founded this organization with the help of his family, friends and an idea that united people. He combined all their knowledge with his market research and innovation in order to make Peace Collective the successful brand it is today. The Peace Foundation was later established after Dhaileh was inspired by other foundations which give back to their communities. Palao noted that their whole team strongly believes “being Canadian means more than living and breathing. It is embodying the values of unselfishness, camaraderie, and peace."

Inspiration

Palao was working for another firm when Dhaileh recruited him to work at Peace Collective. Palao was experienced in developing business models for companies. He, Dhaileh and a few friends and family worked together to create the Peace Collective's business model. It combined part of other successful apparel brands with a strong presence within their communities and communicated the pride of being Canadian and what that entails. But Dhaileh wanted to create more than just a fashion line. He wanted to create a community as well. This inspired the development of The Peace Foundation and the one-for-all business model which Peace Collective uses to fund its charitable foundation. From a business perspective, this business model established a positive repertoire among its employees and customers and further developed the identity of the Peace Collective brand as a charitable and consumer conscious company. Palao added that "pride is a very important part of the Peace Collective brand. It inspires every article of clothing. It drives the company and it drives our nation. And part of our nation's pride comes from the fact that Canada helps others. So it was also important for Peace Collective to help where it could."

Overall impact

Peace Collective has been a successful business since its founding back in 2014. Its success is further demonstrated through its ability to continually support its charitable foundation and expansion. Today, Peace Collective has ventured out to spread its innovation all the way to the west coast of Canada and has opened two stores in the past three years. The main driver of its success is the sustainable business model it has developed.

There are countless other clothing stories in Canada, and there are probably many companies that market their brands to exhibit ‘Canadian pride.' In light of this, Peace Collective has successfully grown in the number of sales outlets, the number of customers who purchase their products and in the size of its targeted market. What distinguishes Peace Collective from any other apparel brand in Canada is its business model which gives back to the community. For the conscious customer this is a dream come true; to know that the purchase of a fashionable accessory will positively affect the local environment. The charitable organizations Peace Collective funds through The Peace Foundation promote healthy living and a general well-being for Canadian youth. This kind of charity allows customers to have a first-hand look into how their money is affecting their community.

In the short-run, the initial success of the first clothing line lead to an innovation which spread a sense of unity and pride among Canadians as well as business-related success. Palao said that in the beginning, Peace Collective “was developing an identity as a Canadian brand that was for Canadians." Eventually when people realized the role of Peace Collective in their community, the company saw even more success. In the long-run, the establishment of a strong socially responsible business model proved to be quite helpful in orchestrating the success which the company enjoys today.

Business benefit

Peace Collective makes its profits through product sales. The foundation has a clothing line which is directly invested in charitable organizations in local Canadian communities. By purchasing clothing from Peace Collective, customers are getting something for themselves while feeling socially responsible as well. If analyzed through an economic point of view, if Peace Collective donates 5% of its clothing prices to charity, buyers are willing to pay more for the product which leads to higher profit margins. This allows the company to charge more for their products while still attracting a relatively large market share. This socially responsible strategy helps Peace Collective improve their long-term reputation within the Canadian market. Peace Collective gains business benefits through its partnerships with charitable foundations which operate in local communities. These partnerships help the foundation pool the available resources to achieve a mutually beneficial goal. Such partnerships have helped the foundation receive recognition from the government, the communities they serve and the public.

Social and environmental benefit

Peace Collective benefits society through the donations it provides for Canadian youth through The Peace Foundation. For every garment sold, $4 is donated to Breakfast Club of Canada, a charity dedicated to providing Canadian youth with a nutritious breakfast. This donation made to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada also helps children have access to a healthy lifestyle. To eradicate poverty, the foundation also works with WoodGreen, a social welfare organization that offers a myriad of services to Toronto resudents. The company also requires their employees to volunteer once a month with charities such as WoodGreen, as a way to give back to the communities where they operate.

Interview

Ram Palao, Leader of Product Development and Design