Innovation

Owners Sam and Mitchell both worked at a local café together and had always dreamed of starting their own business. The innovation emerged when they uncovered a niche in the streetwear market – apparel that involves their local community. Sam and Mitchell both set off asking family, friends and members of the community what they loved about the area as inspiration to create fashionable T-shirts for everyone to wear. From the garage of their own home, they then started to bring these designs to life.

Once they launched, any customer was able to create and submit their own artwork to be printed onto a T-shirt or jumper. The idea of Williamstown and surrounding suburbs-focused clothing coincided with their desire to create a more inclusive community. They order clothes of a different variety of colours, that are blank, and then used this as the canvas to bring the customer's artwork to life. Each piece of clothing is hand-made in their own home and are made to order.

Designs created for local sports clubs

Inspiration

Both Sam and Mitchell have lived in Williamstown their whole lives, where they also played football for the local team and attended school. They love the suburb they have grown up in and were looking at “…ways to share the same passion we hold with other members of the community…”. Through their own involvement with local sports clubs such as Williamstown CYMS Football Club, they recognised that the people of Williamstown are very proud of their suburb and thought that streetwear related to this theme would be very popular.

The motivation behind the business model was to provide an avenue to involve the local community through apparel that everyone can wear, as they have "both lived in the local area for our whole lives.” They also believed that the opportunities for different designs were plentiful as there are so many different icons, landmarks etc. of Williamstown that many people in the community would recognise.

They also wanted to help the local football and lacrosse club they're involved with by offering them a range of different apparel for members and players to wear at affordable prices. They hope that by everyone at the club wearing the same apparel they can "...better unite the community."

Overall impact

The impact of the innovation on the business was that it is directly aligned with the local community in which it is situated in, so Mitchell noticed that the majority of customers were geographically located in the same area. He believes that “there was an increased willingness of customers to purchase 3016 Designs apparel and a sense of pride in doing so" as it provided a way for them to represent the suburb they live in.

The short-term effects of the 3016 Design business model is that sales levels were high when they first began, as friends, family and everyone in the area wanted to support the business, and purchase the clothing. Sales levels did eventually plateau as the number of designs submitted by customers declined. Despite this, they have been able to promote an increased number of submissions through give aways, competitions and promoting the fact they donate a portion of profits of each design to a local, charitable organization. Mitchell believes the reason for "...increased sales levels (is) due to customers wanting to purchase a product knowing it is tied to benefiting the community.”

This is evident in Fisher’s 2018 report that states that 66% of consumers are more willing to spend on socially-conscious brands.

References
Fisher, J. (2018). How Being More Charitable Can Enhance Customer Loyalty, Sales and the Brand. Retrieved from https://medium.com/ama-marketing-news/how-being-more-charitable-can-enhance-customer-loyalty-sales-and-the-brand-d555d037a12b

Business benefit

The platform allows customers to either purchase already existing designs or to create their own. Once a purchase has been made, the clothes are then hand-made in the garage of their own home. For this reason, inventory is kept to a minimum and the business need not worry so much about unsold clothes, saving on costs.

The business also does not need to solely rely on the two owner's creativity to constantly design apparel that customers desire. Instead, they provide an opportunity for their customers to design their own clothing, which means the clothes produced are "created by the customers, for the customers." The ideas for new designs are endless with so many involved in creating their own artwork. As customers can create their own designs, which are then made available on the website for anyone to purchase and wear, there is a strong sense of pride in wearing the apparel. This means the business is able to gain free publicity through social media as the customers who design their apparel often post and promote it on social media platforms such as Instagram.

Social and environmental benefit

As the clothes are made to order based on what the customer has designed, this results in little to no unsold clothes and so addresses SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production). Also, as 3016 Designs is a small business with the owners working from home, each design is produced only to meet the amount ordered per transaction. This is beneficial to the environment as it ensures little to no waste of clothes that are no longer wanted. The business takes part in responsible production.

The business benefits society and promotes inclusion with the local community in which they are located. This addresses SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and consumption) as it aims to make the area inclusive and resilient.

Interview

Mitchell Parkinson, Owner