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Repositioning Fairphone - Verena Kitowski on the role sustainability really plays in 2026
31 Plays9 days ago
Verena Kitowski is Marketing Team Manager at Fairphone, a Dutch company leading sustainable and ethical electronics. She leads a full-stack marketing team to accelerate acquisition and retention across Europe and the US.
Verena is responsible for customer journey strategies that empower users to keep their products longer. With expertise in MarTech, customer experience and purpose-led marketing, she is dedicated to building a sustainable, innovation-led future through business as a force for good.
About the FutureStrategies podcast and your host:
I’m Florian Schleicher, a marketing strategist. I help brands gain clarity, spark momentum, and turn strategy into something that actually moves people. In 2022, I started my marketing studio FUTURESTRATEGIES. to do exactly that. I currently work with corporate clients from 11 countries.
If you want more, check out my FutureStrategies newsletter – monthly inspiration on marketing, strategy and sustainability.
And if something’s blocking your brand from doing its best work, let’s talk.
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Transcript
Introduction: Product Longevity vs. Sustainability
00:00:00
Speaker
We really shifted the narrative to not put sustainability first anymore, but actually put our products first, put longevity first. And we didn't change. The interesting thing for me is actually we didn't change anything in terms of the sustainability, right? Actually, we are really still the leader in that field. And really, we keep on innovating in that space and really pushing the bar. It's just that we don't lead in all of the communication with that anymore.
Podcast Introduction by Florian Schleicher
00:00:28
Speaker
Welcome to the future strategies podcast. My name is Florian Schleicher. I'm a marketing strategist focused on sustainability and I'm your host here. You can listen to my interviews with international experts and together we will explore where marketing strategies and sustainability intersect with great examples, insightful stories and a look behind the scenes of some amazing brands. If you're curious how to apply all of that for your own business, I do this for my clients from all around the world.
00:00:58
Speaker
But more on that at the end of this episode.
Interview with Verena Kitowski: Customer Journey & Innovation
00:01:01
Speaker
Now let's jump into today's interview.
00:01:06
Speaker
My guest today is Verena Kitowski. She's a strategic marketing leader at Fairphone, a Dutch company leading sustainable and ethical electronics. She leads a full stack marketing team to accelerate acquisition and retention across Europe and the United States.
00:01:23
Speaker
Verena is responsible for customer journey strategies that empower users to keep their products longer. With expertise in MarTech, customer experience and purpose-led marketing, she's dedicated to building a sustainable innovation-led future through business as a force for good. It's super good to have you again here with me, Verena.
00:01:43
Speaker
Hi, hi Florian. Thanks for having me. So we recorded one episode, I think it was about two years ago. really more Even Even more. Oh wow. we We went very deep on Fairphone, the sustainability challenge, and i will link to the episode
Fairphone's Brand Repositioning
00:02:01
Speaker
also in the show notes. And today I would like for us to go a little bit deeper on a new brand positioning that you also did.
00:02:08
Speaker
what changed and what basically happened in the last two or three years. So I would be curious, you did this brand refresh in 2025. Can you walk us through what you changed internally and externally when it comes to your marketing at Fairphone? Yeah, so we did a full ah repositioning exercise ah going really deep into you know consumer insights that we saw looking at what happens in the industry.
00:02:35
Speaker
um looking at our legacy, right? Looking at where do we have authority as a brand? You know, what do we really stand for and what do we want to stand for in the future? And really, yeah, i mean, these are quite long lasting projects, right? So we we had a lot of discussions ah internally And with other experts. And ah yeah, in the end, more than a year ago, January last year, we did a whole repositioning, including actually ah a visual upgrade, let's say, of the brand. So also the visual identity changed. And um yeah, it's now been more than a year. And I have to say, at this point, it feels very strange to see the old logo. You know how sometimes you look you see old things and they they already seem so... ah
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah, they they they seem like they they don't belong to us anymore. So I think, yeah, it's really, ah you know, also the office, once you do it really holistically, you roll it out. So the office at a new look, it was really, a yeah, it was really a success, I
Expanding Beyond Sustainable Electronics
00:03:31
Speaker
think. Why did you decide to work on a new brand positioning?
00:03:35
Speaker
um Yeah, we saw that there was a certain ceiling that we reached. We were, I um i believe, quite well known in the niche of sustainable electronics you know amongst the customer base who's very interested and invested um in yeah purchasing fairer products.
00:03:54
Speaker
and But we have growth ambitions, right? We really saw, okay, how can we get out of this niche? And this was one of the stepping stones for that because yeah we really saw that Even if people have sustainability in their consideration set or, you know, as part of, yeah, like a purchase motivation. for a smartphone, it might not be the top item, you know, because you buy a smartphone only every few years and it's really one of the most important products that we have in our lives. And we saw that even even the people who are quite invested in sustainability might just choose, you know, what what they feel like they don't have to make a compromise on, what they really, yeah, you know, just the best specs, you know, that they can get and that fits their life. And therefore we really shifted the narrative um to not put sustainability first anymore, but actually put our products first, put longevity first.
00:04:53
Speaker
And we didn't change. The interesting thing for me is actually we didn't change anything in terms of the sustainability, right? Actually, we are really still the leader in that field. And really, you know, we we keep on innovating in that space and really pushing the bar. It's just that we don't lead in all of the communication with that anymore. I find that super interesting because that's also an approach that I see more and more with companies that do good is that they talk more about the product itself and what benefits it brings to the table for their customers, be that B2B or B2C, and less about the actual sustainability part. Yeah.
00:05:33
Speaker
I don't know if you've read it, I've i've written a a case study on Red Wing shoes a couple of weeks ago. ah American shoe brand company has been in existence since 1905. And I recently bought a pair of their shoes and and the salesperson told me that I have a lifelong warranty on these shoes, which is per se sustainable.
00:05:56
Speaker
Yeah. Without saying these are sustainable shoes. And i find it so interesting to actually make it to show customers, hey, this is what you get from us. The sustainability part is just part of it and it's not the main act anymore. Yeah, indeed. And I mean, this is that's the other element of um of what we are doing, right? One part is all the innovations in the supply chain and on material sourcing and you know items and really the things that happen outside of the view of consumers. But then the longevity that happens in the hands of consumers, right?
Product Design & The Lime Button: Aligning with Brand Values
00:06:30
Speaker
Like this is yeah how long can you then actually keep the phone connected? Yeah, indeed, warranty, we give ah we give the longest warranty in the market, software support, all these items that are important for for a smartphone. Yeah, you know, we we provide that. And that's really what is relevant, you know, in the life of the of the consumer in that moment. And that's indeed where we see that ah we can we can stress that much more.
00:06:54
Speaker
When we talk about the external part of of communications now, It's the wording that has changed, I imagine. You you mentioned also visually something has changed.
00:07:05
Speaker
Anything else that was important in the repositioning? Well, we also wanted to tie the product design more closely together with the brand, actually. And we launched last year, we launched our new device, the sixth generation of the Fairphone, actually, last ah last summer in 2025. And that device, yeah, it's i I feel like I'm very proud of how it intertwines, you know, the brand elements and actually what what our product design stands for into one device. And really, we always used our smartphone basically as, yeah, you know, the central piece where all of our values as a company can come together and get visible. And I think, yeah, with Generation 6, yeah, that really shows also in the product design. I want to talk a little bit more about the Gen 6, maybe one question later, but I would also like to touch upon this aspect that you switched your approach when it comes to target audience from targeting everyone who has a smartphone to really saying, okay, Android users.
00:08:07
Speaker
So no more iPhone, Apple disciples. Why that move? Well, in the end, within the Android space, there is generally speaking, not as much brand loyalty. You know, people, as long as you're in the Android ecosystem, consumers are usually quite open to switching.
00:08:27
Speaker
Of course, when you're locked in into the iOS space, um yeah, you are quite locked in, right? I mean, this is really from an operating system point of view. Many people feel that's a hurdle. And yeah, that's why we really focus on Android users and we really see that you know we compete, let's say, with other Android devices out there. However, i do want to say that, of course, we also have iOS users who who move over actually, and it's getting easier and easier. i mean, this is also in the interest of Android, making it easier. to actually shift over, you know, and making data transfer and any kind of access much easier at the moment that you need to shift the phone. So we do see that. But of course, the majority of our customers comes from another Android device. and When we talk now about the generation six, one of the, I think, features that really jumps into your eye is this lime button that you introduced.
00:09:20
Speaker
so I've seen it in action when I was at your office in Amsterdam, but for those people who don't know what the lime button is, can you briefly explain what it is and why you always introduced it? yeah It stands out visually because of the lime green color. and It's basically a switch button that's on the side of the phone. So it's really a physical button that you move up and down.
00:09:43
Speaker
um and with that, we call it the Fairphone Moment. With that, you can turn on the Fairphone Moment. And when you look at the display of the phone, you know, in the normal mode, you just have your normal Android device, you see your home screen, all the apps. The moment you ah flip that switch, turn on the Fairphone Moment, you get a much calmer, much more peaceful interface, let's say, much more reduced, less colors, ah less apps. You actually only have five apps available there. And the idea behind all of that is really that we see, and and maybe you recognize it even from yourself around and and around you,
00:10:21
Speaker
There is really a trend of of digital detox, right? There's really a trend of people being overwhelmed by their phones, wanting to take distance. um We've also seen the trend that people start buying the old flip phones, you know, or the dumb phones. Right. Or even landline phones that you that can then sit next to that have a cable that is connected to it. And you can connect your Bluetooth phone to that landline phone. And then you have to sit next to it and hold the handle in your hand. So, yeah, I think it's also this digital detox and the romanticization, I think, of all things. Yeah. Yeah, indeed. Indeed. And yeah we've seen that trend.
00:11:01
Speaker
Also, people carrying around two phones. That, again, is not in our interest, right, in terms of materials. And then again, you know, it is wasteful from the point of view of material usage. Yeah. So that's why we wanted to find a way to combine the two, you know, and actually deliver this as a new, um yeah, really as a new feature. And um it's landed really well. We receive a lot of positive feedback from people about it and also a lot of creative ideas from customers, how they use it and when they use it, because you can customize it to a certain extent. You know you can choose yourself which apps you want there.
00:11:38
Speaker
We have some people who create an outdoor mode you know where they only have maybe a calling you know a functionality and Komoot or another hiking app that people use and maybe music a music app.
00:11:50
Speaker
um So yeah, you can customize it to a certain extent. And yeah, it's really something that people appreciate because it's haptic. You know you don't have to go in the interface um first, unlock the phone first, and already you see notifications and other things. know And that's already a distraction. But you know you can just turn it on when the phone is in your pocket. You know you don't have to even look at the screen. And I think that adds actually a value um rather than the focus modi that exists already.
00:12:18
Speaker
I love that concept. When I first saw it, I thought that that's so spot on on a cultural movement, as you just said, both with the digital detoxes and the romanticization of of just being offline again and just being in the moment. So I think it's it's a great idea. And I would be curious, when do you use the Lime Button? Well, actually, I use it when I'm with friends or when I don't want to hear the the vibration of messages coming in.
00:12:47
Speaker
I also use it at night, actually. I just, you know, in the evening, just turn it on, basically, to turn off all the distractions. Yeah, so I actually use it more in its original intent. I don't have a creative setup on it.
Transparency & Environmental Impact Reports
00:13:00
Speaker
Yeah. So I still have my old phone and I remember from our first conversation that the most sustainable smartphone is the one that you already have.
00:13:08
Speaker
So i I don't plan on switching that, but if I then do, I'm very much looking forward to also experiencing this Lime button then in in the Fairphone. Amazing. Great to hear. One of the things that you mentioned in our last conversation was that in April, this episode will air probably in in May or June, you will launch your new impact report.
00:13:31
Speaker
So by the time this is out, the impact report will already be out. Can you tell us something what makes this new impact report special from also communications perspective? Yeah, so our impact report is really reporting. So, mean, of course we try to ah you know also use it on our communications channels, but in the end, the impact report is a super heavy document.
00:13:54
Speaker
um you know It's audited, it's even audited externally. It includes all of our company KPIs, you know all the information, we are super transparent with that. for two reasons, actually. One is because we want the transparency so that you know when when there is transparency on data, that's when other companies can also really compare each other. you know And that's also when consumers are unable to compare.
00:14:18
Speaker
you know, things that that they find important. If everybody is closing off the information, yeah, you don't enable people to make the right choices or or find information that they find important. And the other one is, yeah, because of course, with our ah legacy of of being a social enterprise, we are really responsible also towards all of our stakeholders with our impact KPIs. So we need to make it transparent also to them. And we've been doing this now for many years.
00:14:46
Speaker
But what I find even more interesting actually than the impact report, which is a yearly routine, let's say, is that we recently we published the first nature report of the industry. okay And that has a slightly different angle, ah to be honest. It's also very new for us. It was the first time the team worked on this. And in that report, we really want to lay the baseline of reporting on environmental impact, really on not only on carbon footprint, you know, the industry talks a lot about carbon footprint as an example,
00:15:18
Speaker
But there is actually much more to positive impact and environmental harm or ah reducing that, especially on biodiversity. So it has a lot of ah focus on that. And especially in the tech industry, you know, there's big problems with water pollution, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, these kind of topics.
00:15:39
Speaker
Yeah, this wasn't yet ah so much a topic um for us to also report on. So let's say there's a new element on what we're doing as well. So what is one of the things that you are especially proud of in that nature report? and Well, actually, the the fact that at this point, it's first of all published, you know, that you put it on the agenda. um And for us, you know, of course, if you if you want to have an impact, a positive impact, you also need to measure what's your baseline. And we are already working, you know, especially with indirect suppliers. um Yeah, for example, on water pollution topics.
00:16:14
Speaker
But if you don't report it and um in that sense also inspire, let's say others or nudge others to do the same, yeah, then i we really think that's how you can multiply ah your impact. So to publishing that and being very transparent about it, that's what I'm personally most proud of on behalf of the team. I'm very much looking forward to reading that because I feel like this is, as you mentioned, an aspect that is not documented well enough. And whenever we talk about something, others, people, organizations also become more aware of the thing. So yeah yeah I think that's a very good approach.
00:16:50
Speaker
And really, the ah you know in the end, there there might be a lot of green or labeled as green technologies that are in the end very um destructive you know to to nature. And the and yeah nature and capitalism, might everything we do in our economy is super closely connected.
00:17:09
Speaker
And we talk a lot about carbon footprints, actually not as much maybe in the mainstream media anymore the last couple of years. But let's say the planetary boundaries of nature, that's not talked about a lot. And if it gets destructed even more, it has an impact actually on our capitalistic society.
Advertising Challenges & Diversifying Communication Channels
00:17:27
Speaker
yeah Absolutely, absolutely. Now that you've mentioned the C word, capitalism, there is one more topic that I would like to to talk with you about. we talked, I think, a little bit during the lunch break in December ah in your office.
00:17:43
Speaker
But a big industry discussion currently is that For here in Austria, I know that it's more than half of all our ad spend going to platforms such as Meta, Google, TikTok.
00:17:56
Speaker
I know you're also a political person, so I suspect you also think about this topic quite a lot. um Now, any kind of company that is also in the impact space still advertises on Meta, even though there is a lot of critique.
00:18:13
Speaker
How do you deal with that in your role at Fairphone that you know you shouldn't, but you actually need to because there are many people that you can only reach there? Yeah, this is a difficult topic, I have to say, and it's really a dilemma. I mean, it is also a dilemma that we have.
00:18:28
Speaker
This is the kind of monopoly of social media platforms, right, that exists in that sense that ah consumers are on there, therefore brands need to be on there. And yeah, we are also on there indeed, you know, like we haven't found the silver bullet here either. And it helps us, you know, in the end, it helps us to be on there to reach people who are interested in Fairphone so that we can create more positive impact. but That is in the end, our end goal. our And we are quite focused on that, you know, and sometimes we
00:18:59
Speaker
have to be bit pragmatic, you know, we're not trying to fight every fight. yeah um We chose the fight that that we ah fight for. And at the same time, we do try to diversify a bit, you know, I mean, we of course, we use the meta and Google, TikTok, we also have a community forum, actually, that's hosted on on discourse, ah where a lot of people who are on that forum actually don't use social media regularly. We also are on Reddit, you know, we do a lot of PR work. So in that sense, you know, we do try to yeah not put all our eggs in one basket, let's say, from ah from a channel point of view. yeah um We also have actually, and we have a very engaged ah newsletter base. We also see that, um and I see that actually, i read ah when I read about it, I see this trend more and more that for certain topics,
00:19:49
Speaker
Seems like people really um appreciate newsletters again, where they can decide themselves, you know, where they can really decide themselves when they click into it, when they read it, and there's one piece of content and they delete it afterwards, you know, and there's not this...
00:20:04
Speaker
constant flow of new information as you have on the social media feeds. um So the newsletter for us is also a very important channel. Yeah, so while we try to be pragmatic and we try to indeed diversify bit our channels, especially also because we have a customer base who's not on social media. So we also have to cater to them. You know, we really have a segment of customers who's quite cautious of that.
00:20:29
Speaker
And of course, we also need to reach them in different ways. as you said it's a dilemma what do you do with you know something is not per se good but you need it in order to to do good because your company does a lot of good and if your company wouldn't be able to reach all these people then you wouldn't be able to multiply your impact so yeah it's a very tricky one It is a dilemma. Yeah. And I'm very curious how this will how this will develop the next few years. I think as a marketeer, you really have to have your eyes on on this to not, to ah you know, also to be able to identify maybe there will be new platforms popping up, maybe even European platforms, you know, that will grow and become more popular.
00:21:12
Speaker
Personally, i really hope so. So I hope that, you know, as as marketeers, we have to keep our eyes out for that as well. Verena, before we go to the three final questions, do you have any questions for me? Yeah, I'm actually curious how you see that on on the social media you know part in this dilemma. do you How do you see that? I mean, I know you speak to a lot of companies, ah also internationally. how How is that? What do you hear there from others?
00:21:39
Speaker
It's a lot along the lines that you just mentioned that they are very critical of it. Also from a democracy point of view, because if you shift all the ad spend that went into local or European media platforms, then those platforms can't afford to have that many journalists anymore. And then you might have a problem with our democracy.
00:22:01
Speaker
But I think also from a broader context, what's very interesting is that we see that social media usage is actually going down. Since 2022, it has decreased 10%. That's actually big because we know that some people still use it a lot, but then this also means that a lot of people use it way less. And yes, I'm i'm definitely in a bubble here, but in my bubble, I also see lots of people really questioning themselves on on how much time they spend there. And I had the moment just this week where I had 10 free minutes and I didn't know what to do with these 10 minutes. And of course I opened Instagram and just browse through and I didn't feel any better afterwards. I might have had one good laugh.
00:22:43
Speaker
where I smiled a little bit at something funny, but that's then it. And then I thought, I think I need to break this habit. And now what I want to do is I have subscribed to like 20 newsletters, really amazing stuff out there. And I rarely get time to actually look at this. And then I thought, what if I use those 10 minute chunks when I usually go on Instagram to just read one of these newsletters? And really read it and not just skim it like I usually do for good quotes or or insights. And I think what I observe from both the people that I talk to, regular consumers, friends, but are also marketing people is that a lot are thinking about the same things. And
00:23:23
Speaker
I think this downward trend of social media usage will continue. More and more people, also something that i I found in my most recent trend report, Friction Reloaded, was that people actually long for real life interactions way more than they did before. Yeah, indeed.
00:23:38
Speaker
So when I started my career in advertising, I started in a digital advertising agency. And back then, my job was to inform marketing leaders why they should be on Facebook. And I feel like now what I do oftentimes if I consult my clients is I tell them, hey, you should actually do something else also, which could be a newsletter, like you mentioned, because it's a great tool to interact with people on a deeper basis or have a real life event where you bring people together to let them experience your brand, your product, your services.
00:24:08
Speaker
So I feel like this is beginning to shift. And so i'm I'm very optimistic about this. But I also admit that I think that our society will split even more into people who can afford not to be on social media that much and people who can't and are bombarded with ads.
00:24:26
Speaker
Like I, on every platform that I am, I'm a subscriber to the ad-free model. because testinging in just ilogs actually i don't want to see these ads all the time but i can afford to do that and lots of people can't even though prices are not very high but if you then sum it up yeah it's it adds up yeah it adds up yes so i feel very optimistic and i think that we will experience new ways of marketing again in the upcoming years and that's something that i'm very much looking forward to
00:24:56
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I'm also quite curious how this ah how
Trends in Phone Usage and Offline Experiences
00:25:01
Speaker
this will develop. I mean, we already see that there are more branded events, right? There's more focus on having pop-up stores, branded events, community events, offline communities. yeah um I mean, I live here in Amsterdam.
00:25:14
Speaker
I've also seen there are now these... phone-free cafes you know where you actually go and phones are really not allowed like people have to come and and bring a book I haven't been there myself but yeah I've also been tempted you know to go and just to experience it how of how it is so yeah it is it is really I think especially probably in cities you know where people are physically together but phones are kind of in in the way a lot um yeah i'm I'm quite curious how this will develop Yeah, and two more observations. One is more and more people say scrolling is gross. When you're just out there and you scroll, this is something not very appealing. And then there's an Instagram account called Hot Dudes Reading, ah where it's just photos of men reading in the public a book. and And I feel like this is also part of this romanticization of...
00:26:07
Speaker
just being more in the moment of not doing the thing that everybody is doing. Because there was a time when not everybody had a smartphone and then you were appealing to others because you had a smartphone. And now I feel like it's, oh, you are actually reading something. thing How cool are you?
00:26:23
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I agree. it is a it's It's become something. But it's also something that I hear more people do again before going to bed, for example. But it feels like it takes really it takes a lot of effort.
00:26:37
Speaker
We even have customers who tell us in the to look back to the moments feature that we have. We even have customers who tell us that um once you turn it on, there needs to be a stricter lock for it, you know, like that you can only unlock it, for example, with a pin code or it needs to be locked for a specific time. And, you know, yeah, it is quite insane how addicted in that way, you know, how dependent people feel um in in a way, you know, that that they even require that.
Future of Marketing & Podcast Conclusion
00:27:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's something we need to shift. Definitely. So let's go to the three final questions. And I would ask you to ah reply as brief as possible.
00:27:20
Speaker
oppos First question is, what is good marketing to you in three words? Relevant, interesting, and short-lived. Okay.
00:27:33
Speaker
In one sentence, what is the future of marketing? The future of marketing... will be catering to many different groups with many different worldviews.
00:27:47
Speaker
I totally agree on that. Final question. Do you have a book that you would like to recommend here? Now you are exposing that I haven't read a book recently because I spent too much time on my phone.
00:28:00
Speaker
yeah Maybe that is a nice conclusion of the podcast. Yeah. I should go and i should go and read a book. Yes. so So next time we speak, I want to hear about the book you read.
00:28:12
Speaker
Okay. I'll do that. Verena, this has been a lot of fun. Thank you so much for coming on the show again. i really appreciate it. You sharing all these perspectives and the insights. And i already look forward to our next conversation.
00:28:26
Speaker
Thanks a lot. Thanks again for inviting me, Florian. Sure. See you. See you. Bye-bye. not And that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. If you've enjoyed this episode, please forward it to a friend or a colleague. This would mean the world to me as I pour my heart and a lot of energy into producing this podcast with all the brilliant minds that share their perspective here.
00:28:50
Speaker
And if you know the value that a great marketing strategy brings to really connect with your target audience, give me a call or send me a message. I'd love to get to know you and your projects.
00:29:02
Speaker
You can find me on LinkedIn, Instagram or through my newsletter where I write in-depth thought pieces that help you build a successful and exciting marketing strategy.
00:29:13
Speaker
Again, thank you so much for listening. I really look forward to sharing more with you in the future.