Hero softens up print literature for Cotton Council

US cotton growers’ promotional body Cotton Council International will present a more consumer-and-retail-facing front in Europe with marketing materials by Hero.

Hero, appointed last month after a five-way pitch in June, is creating promotional literature that will be distributed to retailers in the run-up to the TextWorld exhibition, taking place later this month. It will also design CCI’s stand at the event.

Elsewhere, the consultancy is working on consumer promotions, including point-of-sale design.

The work comes as many European clothing companies shift manufacturing activities to south-east Asia and India. As a result, says CCI European marketing manager Nicole Dunlop, the council’s audience has shifted from a manufacturing to a retail one.

‘A limited number of people work in the European cotton industry these days. We need retailers to get their suppliers to use our cotton and consumers to recognise its value,’ she explains.

Stand collateral, literature and point-of-sale materials are more ‘abstract’ in tone, says Dunlop. ‘We want to present a more fashion-focused image.’

Hero managing director Jim Henderson says that refreshed literature ‘tells the story in pictures, rather than being too wordy’.