N TM
O
FOCUS
MARKETING
Summer breeze
...makes you feel fine
BY C ELESTE LE C OMPTE
M
odel and marketing consultant Summer
Rayne Oakes logs in to her email as
“procyonlotor2001.”
Procyon lotor is the Latin name for
the common raccoon, and 2001 is the year Oakes
graduated from high school. It’s a curious handle
— especially for a fashionista. But growing up,
Oakes has noted, she was an environmental
science geek, excited about everything from bugs
to litter to sewage sludge.
In college, Oakes majored in natural resources
and entymology. As a research assistant with
Ellen Harrison at Cornell University, she co-
authored a report on environmental health
impacts of sewage sludge that in 2002 appeared
in New Solutions, a journal focused on policy and
activism around labor and environmental issues.
20 Sustainable Industries
DE C EMBER 2006
But Oakes also added to her list of activities an
unusual extracurricular: modeling for StockinGirl,
a high-end lingerie company.
“I had great legs,” Oakes says. “The owner of
the company came across me on campus, and I
originally came into the company as a model. I
ended up developing a relationship with them in
a greater capacity and working on a whole series
of things.”
That series of things eventually included
branding, image and positioning, as well as
design, sales and market research, Oakes says.
“I was kind of the face of that label … consult-
ing on what’s next, what are the new trends that
women want to see, and on how to become
more sustainable,” Oakes says. “They ...
asked me to look out for certain fibers
that would engender a more sustainable
product.”

DE C EMBER 2006
Oakes began modeling for other companies as
well, and she took an interest in companies with
an environmental or social component. She’s
used her image to promote organic cotton, bam-
boo fiber, certified wood and recycled materials,
not to mention conflict-free diamonds, fairly traded
fibers and low- or non-toxic manufacturing.
“I started building up good relationships with
clients,” she says. “I would model for them, but
then I would say, … Why don’t you give me the
price points for these pieces, and what they’re
about, and I’ll start selling them, too, at trade
shows? Then that stemmed into helping brand
the companies and working on the marketing side.”
Despite her growing involvement in the
fashion industry, when Oakes was awarded a
federal Morris K. Udall Scholarship in 2003, the
Cornell Chronicle reported that “after graduation
from Cornell she hopes to become an ecosystem
manager and work to improve conservation
programs, she said, ‘by successfully integrating
dimension aspects, scientific research and the
intrinsic value of nature into comprehensive
management plans.’”
But Oakes steers clear of technical work in her
career. “My expertise is not coming into a compa-
ny and saying here’s how you can increase the
efficiency,” she says.
Instead, Oakes has made a career out of
connecting companies and consumers, as well as
manufacturers and suppliers. “I think that just
from my background, I’ve really honed in on a lot
of broad skill sets,” she says. “I was also asking in
my own life, how can I get my environmental and
social issues that I feel most passionate about out
to a mainstream audience? How can I get this
brand or this product or this company out into
the mainstream?”
After graduation, she headed to New York City
and signed with Boss Models, an international
agency. “It was kind of weird then, working in the
confines of the agency,” she says. “I had these
certain clients that would call up and want to use
me as more than a model, you know, helping with
trade shows and sales. And as an agency, they
don’t normally do those kinds of things.”
So in April 2005, Oakes founded SRO, her
own hybrid agency, strategic consulting firm and
media company. “We leverage our expertise to
consult and build authentic brands, programs and
communication strategies aligned with
sustainable business practices,” she describes.
Over the last year, SRO has taken a youthful
leap into the industry. In collaboration with
Lime.com, a venture of Steve Case’s Revolution
investment group [see “Revolution will not be tel-
evised,” Sustainable Industries, Oct. 2006], SRO
hosted a networking event for the young, hip
environmental crowd. Under the aegis of SRO,
Oakes authors “Behind the Label,” an environ-
TM
mentally minded column for New Zealand fash-
ion magazine Lucire, and the company is pursu- Summer Rayne
ing a handful of television projects aimed at edu-
cating consumers about environmental lifestyle Oakes’ top-5
issues. As one of her latest ventures, Oakes also pub-
lishes S-4, a soon-to-be-quarterly publication on sus-
tainability and fashion “tailored to decision-
branding tips
makers within the industry,” she says. 5. Know your target audience.
Oakes says she’s often asked why she’s quali-
Don’t launch your brand in the dark. Ask
fied to talk about marketing, “‘You didn’t go to
yourself, “Who do I want my brand to target?
business school,’” she mimics. But her answer
What do they look like? What do they do in
betrays no doubts on her part that she’s right for
their everyday life? Get into the mind of your
the job. “I was always the kind of person that likes
demographic and find the best ways to
to be involved in the entire process,” she says.
communicate to them.
Although her career began in modeling, Oakes
says she was quickly drawn into other parts of the
4. Invite scrutiny.
business. “I was developing relationships with
senior execs and CEOs and coming in and Keep your finger on the pulse of your cus-
learning about the company from the inside out,” tomer. Always try to stay one step ahead of
she says. “It was a natural transition.” them, but listen to see how you can do better.
But that doesn’t mean entrepreneurship has That is a good way to build brand loyalty.
been easy. “There is always some limitation in
growing your own business in the way that you 3. Don’t let your message “wear”
want,” she reflects. your brand.
In November 2005, Oakes connected with two You’ve heard the phrase, “Don’t let the clothes
interrelated New York consulting firms — Group wear the model…” The same concept holds
SJR and Hemispheric Partners — to collaborate true for a brand. Your sustainability message
on specific projects. can get in the way of your product or service.
Alexander Jutkowitz, a founding partner of Keep it simple and let it complement your
both firms, has worked most closely with Oakes brand.
through Group SJR. “When we were starting this
consulting firm, I wanted to call it Horse to 2. Image is everything.
Water,” he says. The name — although it didn’t Your brand’s look is the calling card to the rest
stick — refers to a problem in the business: of the world. Your image is the first thing
companies that work with consulting firms often people will see. Your product and your prod-
struggle to take the next step and implement uct’s message is the last thing you want people
consultants’ recommendations. to take away.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t
make him drink. And she’s very helpful in getting 1. The “I-I-I, Me-Me-Me” Principle
the horse to drink,” Jutkowitz says of Oakes. “She’s
This is a principle that most of us involved in
not a wonk. And she doesn’t have that kind of feel.”
sustainable business rarely think about. We
Oakes says that’s one of her strengths: know-
assume that people will buy our brand for a
ing how to market sustainability to mainstream
good cause, but really when people buy things
audiences. “You have to be multilingual in this
it is almost invariably about
industry,” she says. “Talking to a fashion client or a
them (“What will the
socially oriented client are two different languages.”
brand do for me?
The common language, she says, is focusing
How do I want to be
on the positive.
recognized?”). The
“There are so many companies that are doing
fact that your brand
good and do have a good message, and they’re not
has a social or
getting the limelight and they should be.” Oakes
environmental story
says. “I could be the storyteller for their products
is a plus, but it is
because I believe in their product and that it
not necessarily the
should be out there. I think that’s why people
sole reason someone
gravitate to my work a lot.”
will buy your product.
Jutkowitz agrees.
Appeal to your
“She really brings a kind of energy and
customers’ egos.
charisma,” he says. “She is young and up there
and a bit of a whirling dervish. A large part of her
ability is to get people excited.” ●