We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: YOU, as a consumer, have tremendous power in the marketplace. Companies spend billions of dollars each year conducting research and holding focus groups so that they can create products worthy of your hard-earned dollar.  Believe it or not, you have the upper hand in this relationship… And we’re not the only ones who think so.

Thanks to social and mobile tech, consumers are now hyper-connected and super-empowered, a change which has placed executive teams, board directors, and decision makers on high alert. Mark Boncheck and Chris Fussell call this new dynamic “customer insurgency” and it’s becoming more and more common. 

Remember last year when Netflix announced they would split their services into two separate businesses? Customers were so outraged that the company reversed their decision after only three weeks. And last November, Bank America nixed a proposed debit card fee after experiencing massive consumer backlash.

What do these two situations have in common? According to Boncheck and Fussell, the consumers weren’t trying to replace these institutions with new ones or even change their existing leadership. Their intent was to improve the existing institution- not overturn it! It was an act of advocacy, not an act of destruction.

Now it’s your turn. Leverage your purchasing power and use your voice to demand products made without slave labor. Communicate directly with your favorite brands by logging onto the Slavery Footprint online action center or Free World mobile app. Tell them that you care about the people that make their products and that they should, too.