Innocent Greenwashing?

Photo: HEATHCLIFF O

I had to chuckle about a UK company with a name like Innocent Smoothies being accused of falsely reporting transportation methods to make itself seem environmentally friendly.

According to the article at the Daily Telegraph, “Innocent Smoothies accused over environmental marketing” the company claims on its website that “fruit always travels by boat or rail” because these methods use less fossil fuel than air or road transport per kilo of fruit. However the Daily Telegraph says its has information to the contrary.

Who knows if its the truth or just hyperbole because there seems to be a litany of disapproval for the company based on its recent deal with McDonald’s to carry its product. What I do know is that it’s a simple lesson in branding and sustainability — if you’re going to give your product a  virtuous name like “Innocent” you should really think twice about what you do and say in the market, on your web site and behind closed doors. Or at least more aptly name your product “Money Hungry Smoothies.”

Walk the talk, fools. 

Stop the Junk!

Next time you’re considering dropping one more post card in the mail to some unsuspecting prospects consider this: Nearly half (44%) of all junk mail delivered in the U.S. goes directly to landfill, according to a recent report by Forest Ethics.

Instead consider these suggestions from JP Collins of Pylon Studios for greening your marketing materials:

1. Digital vs. paper. Do you remember the promise of the paperless office? That promise never did really pan out. In fact, because of computers we now use more paper than we ever did. One survivor of that promise, however, has become the champion of digital formats and most of us use it every day: the Portable Document Format. PDF was created for the paperless office but instead of going the way of that concept it was saved by the advent of the internet. The PDF is a great way to send your information to clients. It’s a read-only format that can be protected but it can also be read by search engines. Additionally, copyright information and keywords can be embedded into the meta-data of the file.
2. For your website.You can create PDFs for data-sheets, price-sheets, white papers or brochures and post them on your web site. Since a PDF can be read by search engines, it’s a great format for this kind of information.
3. Attachments vs. envelopes and stamps. A proposal or price sheet in PDF saves time, money and resources. Send them via email rather than by post. This saves time as well as postage costs.
4. And speaking of email.Email marketing is a very effective means of direct marketing and although it hasn’t completely replaced direct mail it can certainly reduce the need for it. Use an email campaign to announce a new product or stay in touch with clients.
5. A word on websites. Your website is the place to send potential clients and for them to find you. Your website is your brochure, business card, telephone directory ad, and repository of customer-directed content. It does all these things and more and is available 24/7 anywhere there is an internet connection.

Widget

This is a great presentation on branding.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Marketing

I came across these “sins” at Brand Week from Gareth Kay, Modernista and Mark Lewis, DDB San Francisco from an account planning conference in San Diego. Number #4 is particularly apropos for all those companies trying to jump on the “green” wagon without anything to back it up.

1. Living by the old assumptions, especially focusing on specific brand definitions instead of letting consumers define brands their own way.
2. Caring about the wrong objectives – particularly focusing on keeping a brand consistent and not on brand energy, which thrives on constant innovation.
3. Focusing on linearity and order instead of newness and complexity, the consumer’s addictive dopamine.
4. Thinking brand communication is what matters, when it’s a company’s actions and cultural/social point of view that counts. Good examples: Dove and Ikea.
5. Spending time modeling brands instead of building brands organically.
6. Thinking big things matter and forgetting small things can trigger big impact.
7. Operating by a “learn then do” process instead of “try, learn, then try again.”

Transparency questions

Transparency is to sustainability as a good bike chamois is to cycling; both are necessary but they have a tendency, no matter how hard you try to find the best solution, to rub you the wrong way every now again. Sorry I had to get in a bike reference due to my obsession with the Tour de France currently being raced.

There is a certain amount of truth to the fact that companies who are embracing transparency are finding it at times one of their best and worst assets. The more companies live in glass houses the more they are open to being blindsided if they’re not carefully managing the information flow.

In an attempt to move well beyond “greenwashing” accusations many companies are voluntarily sharing comprehensive data about product lifecycles, supply chain impacts and social and environmental performance. In some part larger multinational companies are responding to pressure from NGOs, investors and expectations from consumers, particularly the younger generation who is well-versed in transparency through social networking. Companies also want to be ahead of the curve as we move into an era when rules and regulations regarding company sustainability policies will be a matter of law. There are at least 20+ bills in the hopper regarding carbon reduction policies alone.

This isn’t meant to scare businesses from opening up rather to make it clear that becoming transparent means putting careful thought into creating a plan of attack. Andew Winston, author of “Green to Gold” and sustainable business expert, reccommends answering these key questions as a good starting point:

• Who do you tell? Employees, customers, NGOs, partners, and so on, all have different needs. Which audiences matter for which information?
• What do you tell (that is, how much)? The answer might be different depending on your audience. But more isn’t always better.
• How do you tell? In what venues and through what channels?
• When do you tell? Is now the best time? Once you open up, you can’t go back – you have to show progress.

There are no clear answers when it comes to transparency but it would be wise practice for every company large and small to be exploring these issues. Better to do it now on your terms than being force fed on someone else’s timeline. As you’ll hear time and again about incorporating sustainability in your business practices its a journey and a process. There are no quick and fast solutions so gather your best and brightest and jump on board.

 

 

Should you be concerned by brand sluts?

In an increasingly product-centric market it is important to understand that consumer behavior is shifting away from brand loyalty. The web’s extreme flexibility and access to instant information has created a market place that allows consumers to be “seduced by the newness of the new”.  The brand sluts are making decisions based on “what’s in it for me” and have adopted what they consider to be a similar approach of most corporations — downsizing and outsourcing whenever possible. The most successful companies to navigate this product- vs. brand-centric divide are the ones like Apple who are constantly reinventing themselves.

The most important point from an article by Marian Salzman, Brand vs. Product: what really drives reputation?  is not whether to adopt a product- or brand-centric approach — I believe companies need both to be successful — but information on culture as new media. The advent of social networking sites have connected people like never before so its critcial that the “DNA of a brand” gets woven into the culture.

This new media culture takes into account four components:

• People: Who are the influencers?
• Press: Where do they get their information — not the thousands of messages that create noise but the stuff that actually sticks?
• Places: Where are the physical and virtual spaces where they spend their time, and how can you create a presence there, one that is complementary and useful, rather than intrusive?
• Products: What are the tweaks and variants that can create the sense of “just for me”?

Ultimately companies should concern themselves about the brand slut by crafting their messages with the understanding that they are adept at seeing through spin and evaluating product performance. Be very clear in developing a message that says exactly what’s in it for me.

Interface: Results of a Sustainable Approach

I’m constantly searching for metrics to support sustainable practices and I recently read an interview with Ray C. Anderson, Interface’s Chairman, that gave a convincing summary.

Interface is the world’s largest producer of modular floor covering. Anderson founded the company in 1973 but it wasn’t until 1994 that he committed his company to a path of zero emissions. As explained in his book Mid-Course Correction he had an epiphanal moment after reading Paul Hawken’s book The Ecology of Commerce and set forth a mission to convert Interface to a restorative enterprise. Their strategy to reduce, reuse, reclaim, recylce and redesign has led to to innovative new products and significant progress towards realizing sustainability over the last fourteen years.

• Reduced waste by about 52%
• Which has generated $372 million of cost avoidance
• Reduced net greenhouse gases in absolute tonnage by 88%
• Worldwide water usage down 79%
• Closed 47% of their smokestacks and 81% of effluent pipes
• 127 million pounds of recaptured product to close the loop on material flow
• Six of eleven factories now run on 100% renewable energy

All of this and costs are down and the company expanded and survived during a four-year-long industry-wide recession.

I can personally recommend the carpet tiles – I’m sitting on some in my home office right now.

Honing Your Digital Presence

We often make mention to clients and prospects alike about the importance of getting to the heart of your brand, the brand promise, to effectively make connections with audiences. In this new world of mass collaboration based on openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally it is imperative that you understand your brand and where its headed. If you don’t have that solidified prior to launching a web presence you’re likely to develop a site that does nothing for your customer and sends them running to your competitor.

This article from Landor “Beyond the buzz: Designing an effective digital brand experience“ outlines six key concepts to guide your thinking in creating a web site that’s a true 24/7 brand experience rather than just an online brochure. I promise it’s worth reading but just in case your mouse hand just can’t click one more time here are the six concepts: Know thy brand; Walk in your customers’ shoes; Become a digital detective; Explore all forms of digital brand expression; Start a conversation with your customers; and Take advantage of technology to create on-brand connections.

You’ve Got SPAM

In case you’d forgotten that SPAM was a food group before it ever became synonymous with dreaded emails about enlarging certain body parts check out a small sampling of new branding ads. I’ve never been able to figure out the love of, or obsession with SPAM, particularly in Hawaii, but I have to admit the ads are clever and the web site is fun, if not a bit obnoxious. Happy SPAMing!