clemans on marketing: confessions and misdemeanors

Game Changer

I love game changers, especially when they are eco-friendly, solve sustainability issues, and cut down on the mountains of plastic bottles discarded every single day.

I am speaking of the freshly launched Replenish – Rethink the Bottle. Each biodegradable, reusable bottle is fitted with a "Concentrate Pod", filled with 98% plant-based household cleaner concentrate.

Just add water, again and again, at least 4 reuses for every Concentrate Pod, until the concentrate is gone. Keep the bottle, toss the earth-friendly Pod, and order more – scented with lavender, lemon, or green tea.

Replenish's goal is to eliminate 1 billion bottles from landfills. The product is manufactured in the USA.

Entrepreneurship brain power going in the right direction.

Saving the Planet is More Fun

Can practical, everyday, sustainable, recycled green products have a fun side? Yes, they can! I love The Greens! Kitchen drudgery no more.

Love letter to Prince Charles.

I appreciate products for humanity. Prince Charles' Duchy Originals from Waitrose is such a company. The products are sustainable, the profits go to charity, the owner walks the talk. And the Ayrshire dairy cows live twice as long. Duchy isn't even unhappy that the cows produce half the milk - less stress on the animals, they say. Cream of the crop. They also accept imperfect carrots. Prince Charles was shouting in the wind long before most about the value of organics and the importance of protecting nature. He was right. Long live the Prince.

 

What a Concept.

Packaging the shape of the chair. Nice touch.
 

Packaging to Plant.

Pangea Organics'  packaging states, "Out of the box and into the garden." Imbedded in their 100% post-consumer molded fiber box, are medicinal herbs that grow when soaked and planted. Super wow. Branding, design, messaging, packaging, and actions all line up.  

Where Green Works.

Jumping on the "green" bandwagon is one thing. Developing and adhering to green initiatives for the long haul is another. From a marketing and branding perspective, Barneys’ "Give Good Green" holiday campaign caught my attention. The advertising was exceptional, the design spot on, the messaging powerful. Plus, they sold green-themed gift cards, whipped up fabulous green window displays and offered green gifts for him and for her. The company's catalog used “soybean-based inks” and “30% post-consumer waste material”.

Very cool, but will they continue the crusade? Visit barneys.com and green appears to be gone.

Honda, a leader in environmentally-friendly technology, is the one to watch. Their branding, though underwhelming, is having viral impact. Google "Honda and green" and it shows up on Fortune's "10 Green Giants" list, workingmother.com, blogs galore and stories about the Honda Racing F1 Team to the Honda Environmental Reports.

This automaker's dedication to the cause is quite commendable.

Green Barbie.

Barbie is reducing her carbon stiletto heel print. She now comes with a built-in rechargeable lithium polymer battery that charges via a USB port. What starts out as hype, might just become habit.

100% Renewable Design

The rugged Radius Source Toothbrush made a great stocking stuffer. Fabricated with 100% renewable plant sources (Nebraska Maize) and a lightweight replaceable head, it cleans up with smart packaging, inspired product design and radiating bristles for easier brushing.

Radius does an excellent job *"integrating social and ecological needs with culturally creative and aesthetically pleasing structures". See the Sanborn Principles for Sustainable Development, outlined in 1994! Note Principle #5:

Beautiful: Beauty in a habitat environment is necessary for the soul development of human beings. It is yeast for the ferment of individual creativity. Intimacy with the beauty and numinous mystery of nature must be available to enliven our sense of the sacred.

Even toothbrushes count!

*The Sustainability Revolution by Andreas R. Edwards

Vegas. Gambling on Green.

The Springs Preserve, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a must-see 180-acre family-friendly, platinum LEED certified, sustainability-focused, interpretive, interactive, and educational center. You can even check out bits of bio-ephemera through the Nature Exchange.

Design and social change not only peacefully coexist in Sin City, they rock: From the desert-immersion Inside Out Gallery mind-blasting experience on springspreserve.org, to the on site environmental signs – beautifully integrated, designed and fabricated with innovative, recycled materials. Visit the Desert Living Center's "Compost Crawl", romp in the beach glass playground, search out critters among the maze of boulders and wildlife habitats, or take a self-guided tour through the eight-acre botanical gardens.

The Springs Preserve even recycled Christmas trees this year. Their first Winter Lights Festival was created from half a million LED lights, a sustainable holiday celebration to remember, consuming 90 percent less electricity than conventional holiday lights.

With a little discipline and education, we too can establish our own ecological ethic for the planet – without leaving home. Let's not gamble away our non-renewable resources. Vegas shows us how.

Eco-Stand

Trendwatching.com is giddy with their latest fave term, "EcoFatigue". The online consumer trend service predicts that people are tiring of global warming conversations, eco-products, hybrid vehicles, and green business proselytizing. Is a backlash on the horizon? People shunning biodegradable anything, throwing out their recycling bins, guzzling prodigious quantities of fossil fuel with glee, and jamming in as many electronic devices as possible to up their carbon footprints?

Trendwatching.com seems to enjoy the foam over taking a stand.

I, for one, am an advocate for learning about and embracing all the eco-friendly solutions we can handle. I now recommend that my clients incorporate an environmental and social responsibility mandate into their business models and into their marketing stories. Stand apart and stand for something.

It's no longer about tree huggers versus the rest of us. Trendy or not, our planet is in serious jeopardy and we need to collectively and individually advocate for a healthier today and tomorrow.