Month: August 2010

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Green Tips for Marketing Success: Part 3 of 4 (Green Design)

Here’s the third of four installments of our green marketing tips.  These originally appeared in our our 100 Tips for Marketing Success, which we published earlier this year to mark our 100th anniversary.  The two tips below focus on green design.

Sustainability can help drive the design process. Where possible we help our clients create marketing pieces that require fewer natural resources to produce.

  1. When designing a piece, always consider how the item will be produced. When sustainability is important, use colors that work well with vegetable-based inks on recycled paper.
  2. By designing a lighter, smaller piece, you can save energy, freight costs, as well as reduce the amount of paper used. This can also help keep postage costs down if the piece is being mailed.

A leading industry publication. Graphic Design USA (GDUSA), featured our design group, Studio G, for its sustainability expertise late last year.  Here’s a link to the collection of agencies included.  Here’s a link to download the profile of Grossman Marketing Group that GDUSA published.

To download the complete set of 100 tips, please click here.

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Green Tips for Marketing Success: Part 2 of 4 (Green Promotional Products)

As I wrote in June, my firm, Grossman Marketing Group, published our 100 Tips for Marketing Success earlier this year to mark our 100th anniversary.  Many of these tips involve sustainability.  I’m proud to share the second installment of the “green” tips below.  These focus on promotional products.  A special thanks to my colleague, Kerry O’Neil, for her help putting these together.

When using promotional products, please consider the use of environmentally-friendly materials, as they can help your organization make a strong impression on your constituents.

  1. Corn plastic is practically indestructible. Choosing promotional corn plastic coffee mugs is a wise decision for the office since you can be sure that if they are dropped they will not break. They are also practical, attractive and economical as well as biodegradable.
  2. Recycled grocery bags can carry twice as many items as plastic shopping bags and are easier and more comfortable to carry. In addition, they are made from strong fabric that will last for many years, keeping your brand top-of-mind.
  3. Not only is organic cotton chemical and pesticide-free, but it is also softer and more comfortable to the touch than blended cotton.
  4. Reusable mugs and bottles that are BPA-free are very popular and can help you send a responsible message. We have found that recipients of reusable water bottles significantly cut down on their bottled water consumption, thus helping the planet as well as their wallets.
  5. Consider alternative materials as a way to send a sustainable message. These include recycled fabrics, bamboo, biodegradable substrates, and solar-powered items.

To download the complete set of 100 tips, please click here.

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Deloitte Report – Sustainability in Business Today: A Cross-Industry View

By Marisa Greenwald (Green Marketing & Sustainability Practice, Grossman Marketing Group)

Despite widespread support for sustainability reforms, lofty rhetoric from CEOs and government incentivizes for businesses to “go green,” corporate sustainability improvements have been limited.  To further probe why companies are not moving more aggressively on this front, Deloitte recently published a study that delineates corporate perspectives on sustainability based on responses from 48 companies across different industries.  The report studies these perspectives in five contexts: general sustainable practices, sustainability related to innovation, corporate responses to sustainability incentives in the stimulus package, the relevance of new skills in pursuing sustainability efforts, and future sustainability trends.  Several compelling trends emerged from this study which I thought would be worth sharing with the Sustainable Ink community.

First, it is interesting to note the challenge companies face trying to innovate through sustainability.  The study found that in the area of product innovation, 23% of companies surveyed were developing entire sustainable product lines while only 25% of all companies surveyed indicated they were pursuing efforts to make their products more sustainable.  So while a considerable portion of companies are devoting entire lines to greening efforts, only a fourth of all surveyed incorporate the sustainability factor into innovation.  A major problem companies identify when trying to create sustainable products is the tension between willingness to pay and cost.  Even though customers may want sustainable products, they are not necessarily willing to pay more for them, so companies must find ways of keeping the sustainable measures cost-neutral.

Another interesting finding from this report is the corporate reaction to sustainability incentives in the stimulus package enacted last year.  While there was an overall mild recognition of energy efficiency incentives in the legislation (5.29 on 10-point scale, with 1 being not at all familiar and 10 being very familiar), there was the largest gap in understanding between the automotive industry, 6.38, and the technology industry, 3.91.  The gap in policy awareness between the industries supports the broader idea that there is a heightened emphasis on greening in the automotive industry, where carmakers have been under considerable scrutiny and consumers have a relatively high willingness to pay for a hybrid vehicle, compared to a willingness to buy energy efficient technology products.

Overall, this report offers strong insights into corporate perspectives and decision making criteria in the context of proposed sustainability reforms.  Sustainability advocates and policymakers must continue to consider the needs of corporations who are open to pursuing stronger sustainability standards but whose aims continue to be maximizing shareholder value and maintaining profitability.

Click here to download the full report from Deloitte.