100 Tips

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Green Tips for Marketing Success: Part 4 of 4 (Green Printing)

As I have written about on several occasions, my firm, Grossman Marketing Group, put together our 100 Tips for Marketing Success this year to mark our 100th anniversary.  21 of the 100 tips involve sustainability, and were broken into four categories: 1) General Sustainability, 2) Green Promotional Products, 3) Green Design, 4) Green Printing.  I am pleased to share the green printing tips below:

Let your colleagues, customers, donors and other constituents know that you are fully committed to environmental stewardship by using some of the following best practices in green printing.

  1. Encourage your constituents to either share or recycle the printed piece. Sustainability is more than the materials you use—it also involves the lifecycle of your item.
  2. Consider using chlorine-free paper. The best papers to use are bleached using an oxygen-based process, thus avoiding the creation of chlorine-related pollution.
  3. Use vegetable-based inks when possible. Not only are they generally refined in the United States, but they also reduce our use of petroleum, the majority of which comes from foreign sources.
  4. Consider papers with a high degree of post-consumer content, as they require fewer resources (energy, water, etc.) to produce.
  5. When using eco-friendly papers, make sure to explain the environmental benefits derived from these choices. These calculations should come from a third-party source rather than a calculation from an industry source. For a great example, please see www.papercalculator.org.
  6. Use renewable energy (like wind or solar power) in the production process. It is good for the environment and resonates well with the vast majority of Americans.
  7. You can make your collateral more environmentally-friendly without sacrificing quality or adding cost! For example, our house sheet of coated stock is 55% recycled with 30% post-consumer waste, and will not cost your organization any more than the non-recycled alternative!

I hope you have enjoyed reading these suggestions.  To download the full set of 100 tips, please click here. Many thanks for your interest!

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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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Green Tips for Marketing Success: Part 1 of 4

My firm, Grossman Marketing Group, put together our 100 Tips for Marketing Success earlier this year to mark our 100th anniversary.  Over the last century, we have learned a lot about what helps make our customers look good, so we thought we’d share what we’ve learned.

21 of the 100 tips involve sustainability, and over the next few months, I’ll be sharing these with you, by category.  If you’d like to download the complete set of 100 tips, please click here.  They are free! The four categories covered in the “green” section are 1) General Sustainability, 2) Green Promotional Products, 3) Green Design, 4) Green Printing.  I’ll get started with the General Sustainability tips.

Research shows that Americans want to work for, buy from, and donate to organizations that make significant and sustained efforts to address environmental issues.

  1. Sustainability can help you cut costs as well as build sales. We have experienced both at GMG and are happy to help you do the same at your organization. To learn more, just contact Ben Grossman at 617.591.2919 or bgrossman [at] grossmanmarketing [dot] com.
  2. Be transparent about green marketing claims—make sure they are verifiable by an independent, third party.
  3. Include your colleagues in your sustainability efforts; often the best ideas come from the bottom up, rather than from the top down!
  4. Spread the word about the sustainability efforts your organization is taking. Your customers, investors and colleagues care.
  5. Simple changes in your office can have a huge impact: use energy efficient light bulbs and put recycling bins at every desk. We encourage our colleagues to bring in old batteries, light bulbs and other household materials to be recycled for free.
  6. Employee education is key—sustainability must be part of the company culture. If so, it is much easier to implement (and less likely to be cut).
  7. Make sure to back up your green marketing efforts with truly sustainable business practices throughout your organization.

I hope you find these helpful.  We’ll be back to you later this summer with more!  Many thanks for reading!