The Print Council recently released their latest position paper titled Why Print is Green at the Print ’09 conference in Chicago.

The new report describes ten specific ways in which print is green – from the responsible products used, renewable energy sourced, increased recycling rates, improved design and delivery methods. The report is intended for use by printers and designers to demonstrate to their customers why print media is the environmentally sound choice for communicating with the audiences they want to reach.

Without even considering recycled paper stocks, vegetable based inks, paper certifications, or graphic design processes; this report actually makes a great point for using print as your primary medium for eco-friendl’ier’ communications.

Here are a few of the points made by the report:

• In 2008, more than 57 percent of paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling, more than any material.
• The paper industry is aiming to reach 60 percent recycling by 2012. Every additional percentage point means that a million tons of paper are recovered.
• Less than 10 percent of U.S. power comes from renewable sources, but in the pulp and paper industry, that figure is greater than 60 percent.
• Printers are frequent buyers of renewable-energy certificates.  These certificates — which represent power generated by wind, hydro, solar, or biomass — support growth of renewable energy producers.
• The average person’s paper use for a year — 440 pounds — is produced by 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the amount used to power one computer continuously for 5 months.

Using this statistics as a base, there ways to make your communications efforts even more earth-friendly.  Give us a call.  We can help.

AUTHOR: Daniel Kelly

Daniel Kelly is COO of INTEGRITY.  His background includes campaigns and elections, marketing, event management, and program management.  Contact Daniel at 888.508.5445 or dkelly@theintegritysite.com

Well, they had it coming.  Last week, NBC Universal (owned by GE) declared it Green Week on the network, an effort within its larger Green is Universal campaign.  Before this week, I just brushed it off as yet another big company jumping on the bandwagon of using green to market themselves as hip, cool, forward thinking and innovative.  Then they launched Green Week.  And the jokes began.  This is in fact the network’s 3rd year of doing a Green Week where, as one late night talk show host jabbed, “they ask everyone to go green by watching TV!”

Well, there’s more to it than that but aside from the message they are trying to spread, the campaign is riddled with greenwashing and overuse of the term green in general.

On the Green is Universal home page, their backdrop features cute little sayings like

Green lives here

Green connects here

Green shops here

Wait, what?  Green shops here?  What the hell does that mean?

If that isn’t asinine enough, try clicking through their “Make Green Count” section where they suggest – wait for it – turning off your computer to save energy.  Oh, and the lights.  Also, use reusable water bottles!  OMG revolutionary.  You mean if I turn OFF my lights, it will save energy?  WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN TOLD THIS BEFORE?

Oddly enough, they never suggest turning off the television to save energy.  But then if you did that, you would miss all of the little green messages being broadcast through popular shows like 30 Rock and The Office.  So really the message here?  Watch TV – save the planet!  That seems like an environmental platform even conservatives could rally behind.

Maxim Magazine had the best attempt at broadcasting the ironic hilarity of NBC Universal’s promotion of green.  Enjoy:

The tree is my favorite part.

The lesson here is: If you really aren’t green at all, please don’t vomit the word out of every orifice of your company.  You’re rendering the term completely useless and doing nothing real to help the environment.  And it’s 2009 – you can’t fool us anymore.  We have the Google.

Posted by: Ashley / follow me on Twitter

Od kilku miesięcy wiadomo, że gotowy jest już prototyp nowego Trabanta. Nowy model będzie nazywał się NT (New Tabi). Jego projekt został przygotowany przez specjalizującą się w budowie modeli firmę Herpa oraz pracownią stylistyczną i producenta nadwozi, firmę Indikar. Samochód został wyposażony w silnik elektyrczny o mocy 64 KM. Ładowanie baterii zajmie, co najmniej 8 godzin jednak projektanci zapewniają, że będzie dostępna opcja tzw. “szybkiego ładowania”, co pozwoli skrócić czas na “odpalenie” samochodu nawet do dwóch godzin. (za interia.pl i kottke.org).

Planowanie wznowienia produkcji Trabanta wpisuje się w trend, o ktorym już tu pisałem (por. wpis “powrót do podstaw”), ale też wykorzystuje rosnącą popularność postaw pro-ekologicznych, czy nawet klimatów vintage.

Resentyment za dawnymi czasami nie zanika – pomimo inwazji nowoczesnych technologii, czy silnej obecności mitologii związanej z nowoczesnością i internetem, a może właśnie dlatego jest on tak silny? Rozważania na podobny temat snuli jakiś czas temu Mirek Filiciak i Alek Tarkowski na serwisie dwutygodnik.

Jeszcze jedno. Nowy Trabant może stać się symbolem innego typu systemu wartości, aspiracji niż taki na przykład Land Rover pierwszej dekady XXI wieku – wartości preferujących bardziej ograniczenie konsumpcji niż niepochamowaną żądzę prestiżu, prostotę zamiast luksusu, świadomość ekologicznych ograniczeń niż folgowanie własnemu “ego”.

Dla ciekawych historii, a może już pre-historii – historia Trabanta na wikipedii.

A tutaj można znaleźć więcej zdjęć nowego modelu.

Sarah Palin shows off more than her legs. She's sporting a low-impact natural fiber, eco-friendly jacket from the New Zealand sportswear company Icebreaker.

Who’da thunk it? 

The woman Greenpeace cites as having “the most anti-environment records of any governor in the US”  appeared on the cover of Newsweek sporting a jacket made by the New Zealand company Icebreaker.

Icebreaker belongs to the category of companies I like to call “Earth-Friendly.”  These are companies whose sole purpose is to manufacture or supply Green or sustainable products or services such as organic goods or household energy-saving devices. 

Icebreaker’s natural wool active gear provides a low-impact alternative to petroleum-based synthetic sportswear.  But more than that – their innovative “Baacode” program is an ideal example of transparency in marketing.  Each Icebreaker item comes with a unique code which purchasers can enter into a special search box on the Icebreaker website.  The site then traces the garment to the very sheep station that produced the wool, and presents a video, photos and quote from and about the ranchers who raised the wool.  (You can try the Baacode out for yourself on Icebreaker’s website, which conveniently includes a demo Baacode generator.)

So has Palin had a change of heart?  Is she renouncing her oil-loving, wolf-shooting ways and rushing to become the next sustainability poster child?

More likely she doesn’t have a clue.

But, there’s a lesson to be learned here about marketing Green and sustainable products.

Green is going mainstream.  

It’s everywhere.  It’s being embraced by major corporations and governments as well as small companies and individuals.  And it’s crossing political and socio-economic borders.   

According to Holly Helene Jarrell of GfK Customer Research, consumer recessionary spending habits underscore the fact that Green is no longer a fringe or fad phenomenon.  “The recession did not submerge Green,” she remarked during her keynote speech at the recent Good & Green marketing conference in Chicago.

Kudos to Icebreaker, by the way, for seizing the opportunity for great free publicity and connection with celebrity status – however dubious.  They lost no time in getting the word out about their appearance with Newsweek’s cover girl. 

And the controversy surrounding the cover photo itself?  All the more exposure for Icebreaker!

Cross-posted from SturdyRoots.com

It is not something most of us think about: our mobile phones and their contribution to global warming.

iPhones, Crackberries, and PDAs don’t produce emissions like motor vehicles and thankfully they don’t have smokestacks.

But when they get plugged in for a re-charge, they draw electricity which more often than not comes from coal-fired power plants.

I feel all sooty just thinking about it…

Now, a new product allows mobile phone users to mitigate their devices’ impact on global warming. And it’s available just in time for the holidays!

Renewable Choice Energy has introduced GREEN YOUR PHONE, a product that provides a novel and easy way to carbon-offset mobile phones.

From the website:

Burning fossil fuels to create electricity causes air pollution and contributes to climate change. To live in harmony with nature, we need to find new sustainable solutions to enjoy our modern lifestyles with less impact on the environment. That’s why Renewable Choice has teamed up with Best Buy to offer the GREEN YOUR PHONE product which provides consumers with a simple and effective way to address the impact their mobile phones have on the environment.

A $10 GREEN YOUR PHONE card covers roughly 500 kilowatt-hours of energy production , that is the amount of energy required to power two “typical” mobile phones over a two-year period.

But wait. There’s more!

Check out the GREEN YOUR PHONE viral video:

With the holidays fast-approaching, GREEN YOUR PHONE helps reward your staff while reducing their mobile phones’ impact on the planet. Plus, it makes a great green stocking-stuffer!

It is not something most of us think about: our mobile phones and their contribution to global warming.

iPhones, Crackberries, and PDAs don’t produce emissions like motor vehicles and thankfully they don’t have smokestacks.

But when they get plugged in for a re-charge, they draw electricity which more often than not comes from coal-fired power plants.

I feel all sooty just thinking about it…

Just in time for the holidays: GREEN YOUR PHONE will be on sale at BestBuy stores and online at BestBuy.com.

Now, a new product allows mobile phone users to mitigate their devices’ impact on global warming. And it’s available just in time for the holidays!

Renewable Choice Energy has introduced GREEN YOUR PHONE, a product that provides a novel and easy way to carbon-offset mobile phones.

From the website:

Burning fossil fuels to create electricity causes air pollution and contributes to climate change. To live in harmony with nature, we need to find new sustainable solutions to enjoy our modern lifestyles with less impact on the environment. That’s why Renewable Choice has teamed up with Best Buy to offer the GREEN YOUR PHONE product which provides consumers with a simple and effective way to address the impact their mobile phones have on the environment.

A $10 GREEN YOUR PHONE card covers roughly 500 kilowatt-hours of energy production , that is the amount of energy required to power two “typical” mobile phones over a two-year period.

But wait. There’s more!

Check out the GREEN YOUR PHONE viral video:

With the holidays fast-approaching, GREEN YOUR PHONE helps reward your staff while reducing their mobile phones’ impact on the planet. Plus, it makes a great green stocking-stuffer!

Kudos to Nike for topping the list of companies who are taking action against climate change.

In a recent report released by Climatecounts.org, Nike, Stonyfield Farms and Unilever ranked top 3 among 90 of the largest corporate brands in the world comparing companies based on their environmental track record and policies.

If you haven’t visited Climatecounts.org, I strongly encourage you to do so. This is an extremely valuable resource for anyone who wants to live green.

There are rankings for many of the brands you might shop for right now and listing by industry, sector and product type.

You may recall our discussion from past posts about voting with your dollars. 

The only way we can change the practices of the businesses that serve us, is by  making it clear what we will and will not accept as consumers. 

By choosing to support companies that embrace our values we promote more innovation towards serving our needs in a sustainable manner.

Simply put, if we want companies to go green we need to show them the money.

Our goal at Plant Your Tree is to emulate this idea, by promoting green businesses here in Toronto. 

With the holiday season quickly approaching, no time is better to critically assess  where our  money is going.

Climatecounts.org gives us a great tool to help us evaluate our purchasing decisions and the companies we do business with.  

Make sure you visit www.climatecounts.org , add this site to your favorites list and refer to it while you’re making your holiday purchases.

Sorry to spoil the surprise, but everyone on my list is getting running shoes this year.

Dell Minis to ship in bamboo packaging

updated 11:45 am EST, Tue November 17, 2009

Dell today boasted an industry first by becoming the first to ship its computers in bamboo packaging. The Mini 10 and 10v will have boxes made primarily of the more efficient material, which regrows much faster than the trees used for cardboard and is more easily renewable. As it takes as much stress as steel, it even provides more protection and replaces not just cardboard but also the foam normally used to cushion against an impact.

via Dell steps up green wars with bamboo boxes | Electronista.

Incorporating renewable materials that provide superior protection into packaging – and using it to win customers? Sounds like a no-brainer.

Everyone seems to love and care for the environment these days. Businesses today have shifted focus from sheer money making and profit squeezing to hugging trees while making money and squeezing out profit. For many businesses, sustainability has become a priority. Apple has even hailed their new notebooks as their greenest ever. However, the final question that lies for businesses is ‘Do consumers really care and does it pay to go green?’

Consumers are smart people. According to Emily Kucalic of AGL, they not only want environmentally friendly products, but also expect businesses to have sustainable practises in place. Consumers also want the businesses that they buy products from to be visible. They want to see the numbers and facts. They are logical and with easy access to the internet, there is no lying to them for businesses anymore. That could perhaps be the reason why the Carbon Management Industry has been the fastest growing industry that we have ever seen.

Australian consumers like to take pride in the fact that they are environmentally conscious. Take for example, the rise of green shopping bags and the decline in plastic bags. Borders even started charging 10 cents a plastic bag, while Woolworths stopped offering plastic bags to customers purchasing three items or less. A trip to the supermarket will also show you scores of products sourced from sustainable farms, grown in fair trade regions and packed in environmentally friendly wrapping. Companies simply do this, because their consumers demand it and they want to be seen as nice people with a big heart. Everyone wants to rule the ‘Green’ niche in consumer marketing toady.

However, what people say and what they do are different things. Everyone likes to say that they care, but when time comes to choose a product, price is still the number one determining factor. In fact, 8 out of 10 consumers attribute price to be the single most important factor when making a purchase. The green market in Australia has almost become a premium market. If two products have the same price, consumers would in most cases choose the environmentally friendly one. After all, we have been told that we support free trade, cure cancer, and create a better future by buying a bottle of water or a cup of coffee. However, if prices are significantly different, most will choose the cheaper alternative.

High prices for green products can be attributed to many different factors. Take for example, Forest Stewardship Council certified paper; every step in the production process must be sustainable. This includes the forest plot, the loggers, the pulp manufacturer, the paper manufacturer, the converter and the final distributor. Therefore, total costs are increased which is reflected in the ultimate price that the consumer pays.

Unfortunately, many companies are using the green marketing hype with the only intention of making money. This seems ironic, given that green marketing originally began because the consumers cared for the environment and hoped that businesses would have a conscience like their’s too. There has also been a lot of doubt in some of the claims made by many firms in what has been termed as ‘greenwashing’. A good example of this would be the Airbus A380 describing itself as a ‘good environment inside and out’ when air travel is a major contributor to pollution and has a high negative impact on the environment.

There are certainly great benefits to be made by going green. Since business is all about money, I will start with the significant cost savings that can be made. By just changing workplace behaviour, businesses can save money on energy, water, paper, transport and so on. With larger and more noticeable infrastructural changes, the idea is to think long term savings. As a simple example, energy efficient light globes are more expensive than regular ones when you purchase them. However, they save you heaps in the long term and are more durable.

Secondly, you are likely to face government intervention and fines if you pollute and we all know that pollution is a by product of most businesses. There have been severe fines imposed by governments and regulating authorities in the past to those that leave an adverse effect on the environment. This also attracts negative publicity and tarnishes brand reputation.

Thirdly and more importantly, you are also likely to be seen as socially responsible and your customers will love you for that. Consumers want businesses to be proactive and embrace sustainability and care for the environment. The norm of reciprocity would indicate that people would support businesses that likewise support them. Environmental responsibility can also leave a positive impact on brand equity and lead to favourable brand associations, thereby humanising your brand.

Last and most importantly, it is the right thing to do. Businesses must be responsible for their actions and should take a social marketing approach in running their business. The aim of contemporary business should be to make a profit without harming the natural environment that they are operating in.

Environmental awareness and concern has changed the ways organizations do business. Businesses, today, have been forced to redefine and re-evaluate the way they conduct their core processes. In an environment where the basis of competition keeps changing, being proactive might lead to a strategic advantage. Therefore it would be naive for organisations to dismiss sustainability as a fad. In stead, they should embrace this concept as a fundamental part of their core business function in the way accounting does for accounts and marketing does for marketers.

My dad always used to say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”

Having to stay home from the copywriting conference a couple weeks ago was disappointing. But I got over it – and promptly registered for the Good and Green marketing conference in Chicago this week.  I’ll be driving down tomorrow in my Civic hybrid – and I can’t wait!

There’ll be sessions on how to how to motivate mainstream consumers to choose Green and what consumers really are looking for from companies, as well as new research on the role of women in making sustainable consumer choices, and marketing Green in a down economy.  Plus case studies and all sorts of good stuff.  And of course it’ll be fun to meet new people.  (I’m going there without knowing a soul – which is always an adventure!)

I’ll keep you posted!

Pro-environmental initiatives have existed in the consumer public face for decades. Currently we see an unprecedented amount of buzz around new green trends in the marketplace and public consumption. Thing is – which will last? Just this decade many products and predictions have come and gone – no one seems to really know what will pervade. Ultimately, the question is, which “sustainability” initiatives will actually, well, “sustain”?

Specifically, my latest reading comprises a springwise.com article, “Connecting buyers and sellers of locally grown food” (http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/localdirt/ ). Which isn’t a bad approach by the way – it concerns specifically the growing consumer demand for locally grown, organic and sustainable produce (LOS). A very “grass roots” approach to product packaging and distribution, if you will. Due to end-benefits of health and regional acclamation, I think LOS may continue to strengthen its “roots.” However this article specifically seems to promote a revitalization of the old WebVan idea. Can that dinosaur of eCommerce strategy find new success with a slightly different product in today’s uncertain economic environment?

One of the increasing emphases in online marketing today is honesty. Time and again we’ve seen the heavily schlackered advertising-speak fly in the face of modern corporate blogging and social media campaigns. But also, there needs to be an accute awareness of what the public wants; what’s in demand. Fortunately, the Web today offers myriad ways to ascertain this information. So the “easy” answer is, if consumers honestly say they are willing to pay for something, and the provider honestly presents the offering, success there can be “sustained.”

For more on issues of sustainability marketing in the world of Web 2.0, see my thesis at: http://www.zenofbrand.com/tech_industry/11ViralGreen09Aull.pdf

I recently reviewed the third annual Edelman Good Purpose Consumer Study.

The Good Purpose study surveyed 6,000 people in ten countries to find out their attitudes about the role of business in supporting good causes.

The study highlights the critical need for business to become active participants in dealing with the issues and concerns important to its customers.

The business equation is no longer simply:

Produce a product + Effective Marketing= Sales

Consumers are looking for companies to have a clear social purpose. 

According to the Good Purpose study,  

• 58 % of consumers are looking for brands to do more for them than just provide a product or service.
• 64% say they expect brands to do something to support a good cause.
• 66% believe that it is no longer enough for corporations to simply give money away to good causes; they need to integrate good causes into their day-to-day business.

The result of this study show that finding ways to clearly demonstrate the efforts your company is making to better the world is just as important as providing a good product.

When choosing between two brands of similar quality and price, a social purpose ranks highest at 43% and is placed higher in order of importance than design and innovation (34%) and brand loyalty (24%).

• 67%  would switch brands of similar quality if a different brand supported a good cause;

 and despite the downturn in the economy

• 61% have bought a brand that supports a good cause even if it was not the cheapest brand.

One key finding particularly relevant to the Plant Your Tree mission is that 91% of consumers said  “Protecting the Environment” was an issue they personally care about.

These insights highlight a number of important questions that need to be answered when marketing and promoting your business:

• What causes are your customers concerned about?
• What can you do to support those causes?
• How will you let you customers know that you share their concerns and values?

I firmly believe that the Plant Your Tree program directly answers all of these questions.

1. A vast majority of people living  in our city share a deep concern for the environment. 
2. Every Plant Your Tree product directly funds tree planting efforts of the Toronto and Region Conservation.
3. When your customer receives a  Plant Your Tree gift  they get to actively participate in the tree planting process see first hand what your contribution has accomplished.

 Among the study’s other key findings:

• 64% expect all brands to support a good cause;
• 64% would recommend a brand that supports a good cause;
• 63% are looking toward brands and companies to make it easier for them to make a difference in the world;
• 83% said they are willing to change their consumption habits if it can help make tomorrow’s world a better place to live.

The complete study provides deeper insights into the issues and concerns that consumers have and also offers several strategies to help you align your business with these trends.

Edelman Good Purpose Consumer Study

I encourage you to also consider making the Plant Your Tree program a part of your next promotion effort.

Please visit www.plantyourtree.ca to learn more about our products and how you can help make a difference in our community.

Can your business card:

• Save mature trees from logging?
• Save water and reduce greenhouse gases?
• Plant 25 new trees?
• Support and promote your values?
• Make a powerful first impression?

This one can! 

If your business is going “Green”, so should your business card. 

Plant Your Tree 100% recycled business cards are made from Enviro-100 Cover Stock paper produced right here in Canada. 

Our paper is FSC certified and entirely made from post consumer paper. 

No New Trees are harvested to produce our paper! 

When you purchase Plant Your Tree 100% recycled business cards you not only get the most environmentally sustainable recycled business cards on the market: 

You’ll plant 25 trees and your prospects and customers get the opportunity to actively participate in helping protect and enhance our local environment. 

Plant Your Tree recycled business cards offers 2 unique features that no other business card can offer: 

• A unique promotional tool to engage your prospects and customers that rewards them for paying attention to your business card
• A lead manegement tool to help you keep track where you met your future clients and provides you with their name and e-mail address for future follow up

Your participation in the Plant Your Tree program not only positions your company as a contributor to the local community and shows your concern for the environment, it also
Directly benefits every one of the 6 million people that live and work in the greater Toronto region. 

Each tree we plant together provides enough oxygen each year for 2 people and helps counteract the damage our growing city has had on our eco-system, local wildlife and pollution levels. 

•  The most eco friendly business card on the market
• A unique and personalized promotional item to engage your prospects
• Lead management report
• All artwork set-ups and free shipping anywhere in the GTA
• A contribution to support local tree planting efforts by the TRCA
  

For full product details and pricing please visit Plant Your Tree Recycled Business Cards or logon to Plant Your Tree.ca  to learn about our other products and services. 

Dr. Scott Testa – Television  interview on Fox Business about Retailers going Green.

(Yes. . . I know there is a lag. . the feed was slightly delayed)

On a whim, I just typed “It’s Easy Being Green” into Google.

It came up with 91,100,000 results.

Compare that to “horses” at 84,800,000; “Super Bowl” at 36,500,000 and “sexy babes” at 13,300,000.  It even outpulled “Barack Obama” (74,700,000.)

Today’s marketing scene is like an overgrown jungle populated by troops of monkeys all parodying Kermit the Frog at the top of their lungs.  “We’re Green!” might have cut it 10 years ago, but not today.

Being boring is the cardinal sin of advertising.  How many times can you hear references to  “It’s Not Easy Being Green” before you want to strangle the monkeys that uttered them?  Same goes for insipid statements like “XYZ company cares about the environment.”

Big deal.  It’s time to kill Kermit and focus on stuff that really speaks to your customers – or at least entertains them!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending some time in a recording studio with Dr. Bill Chameides, Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. I’m fortunate to have some video clips from my conversation with Bill and will share them with you here.  Bill has spent more than 30 years in academia as a professor, researcher, teacher, and mentor with a 3-year stint as the chief scientist of the Environmental Defense Fund. According to his bio on the Nicholas School Website, “Bill’s research focuses on the atmospheric sciences, elucidating the causes of and remedies for global, regional, and urban environmental change and identifying pathways towards a more sustainable future.” In short, he is a rock star in the world of sustainability. And there’s nothing “academic” about his quest for a sustainable future. He is after real solutions.

Not only is the Nicholas School leading the way in creating a sustainable future, but they have embraced social media and are using blogs, Facebook and YouTube to spread the word. Bill maintains his own blog called The Green Grok. You can visit it online at http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/. There you’ll find both video and text posts from the Green Grok himself.  “In The Green Grok, Dr. Bill Chameides elucidates causes of and potential remedies for environmental change and identifies pathways towards a more sustainable future.” Bill recognizes that we are currently on an unsustainable path that threatens our way of life. He is on a quest for a more sustainable course – and for solutions that lead to a sustainable future.  If this interests you, the Green Grok is also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/thegreengrokcom/18954548244?ref=ts. Meanwhile, the Nicholas School’s Facebook page can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ygohagw. Check it out.

Here’s Bill talking about why he’s excited to be at the Nicholas School and how it differs from other academic programs:

They are doing remarkable things at the Nicholas School of the Environment. I encourage you to follow them online and learn more about how you can become part of their drive toward a sustainable future.

Post by Dan Dunlop, The Healthcare Marketer

Every holiday season business greeting cards make the list of top holiday gifts.

Greeting cards are an easy way to show your appreciation to your clients and employees.

Greeting cards can be used to say Thank you for business throughout the year, keep your best customers connected to your company and kick of the New Year on a positive note.

Despite being one of the top holiday gifts, many business people make simple mistakes with their greeting cards that can ruin a perfectly good opportunity to connect with your customer.

Here are 13 simple (but often overlooked) things you can do to ensure your holiday greetings cards have to best results.

1.  Make sure recipients name is spelled correctly

- If you have ever received a card or any correspondence with your name spelled incorrectly you’ll know that it not only boarders on insulting,  but you won’t care what’s inside.  If you are unsure of the correct spelling, make a quick phone call to the recipients company and ask the receptionist to verify the spelling.  Tell them you are sent out a holiday card and you just want to double-check.

2.  Hand write the name and address on the front of the envelop

- This small step might take a little time, but the results are well worth it.  A hand written name and address instead of a computer generated label shows that you took the time to think about who is receiving your holiday greeting cards and that you value them as clients or employees.  Too busy to do this?  Consider hiring a student  (with good penmanship) to write out your cards.

3.  Personally sign your cards

- This part you should probably do your self.  Once again, perception is everything.  The more time and effort your customer sees you’ve invested in sending them your holiday greeting cards the more they will value it.

4.  Be sensitive to traditions and the recipients background

- Saying Merry Christmas seems to be a thing of the past.  It’s important to recognize this and be sensitive to your customers background and traditions.  If your client is a Kosher deli or a Halal meat shop owner, greeting cards depicting the Virgin Mary under the star of Bethlehem may not be the best fit.  No disrespect to those of the Christian faith, but this post is about the business side of the season.

5.  Always be in good taste

- That last point leads us to making sure you maintain a level of respect for your company and your clients.  Holiday cards of shirtless hunks or girls in Santa inspired Bikini’s are probably not the best choice.  If I have to explain this any further……?????

6.  Keep it simple

- Simple messages like Season Greetings or Happy Holidays will generally be more than adequate.  You don’t need to be a poet,  just wish you client well for the season and the New Year.

7.  Personalized your message

- Before you simply sign you card, take a moment to think about your interaction with your client.  Did they make a big purchase sometime throughout the year or make some kind of achievement in their business?  Add one quick line such as,  “Thank you for your widget order this year, your business is greatly valued and I appreciate your trust in our company”, or “Congratulations on a great 2009.  Winning the Best in Show and the 2009 Widget Fest was a great accomplishment, I look forward to helping you do the same again in 2010″.

8.  Purchase quality

- Buy only  quality greeting cards.  Look for a thick stock that feels heavy and make sure the images are vivid and bright.  Looking cheap here lessens the value of your gesture and sends a signal to your client that you don’t value them as much as I am sure you do.

9.  Hand deliver if possible

- Any time you can hand deliver your holiday greeting cards – do so.  It gives you a chance to connect with your clients just before a special time in their lives.  Your conversations can also open the door to more contact after the New Year when you ask them how their family trip to the in-laws was or how little Billy enjoyed the new bike he got.

10.  Send them in time

- If you can’t hand delivery your greeting cards – make sure they are delivered in time.  This year December 18th is the absolute latest you will want to be putting you cards in the mail for any clients located in North America.

11.  Keep the recipients company policies in mind

- Keep in mind that many firms can have restrictions on receiving gifts from suppliers or vendors.  A quick call to the company receptionist should help clear this issue up, but generally speaking, holiday greeting cards will be suitable for all businesses.

12.  Know what your co-workers are doing

- It’s a good idea to be aware of what your co-workers or managers of other divisions are giving their contacts for the holiday season.  If you are giving a greeting card and the sales rep for another territory is giving greeting cards attached to a $100 bottle of wine, you may need open the budget vault to keep up.  I know it sounds bad, but this all about perception, and you don’t want your accounts or employees finding out you’re the Grinch that skimped on their holiday gifts.

13.  Represent your company properly

Remember, holiday greeting cards are simple and easy, but you need to give as much thought to the impression you are making in the same way you might when crafting an advertisement.  Make sure the images on you card, the messages inside and the look and feel reflect your company values and positioning.

If you are in the market for holiday greeting cards, please take some time to check out the details for the Plant Your Tree greeting card program.  We are offering custom design greeting cards made from FSC certified, 100% recycled paper (No new trees were harvested to produce our cards).  Each greeting card package funds tree planting efforts and includes the unique Plant Your Tree selection process and e-Certificates for your clients and employees.  Visit Plant Your Tree to find out more details.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending some time in a recording studio with Dr. Bill Chameides, Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. I’m fortunate to have some video clips from my conversation with Bill and will share them with you here.  Bill has spent more than 30 years in academia as a professor, researcher, teacher, and mentor with a 3-year stint as the chief scientist of the Environmental Defense Fund. According to his bio on the Nicholas School Website, “Bill’s research focuses on the atmospheric sciences, elucidating the causes of and remedies for global, regional, and urban environmental change and identifying pathways towards a more sustainable future.” In short, he is a rock star in the world of sustainability. And there’s nothing “academic” about his quest for a sustainable future. He is after real solutions.

Not only is the Nicholas School leading the way in creating a sustainable future, but they have embraced social media and are using blogs, Facebook and YouTube to spread the word. Bill maintains his own blog called The Green Grok. You can visit it online at http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/. There you’ll find both video and text posts from the Green Grok himself.  “In The Green Grok, Dr. Bill Chameides elucidates causes of and potential remedies for environmental change and identifies pathways towards a more sustainable future.” Bill recognizes that we are currently on an unsustainable path that threatens our way of life. He is on a quest for a more sustainable course – and for solutions that lead to a sustainable future.  If this interests you, the Green Grok is also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/thegreengrokcom/18954548244?ref=ts. Meanwhile, the Nicholas School’s Facebook page can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ygohagw. Check it out.

Here’s Bill talking about why he’s excited to be at the Nicholas School and how it differs from other academic programs:

They are doing remarkable things at the Nicholas School of the Environment. I encourage you to follow them online and learn more about how you can become part of their drive toward a sustainable future.

Post by Dan Dunlop, Brand Expeditions

American Bombshell - Marisa Miller

Didn’t you know?

Critics argue that “green” is a passing fad. But, don’t tell Harley-Davidson because the marketing professionals have rolled out a military green marketing and media campaign with “American Bombshell” Marisa Miller.

I’m not talking about an “Inconvenient Truth” or environmental type of green.  Yes, Virginia — I’m talking fashion and the wearing of or riding a Green colored motorcycle. The color comes in all shades and the fashion experts suggest/hype that it’s as fresh as Peppermint!

Yesterday, H-D announced that Marisa Miller expanded her relationship and will salute active and retired U.S. military personnel during the month of November.  This is part of the company’s first-ever “Military Appreciation Month” campaign.  Cool and just in time for Veterans Day!

Sporting minimal clothing, Ms. Miller will be sitting alongside H-D motorcycles in military-themed (read Green) creative, including print and digital ads, posters, postcards and calendars throughout the month of November.  In addition there will be a special section of the H-D web site where anyone can create an electronic postcard with artwork of Miller and Harley-Davidson motorcycles along with a personal message of gratitude that you can send to an active or retired member of the U.S. military.

It’s unclear just how carbon neutral, this ad campaign will be – meaning eliminate or offset all of the greenhouse gases it produces worldwide.  I predict a lot of heavy breathing by teenage males when filling out those postcards!  What do you think?  Is green the new black or is it just the flavour du jour?

Photo courtesy of H-D.

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National Electric has a new campaign asking everyone to try and cut down their electrical usage by 3%. This seems like a wise challenge for everyone being that we are still in the middle of an economic crisis!  Every other commercial advertisement on T.V. is in relation to this new campaign, so I wanted to see what the hype was about.  Their goal is to inform people of efficiency and conservation through energy usage.   For some of us this task may be easy, for some it’s a slight change of lifestyle and for me it’s nearly impossible, I don’t know what else I could cut down on!  I am the kind of person who yells at you if all the lights are on, or if you use the dryer to “get the wrinkles out” of one lonely shirt.    Should have taken it out and hung it up to begin with! You would have saved time and money.   I am told I skipped acting like my mother and turned into my grandmother a little too quickly.  The National Grid website gives people many suggestions to lowering their electricity usage.

I have to say this idiosyncrasy that I have developed over the last few years was really the polar opposite of how I viewed electricity usage and recycling habits in the past.  I was still living at home; never saw that white envelope with the blue letters that read National Grid.  I wasn’t responsible for the environment or the cost of living because I was still letting mom and dad cover the cost.  After moving out a few years ago, having a job that paid zilch and realizing how much everything cost and making it my sole responsibility to take care of myself financially, I learned some really easy and simple ways to save money for a rainy day.  I unplugged almost EVERYTHING.  The reason I say almost everything opposed to absolutely everything is because, well you can’t.  My fridge stays plugged in as well as the oven.  I learned very quickly unplugging your cell phone charger isn’t an option, it will go dead and you will miss your alarm going off which will result in being late for the job that pays you zilch.  Plugging the phone into the charger does not work the same if you forgot to plug it into the wall.

Even though I think it’s impossible I am taking the challenge.  National Grid has an energy evaluation available on their website and as you click the appropriate answers that reflect your style of living it allows you to see how much money and electricity you could be saving by lowering your energy usage.  I am personally starting by putting in motion censored lights outside, because this is one light I leave on regularly.  I encourage all of you to take the challenge as well.  See what impact you can make on the earth and on your wallet.  It takes some getting used to but eating dinner by candlelight is more romantic and more cost-effective than keeping that 8 bulb chandelier on!

Posted by Kate Kiselka

Green marketing can change the world. It can also help firms reap big profits.

In August, the B.C. chapter of the American Marketing Association announced its 2009 Marketer of the Year. The award didn’t go to a car company, restaurant or a bank—it went to B.C. Hydro, the province’s public utility. B.C. Hydro won for a series of television spots advertising its Power Smart campaign, which asks B.C. residents to cut their energy consumption by 10 per cent. The commercials offer simple solutions: turning off a light, for example, or unplugging cellphone chargers when not in use. Largely thanks to those ads, 34,000 people joined the Power Smart program in 2008, a jump of 273 per cent from the previous year.

Old habits die hard, and change isn’t easy, but that doesn’t make it impossible. Just as past public service campaigns have hammered home important messages—stop smoking, don’t drink and drive—advertisers are now working to convince people to make environmentally sustainable choices, even if they’re more time consuming, or expensive. “It’s human nature to take the path of least resistance and lowest cost,” says ad critic Bob Garfield. Yet campaigns like the one from B.C. Hydro show that, if it’s done right, green marketing can spur real change. For businesses involved, it can generate profits, too.

Tough economic times, contrary to popular wisdom, have not led Canadians to abandon the environment. In an August Harris/Decima poll, over 70 per cent said environmental consciousness has become more important to them over the past few years (only two per cent said it was less so). In spite of the recession, 73 per cent said they were making more of an effort to be more environmentally conscious this year than last.

And they aren’t your stereotypical tree-hugging hippies. In a 2008 study of how concern for the environment affects purchasing decisions, Toronto-based ad agency Bensimon Byrne found that income, education, child status, and age didn’t factor in, although so-called “strong environmentalists”—those very likely to make buying decisions to help the environment, even if it costs more—were more likely to be women, and to live in Quebec.

Hank Stewart, vice-president of strategy at the New York-based environmental ad agency Green Team, calls this burgeoning group “the awakening consumer.” He credits their emergence to the Internet, which has “brought about the age of corporate transparency and empowered consumers,” he says. “They can now know what a brand really stands for.” Awakening consumers are well-informed, educated, and influential—they blog their opinions, and they “vote with their wallets,” according to Stewart.

Green marketing is a powerful way to target Generation Y, a group born between 1980 and 1994 that, in North America, is 80-million strong, according to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada titled “Turning Green Into Gold: Green Marketing for Profit.” They’ve grown up paying a premium for their most coveted products, and the environment is one of their favourite topics; they’re not afraid to pay more for green-conscious brands. Gen Y-ers are acutely aware of “the threats of pollution, extinction, and global warming,” the Conference Board report notes. They’ll reward companies that reach them with dollars and word of mouth, the report says, and “punish” those that don’t.

But Gen Y-ers are a cynical bunch. Raised in a media-rich environment, they are tough to win over. Perhaps that explains why non-traditional advertising has proven so successful with them. Take the Earthkeeper campaign from Timberland boots, which is mentioned in the report: launched in 2008, it aimed to “recruit one million people to become part of an online network,” to create a global movement and inspire change. Facebook users could download an application to grow a “virtual tree,” and for each tree “grown,” Timberland pledged to plant a real one in a desert in northern China. Facebookers grew 893,000 trees; thousands of Timberland’s online fans banded together to plant even more trees on their own.

Another marketing technique that’s proven successful, according to the Conference Board, is positioning a top-level executive as an “environmental visionary.” One obvious example is Galen Weston Jr., whose first ad campaign for Loblaws promoted the company’s reusable shopping bags, or Ray Anderson, founder of carpet manufacturer Interface, who spends a lot of his time giving speeches about how his company went green.

According to Bensimon Byrne, tying products to specific environmental concerns is also a proven green marketing tactic. Oddly enough, the agency’s report found that some of the most high-profile challenges—like global warming and climate change—actually rank lower on Canadians’ personal list of worries than, say, concerns about water, air quality, and garbage. (“Keeping our fresh water clean” ranked number one in their survey.) The agency helped develop a campaign for Hyundai Canada that saw it become the first to offer a top-up to Ottawa’s version of the cash-for-clunkers program. “Consumers understand that air quality is important, because we breathe it,” says Bensimon Byrne’s Jack Bensimon. “So here’s something tangible we can do to make a difference.”

Tailoring the message to the current economic situation helps. In a survey of over 100 green print ads, U.S.-based environmental communications firm the SOAP Group found that the word “green” is no longer the most popular term in environmental advertising—now, it’s the word “less.” Environmentally friendly products are still seen as more expensive than their counterparts, yet two-thirds of Canadians don’t understand why they should be. This creates a real opportunity, says Bensimon, for green products “able or willing to price against the conventional.” Those that let consumers save money while helping the environment—like fuel-efficient appliances, for example, or cold-water laundry detergent—are ideal.

Of course, there are some common pitfalls many green marketers can make. The “biggest mistake,” Bob Garfield says, is “greenwashing”—stretching the truth of environmental claims—which will lose consumers’ faith altogether. Earlier this year, Ottawa-based environmental marketing firm TerraChoice published a survey of 2,219 products in the U.S. and Canada that make green claims. It concluded that over 98 per cent of these were guilty of some kind of greenwashing, from being too vague (promising that a product is “all natural,” for example), to offering no proof of their claims. Cosmetics, cleaning supplies, and products aimed at kids were the most likely candidates for greenwashing.

Green marketers also must consider the tenor of their ads. Since almost everyone accepts that the environment is of concern, fear-based messages are pointless: “You don’t need to show polar bears stranded on ice floes,” Bensimon says. “People are very aware we’re cooking the planet.” Having a light touch is key; consumers respond to humour (like the B.C. Hydro campaign) or a sense of community (think of David Suzuki’s ads for powerWISE in Ontario, which show everyone on the same street screwing in energy-efficient porch lights).

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