by kevin, on October 5th, 2009
Everyone knows at least a little something about Apple. Even if you don’t own an iPod or PowerBook laptop, you’ve probably seen a store, or a television ad, or someone with an iPod. It’s hard not to have had contact with the company in some way. They have an enigmatic leader that’s hard to ignore. Company stock prices rise and fall depending on rumors of his health. The company has a rich history. They are literally the two guys working out of their garage who struck it rich. The two founders, the two Steve’s, were the first to bring a mass produced and cleverly designed personal computer to market. By the time they were 21 both were multi-millionaires with one of the original tech IPO bonanzas.
But more importantly, few other companies have understood the value of crafting a singular vision for their company and militantly protecting it. What Apple may comprehend better than any other is how their brand touches consumers, and how to nurture that relationship by controlling the 6 P’s – perception, promotion, people, place, product, and packaging. With every one of these touch points, Apple strengthens and reinforces all the others.
Last week I was in Dallas attending and presenting at the International Retail Design Conference. My presentation focused on five of the six P’s mentioned above, how they can be used to engage customers through storytelling, and how sustainable design will benefit most from their utilization. Here’s a rundown of what I covered in my talk:
Perception
Most of what consumers are told about sustainability is confusing, and companies are not trusted sources for that knowledge. Friends of mine at the NY marketing firm BBMG recently issued a comprehensive report called Conscious Consumer: Redefining Value In a New Economy. In their research they found that consumer interest in sustainability is up, but trust in companies is down. Twenty-five percent of respondents indicated they have no way of knowing if a company’s claims are valid. Five percent rely on the company’s advertising as a credible source of information, and less than four percent look to the company’s CSR report. In other words, what a company is saying about their sustainability initiatives isn’t trusted by consumers. That creates a considerable gap between perception and communication. Unfortunately, consumers are falling through that gap. Sustainable values must be communicated in a far more trustworthy manner.
Promotion
One thing complicating matters is the way in which sustainability messaging is being presented. How many of you have seen an ad or heard the expression – it’s not easy being green? As I mentioned in an earlier post regarding a lecture I attended by Joel Makower, that phrase is more than forty years old, yet seems to represent the most cutting edge in sustainable marketing. In addition, if you were to do a quick Google search you would find that green is the new black, the new red, the new orange, the new brown, the new yellow, and even the new green. How can green be the new anything if it’s the new everything? How are consumers to understand what we’re telling them if our messages are a mess? This is an area where the sustainable arena needs serious improvement.
Place
I believe that retail stores offer an incredible opportunity to tell stories and develop a meaningful relationship with consumers. Materials specified and careful design can greatly enhance the shopping experience and communicate sustainable intentions. Materials that support a strong sustainable message and are good design choices need to meet a rigorous selection criteria. A few if the issues we look for are those with a high degree of post and pre-consumer recycled content, those that are re-purposed or reclaimed, those that help to reduce the depletion of virgin materials, those made from rapidly renewable resources, and those that are developed using new technology to manufacture new products from old materials or totally new products previously unavailable. It’s also important to look for locally cultivated sources where ever possible. Since this is a real passion for us, I’ll dive in deeper on this issue with a follow up post.
Product
There is no reason products cannot be developed and designed to be good for people and planet. Companies such as Seventh Generation, method, Marcal, and even Clorox with their Green Works line are showing this to be true. The products offered by these companies, and many more, also show that doing so can also be profitable. Many of the lines offered by these companies are the fastest growing in their category. One problem with a dependence on industrial age thinking is how impact on the environment wasn’t, and usually still isn’t, a critical issue considered during production, use, or disposal. A century ago, this lack of concern for manufacturing consequences wasn’t as damaging. Today, with a three fold increase in population, there is no away. Every industrial process has environmental repercussions that effect someone somewhere. Smart product design is beginning to embrace global impact as essential design criteria.
Package
There are no better examples of how to consider packaging differently than Pangea Organics and TerraCycle. All Pangea products are sold in boxes made from 100% recycled pressed fiber – like an egg carton. No dyes or coloring are used. Many are folded together like origami and held together with the cardboard label strip. Others have seeds embedded so that if the boxes end up discarded rather than recycled, they’ll decompose and plant a seed. TerraCycle products may be the very first ever to be made totally from waste. Their plant food is made from worm poop, the worms are fed waste food gathered from restaurants and school cafeterias, the bottles are reclaimed water and soda bottles, the sprayers are rejects from another company, their shipping boxes are also rejects from other companies that have been turned inside out, and much more. Every product has a fascinating story about it’s past life and current use. And that’s what great sustainable products should have. This past week I visited their offices in Trenton NJ and will post a blog about my time there.
Consumer interest in sustainability is rising. What’s showing up in study after study is how that increased interest is not translating into increased sales. That’s a real dilemma for manufacturers and retailers. Who is going to make the first real effort? Right now, there are a few small brands scattered throughout the market, but no single brand has tacked the subject and attempted to own the issue and utilize every consumer touch point to guide their sustainable message. But there will eventually be one. We’ll keep our eyes open and report what we see. Let us know if you’ve experienced a great sustainable brand that uses all five P’s.
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