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Green businesses have a positive impact on society.
September 08, 2010
This is part three of a series of three. Catch up on part one and part two.
In the case of my business, that means looking after my staff well, sourcing our consumables responsibly, ensuring that the print we sell is environmentally friendly and putting something back into the community with our Flourish Foundation. If I’m honest, this is at the heart of me, which is why it’s come through in my business. I haven’t yet put together a “green mission statement”, and I probably should. I know that one of the reasons that our clients come to us is for our authenticity and values – but do I need a mission statement to get that across?
The short answer is probably not. Everything about the way we’ve built Flourish communicates these values, partly because we fall into the Autumnal colour personality, which is the most “green” of the lot. All of our print is recycled and uncoated and our muted, warm colours suggest sustainability, community and integrity. But marketing your green credentials takes more than a bit of fancy design and an understanding of colour psychology.
It’s about making sure that your communication is consistent. Follow us on twitter and you’ll find the very same person that you meet in the studio, warm, supportive and with integrity. Read our blog and you’ll find the same transparency and “giving” nature as you find in our workshops and one to one sessions. I guess I don’t scream green because green is inextricably linked with what we do. How about you?
Honesty is the best policy
September 01, 2010
In marketing, people often say what they would like to be the truth rather than what it is. It always catches up with them.
It reminds me of something I read in a New York Times obituary in 1984. "Honesty is not only the best policy. It is rare enough nowadays to make you pleasantly conspicuous."
This is not only funny; it is very good advice and came from Charles H. Brower. He was chairman of the advertising agency BBD & O — Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn — a name the great W. C. Fields said sounded like a man dragging a heavy trunk down a flight of stairs.
When he took over, the agency was in a mess, and he was the architect of its renewal. Today it is one of the world's three biggest advertising agencies.
Sometimes telling the truth can get you out of a tricky situation. For example years ago I was writing copy for a slimming product when the law changed, and you had to say in your ads that such products had to be used in conjunction with a calorie-controlled diet.
My client was very worried. Now losing weight didn't sound nearly as simple and easy.
I just revised the ads, putting at the start the following:
"Doctors agree: you can't lose weight without having a calorie-controlled diet."
I believe the ads did just as well or better, because most people don't believe in miracles — and the mention of doctors did no harm.
The principle of accepting and even capitalising on your short-comings is well worth considering. Here's another -—something we wrote for a client about a year ago.
"To be honest, you may find a slightly lower interest rate if you hunt around. That's because the loan industry is in a price war. But will there be a guarantee it will never go up? 6.8%APR is one of the lowest rates around (in fact we are committed to being amongst the very best value providers for every product we offer)."
There are plenty of examples where people don't tell the truth in their marketing. What's more, finding a claim that is true and differentiates you is not easy.
But Waitrose - Quality food, honestly priced — may not seem creative but it is good.
As is Never knowingly undersold — John Lewis
Drayton Bird is a renowned direct marketing teacher, speaker and author. Find out more about him on his profile.
How do you communicate your green credentials?
August 04, 2010
This is part two of a series of three. Part one can be read here.
According to the experts, Egg – a branding & marketing company in the States, just 7 per cent of consumers are socially responsible to the core, but 70 per cent of the population (I’m assuming they’re talking about the population of the USA) will recycle and occasionally seek out organic food. So there’s a huge market out there for offering sustainable products. But you can’t badge your company “green” and hope that your product will walk off the shelves – there simply aren’t enough consumers that care to their core to make that happen.
No, what you need to do is engage your client with your values. And that’s why I asked you what shade of green your business is. Consumers are looking for brands with values that they identify with, plus communicate with them honestly and create transparency. And that’s why you need to put your brand values at the heart of your marketing plan. And if “green” in whatever form is a part of your brand values, then you’ll find it much more authentic to market your green credentials than if it’s a periphery activity.
If I think about brands that place green at the heart of their marketing strategy, I think of Dorset Cereals, Abel & Cole and Riverford. Their marketing communications are about so much more than say, how good the oats and raisins are in the cereal. They’re about community, sustainability and the environment. Dorset Cereals, in particular have taken their brand values much wider than food, their communication is about “simple pleasures”. They build edible playgrounds for schools and they team up with like-minded businesses who share their values.
How clever is your communication? Dorset Cereals don’t continually bang the drum that “we’re green, we’re green” – it’s implied through their activities, their copy, their packaging and their design. Is your marketing strategy as sophisticated as that?
So, exactly how do you market your green credentials?
July 21, 2010
In the first of a three part series, Fiona Humberstone explores the concept of a ‘Green business’
When was the last time you stopped and considered how effectively you market your business’s green credentials? Many of us are so busy trying to get from one day to the next and see out the downturn that marketing our companies’ green credentials has slipped waaaaaaay down the agenda. But should it have done?
I’m mid-way through a series of seminars I’ve been asked to run for Gatwick Diamond businesses on Marketing Your Green credentials. And preparing for and running the workshops has been an interesting exercise. I wonder whether I’ve given enough thought to how I market Flourish’s green credentials, and whether it’s something that matters at the moment? Are consumers as concerned about green as they are about price at the moment? Can you leverage value and loyalty from being green?
Do our clients even understand what being green means? On Twitter there was a little confusion when I asked my followers: “How do you market a sustainable business?” The responses were varied, and interesting. It appears that the buzz-word, sustainable, means different things to different people. And many simply weren’t sure what it meant at all!
So, is sustainability about reducing resources, the impact of your business on the environment, is it about sourcing locally, creating a business that will be around in 30 years? Is it about the way you treat your staff? Or is it about being socially responsible: about putting as much back into the local economy as possible and adding value where you can?
The truth is it’s probably all of the above. When I asked my first lot of delegates what sustainability meant to their business, one group came up with the answer “You need to be seen to be being green”. And at a truly cynical level, we can all “greenwash” our companies and pay lip service to the environment, but that’s something that both consumers and journalists will see through very quickly.
As Elizabeth Cairns said, you need to put green at the very heart of your business and communicate that with passion. Which leads me on to asking you the question: Just what shade of green is your business? Are you green to the core? Is the setup of your business focused around reducing the impact of your activities on the environment, sourcing responsibly, treating your staff well and working in the community? Is green at the heart of your business? Or is it on the perimeter? Have you felt as though you “ought to do something” and switched your paper buying from normal to recycled? Neither answer is right or wrong, but how you market your green credentials will very much depend on how much it matters to your business.
Five things to think about if you’re going to design your own leaflets
June 24, 2010
You’re probably savvy enough to realise that you need to get the pro’s involved when it comes to creating your logo and website. But what about everything else? The reports, invoices, proposals and posters that you create yourself? Are they sending out the right signals, or do they chirrup “cheap! cheap!”.
The good news is that you can make some simple changes to the way you design your own collateral in-house that will make a big difference to how people perceive your business. Get it right and you’ll build more confidence and win more business. And you don’t need a graphic design degree or an expensive piece of software to do it. Here’s how…
1. Work out what’s important (it’s probably not your logo!)
2. Get some decent structure in place
3. Use fonts that enhance your brand (that means no Arial or Verdana!)
4. Use colours that engage and attract your ideal clients
5. Make sure your images are relevant and do you justice
1. Work out what’s important
With the exception of your business stationery, your company logo and name shouldn’t take centre stage – so move the logo away from the top! Think about what message your clients will respond best to and make sure that’s what stands out. Secondly, think about what you’re asking people to do. Your call to action also needs to be clear.
2. Get a decent structure in place
Don’t send your text from one side of the screen to the other! Use columns and grids to add structure and clarity. And remember, odd numbers are good – threes, fives, sevens. Feel free to “break the grid” and use text across two columns.
3. Use fonts that enhance your brand
Fonts are often overlooked, even by some graphic designers, but nothing will scream amateur more than a dodgy stock photograph coupled with Verdana! The point is that fonts subconsciously create moods and send your clients signals about your business. Ask your designer to advise you on what fonts will work best with your brand and use them for all printed material. Emailing something? Consider creating a PDF if it’s important.
4. Use colours that engage and attract your ideal clients
Colour psychology is a powerful thing. Using the right colours will have a big impact on how your clients and colleagues perceive your business. And it’s not just about the colours you use – think also about the tones and how they all fit together. Ask your designer to recommend you a colour palette and make sure you use it!
5. Make sure your images are relevant and do you justice
Images can make or break your design. Try and avoid the temptation to use over-used and cliched “clever” images that you have to shoehorn a headline around. Instead, pick images that are in content relevant to what you do and are also visually pleasing.
And finally… let’s not get things out of perspective. I’m not suggesting for one moment that these simple tricks can replace your fabulous graphic designer. But I’m a realist – I know you’re always going to need to design something in-house, so why not learn how to make it look a cracker!
Is Your Brand Old Hat?
June 18, 2010
Recently I was lucky enough to spend some time with a voluntary worker for Oxfam. He was a fascinating chap and gave me some really valuable input into how the charity sector works. One of the major challenges Oxfam has faced recently is the perception of it being old fashioned. The brand was seen to represent something the charity didn’t, and this was a major problem.
Oxfam’s solution was to identify ways to appeal to a younger audience and in 2006 it launched OxJam, a UK-wide series of music festivals. Every year local Oxfam branches team up with schools and universities in their area to organise the events, hunt for musicians and discover interesting venues. The results are impressive; not only has the charity used OxJam to raise awareness and money, but it’s also an effective way of recruiting the next generation of supporters.
This got me thinking about brand perception with traditional businesses. Now unless you are led by your demographic — SAGA springs to mind — being perceived as old fashioned could be a major problem.
There has been a lot of discussion regarding retaining customers and servicing their requirements, however the risk is your business grows old with your existing customers at the expense of the all-important new blood. Honda is another great example. During research in the 90s it discovered the average customer was over 50. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it was counter to the Honda marketing strategy.
As business owners, it’s important we understand how our brand is being perceived against the markets we are targeting.
Are you unintentionally growing old?
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