“OK, team, here’s the brief. We have a planet. Beautiful blue ball. Happy inhabitants threatened with a global emissions crisis that could cook the whole thing like an egg. We need to brand a planetary climate treaty. A deal that will galvanize everyone from CEO’s to little old ladies into international action to save the day! It’s the pitch of a lifetime!! So what do we call it? I need ideas, people!”

“Uh… how about Kyoto…”

“Kyoto?? What the hell does that have to do with anything? Who in their green mind is going to rally behind the name of an obscure Japanese town that doesn’t even have a Whole Foods™ market? You’re FIRED! And I need a drink…”

I know branding can’t solve everything, but it’s no surprise that the headline ‘Canada withdraws from Kyoto’ is met with a shrug. Sounds like a failed minor military campaign from WW2. “Sorry, chief – we pulled out. It was just too boring there.”

It would have sounded much more dramatic if Canada had to announce they were pulling out of the “Save-Our-Planet Agreement”. Or that Harper moved to block the “Global Disaster Aversion Treaty”.

Nothing against the fine people of Kyoto, but even they must be feeling the backwash from the negative press the name of their fine city is receiving.

Now we have Durban. (“Rhymes with turban! Could be catchy….?” No?”) And yet another deal in the making. Next year, negotiations will begin on a new, legally binding accord that will be signed by 2015 and come into force by 2020.

So we have about 3 years to come up with a better brand to save the world.

Don Draper, where are you?

If Santa doesn’t show up at your house Christmas Eve, look for him at the corner of 8th & Cypress in Vancouver, dangling above a rather creative display of recycled ornamentation in a Kitsilano traffic circle. At least that’s where I last saw the guy. Not so fat, definitely not jolly and looking, frankly, a little worse for wear. Not sure who he pissed off (Hell’s Angels? The RCMP?) but I hope they show some mercy by December 24th. Otherwise this whole town could be on the coal list. Not that the mining-happy BC Liberal Government would mind that at all.

Merry Christmas.

P.S. The guy who set up the display saw me taking this pic and asked me to donate to the Food Bank. So I did. You should too – come on, it’s a 5-minute online transaction. Maybe it will help save Santa.

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is known the world over as a tough neighbourhood. So when we were asked to brand a redevelopment of market homes on the border of this area, we knew it would not be easy. But with a strong developer and a surprising number of community advantages, this project has become a small but effective redevelopment success story.

Salient Group, with offices right in Gastown, has used their local knowledge and love of heritage renovation to launch some of the area’s most innovative residential redevelopments. Just a bit further east, a local property lending institution was stuck with an old stratified concrete and brick building which had sat vacant for a number of years. They called upon Salient’s expertise to reconceive, develop and market the homes.

Salient called Unicycle Creative.

Establishing the story
In the original branding session, we realized there’s more to Gastown and the Downtown Eastside than you’ll see on the evening news. It is home to some of Vancouver’s most exciting new restaurants, shops and businesses.

“Our buyers are people who know this area, and may even already live or work here,” says Robert Fung, President of the Salient Group. “They see the possibilities this neighbourhood has, and they like its creative ‘edge’. So we knew we didn’t want a traditional real estate campaign with smiling people sipping lattes.”

From a sustainability perspective, the re-use of an existing building shell, the addition of density to an ‘urban village’ neighbourhood and the focus on affordability for entry-level purchasers all reflected quite positively on the development. But a purely ‘green’ angle was secondary, we felt, to the rich story of the community itself.

21 Doors. A name that opens a lot of possibilities.
Intimate. Understated. An approachable scale of community development. A limited number of buying opportunities. These are some of the qualities communicated in this unique development identity.

“We knew an over-the-top creative name would be trying too hard,” says Unicycle Creative Director Lorne Craig. “Yet branding this building with the address alone would not say enough. We wanted people to imagine sharing time in the central courtyard with their neighbours. We also wanted to respect the fact that the Downtown Eastside is already a community, and we are part of that. 21 Doors has a close-knit quality to it that we hope will continue to inspire the people that live there.”

Celebrating a ‘Community of Independents’
The LiveAt21Doors identity was designed as a combination of art and journalism, using line drawings, gritty concrete textures and a duotone colour palette. A neighbourhood map boldly features hip new local restaurants and businesses right next to Downtown Eastside landmarks like the Carnegie Centre and Pigeon Park.

A gallery of artistic photographs by project designer Arno Apeldoorn brought a fresh eye to the Gastown area, showing off the textures and light that make this historic area such a treasure. These were also used prominently in the display centre.
The traditional glossy real estate lifestyle brochure was abandoned in favour of a simple door hanger, distributed to local businesses. This piece played off the ‘door’ theme, while showcasing the many benefits of living in the Gastown/Eastside area with a bit of fun. A print ad in the Georgia Straight drove more prospects to the LiveAt21Doors.com website, setting the stage for opening day.

Open for success.
After the dust settled on the first weekend of sales, 19 of the 21 Doors were spoken for. The affordable price point of these homes and the intelligent courtyard design by Taylor Kurtz Architecture & Design were the real draw. But overcoming the negative perceptions of a neighbourhood in transition by putting it in full view and celebrating its diversity no doubt played a valuable part in such a successful launch.

These units were never designed to gentrify the area with million-dollar homes. They were offered as an affordable opening into one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets.

So perhaps most satisfying statistic of all is the fact that over 50% of sales went to first-time buyers. The sales team worked extra hard to make deals happen for those new home owners who love the Gastown area and want to bring their own energy to the community.

All of which makes these 21 Doors a worthy contribution to the revitalization of Vancouver’s original neighbourhood.

Basic Idea 1: Avoid the general, go for the specific. By now we should all know that terms like ‘Eco-Friendly’, ‘Natural’, ‘Planet-Friendly’, ‘Green’ and ‘Whale-Lovin’ are pretty vague. OK, I made the last one up. But you get the idea. If you have a legitimate claim, spell it out. Better yet, get your product or service certified by a legitimate third-party organization.

Basic Idea 2: Pay close attention to the ‘able’ in Compostable, Degradable and Recyclable. If your product only breaks down in a large scale, commercial composting facility, better make sure there’s one nearby that your customers can get it to on garbage day if you want to call it ‘compostable’ without further explanation. Same goes for ‘recyclable’. Unqualified recyclable claims should only be made where product or package can be  recovered from the solid-waste stream through a recycling program for reuse or use in manufacturing. Otherwise you have to say something like ‘recyclable where facilities exist’ – which is quite lame.

Basic Idea 3: Don’t claim your product is ‘Free Of’ one toxin if you’ve replaced it with another. There are more synthetic chemicals these days than you can shake a test tube at. If you are removing the bad-boy ingredient of the week and adding something else that does the same thing, better make sure it doesn’t have the same M.O. And no shady semantics with taking stuff out that has nothing to do with the category. ‘PVC-Free Applesauce’ might get you a visit from the FTC.

If you are in Canada, ignore the above. Apparently, our fair nation trusts its manufacturers and snake-oil salesmen a lot more, because even though we launched some similar ‘DRAFT’ legislation back in 2008, it does not seem to yet have been given teeth.

But why not just do it right-ish in the first place? You may have to export to the US or Europe someday, and in the meantime, your Green Karma will build nicely.

An Emily Carr Art Student Installation I think

Biking the Greenway to a meeting in East Van, I spotted this news box outside the Emily Carr University of Art campus. Nice work, whoever. You got it in one.

“Good Afternoon, Mr. Mayor, Councilors, Citizens. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

My name is Lorne Craig. I am a Vancouver business owner and have been for over 20 years. I run Unicycle Creative, a strategic marketing agency focused on sustainable business. I also write the GreenBriefs.ca blog on sustainability.

In other words, I am a Green Capitalist.

Unicycle Creative is one of the 395,000 small businesses that run the engine of BC’s economy, providing some 57% of private sector jobs. And believe me, I’m pedaling as fast as I can. So today I wish to speak out in favour of adopting the Greenest City Action Plan. Because for small business, green is a growth industry.

Every day I work with great local green businesses. I am also fortunate to advise regional companies like London Drugs as they implement industry-leading recycling programs.

Today I would like to talk about the value of the Greenest City brand.

Last month I attended Sustainable Brands 2011 in Monterey California, North America’s largest green branding conference. There, I discovered that Vancouver is already on the radar as a green business hub. But I believe our opportunity is even greater. One by one, world-leading brands took to the conference stage with their sustainability plans and accomplishments. And these were not the corner hemp store type of companies. These were Nike. SCJohnson. Starbucks. Adidas. Unilever.

These forward-thinking companies know that the tides of public concern, demand and legislation are steadily turning toward a more sustainable future. They also see there is money to be made. That’s why, all across the globe, corporations are investing to embed green thinking and practices directly into their operations and business models. So I think it makes sense for the City of Vancouver to do the same.

To the critics of this plan who say it ignores traditional industry sectors, I say that ‘green’ is not a ‘sector’. It is a survival strategy that runs through all businesses and sectors. From more sustainable film production, to high technology companies that enable greater efficiency, to resource companies that must do their jobs in new ways.

Our cities are where we must import food, live with pollution, deal with waste and generally start to clean up the mess. This is a time for bold goals, and municipal governments are in an excellent position to set them.

Striving to become The Greenest City in the World, Vancouver will attract the best businesses, while providing a role model for municipalities on the world stage.

But the local small green businesses of Vancouver could use more. We need more networking opportunities, quicker local procurement policy development and more small business support.

All of this could be achieved by taking Vancouver’s Green Capital brand just a bit further. Unite local green businesses under a ‘Green Capitalist’ brand extension. Organize local business trade shows and events. Let our legions of Green Capitalists proudly declare their status in the City of Vancouver and beyond.

I look forward to seeing the Greenest Cities Action Plan being approved by Council, and to be part of it as a proud citizen and Green Capitalist.

Thank You.”

It starts well enough, and the Americanization of our political culture is indeed an issue that rankles. But is it enough to get me to vote Green?

Well, without a worthwhile counterpoint, I don’t think so. What is the Green Party solution? Where is their light at the end of the tunnel? And for God’s sake, in a connected world, WHERE IS THE SIMPLE URL AT THE END THAT WILL LET ME FIND OUT MORE?? Buried on a busy screen of text for 3 seconds is the greenparty.ca web address. Arriving at that general homepage, there is a link to the video and a plea to share it. Is this the Green Party platform? Getting us to share our displeasure with our friends? That’s fine, as far as it goes. But not nearly enough to swing my vote.

The Green Briefs Two Bits: Okay, let’s say the attack ad is the issue to start with. The music, voice and message off the top grab me. Now it’s time to move it into more serious territory. Lose the ‘change the channel’ line. It’s a pun that uses up valuable airtime. Take the last third of the ad and make a pledge: “The Green Party would outlaw the fast & loose campaign spending of the Harper Government and their attack campaign. Find out more at noattacks.ca” Yes, you say, but this blends the issue of attack ads with the issue of the in & out campaign funding! So what? If we’re running an attack ad we might as well use all the tricks in the CPC playbook. And it would give me the feeling that the Green Party has a plan beyond simply being peeved Canadians.

I bear no grudge against the Greens. I have even done work for my local candidate. But the party will have to be more strategic if it wants to grab some seats. (Staying out of ridings where they are likely to split the vote and hand it to Harper would be a start – but don’t get me started)

So is this an attack ad? Or simply a parody designed to capitalize on the dissatisfaction of the 142 Canadian voters intelligent enough to understand the concept of parody? Unfortunately, I don’t think it really matters.

But do we really have to produce millions of plastic poppies that will probably live in landfills long after western civilization itself has declined?

I say it’s time for a redesign of this symbol.

Start with the material. It would be a simple task to source recycled paperboard that would be more than adequate for a few weeks on most lapels. If it gets too wilted, buy another one, cheapskate.

To take it another step further, there is a company called Botanical Paper Works that produces paper infused with flower seeds. Produce a version of the lapel poppy from this material, and on November 12th, just pop the poppy in a plant pot and let a whole new season of remembrance begin.

As for the stick-pin that draws more blood annually than the Red Cross, that will take some more engineering. I for one would pay double for a simple safety pin.

So there you have it. I leave it to the free market to make the most of this opportunity, so pass the idea around if you like it.

In the meantime,  I’ll still put my money in the can, but I’ll pass on the plastic poppy, thanks. I think I’ll make my own lapel flower this year. This day is too important to remember with cheap plastic.

– Post From My iPhone

Anyone who thinks Vancouver is quite green enough thank you very much had better hang on. We ain’t seen the half of it. But that means more green jobs and a better economic outlook in the long term.

So says Sadhu Johnston, Vancouver’s Deputy City Manager, at a presentation put on by the Board of Change September 14th.

It was part of his launch of the city’s ‘Talk Green To Us’ campaign, which asks residents to submit suggestions for how Vancouver can meet its goal of being the ‘Greenest City In The World’ by 2020. By some standards we are already getting there, reports Johnston.

“As a city we have already reduced our C02 emissions to pre-1990 levels” he says, “while supporting an 18% increase in jobs.” This, Johnston claims, puts to rest the idea that we have to choose between jobs and the environment. He even went so far as to elaborate specifically on the groups and sectors where the city wants to support job creation. (For more on this, see the video clip above)

So what else is the city doing to reach our greenest goals? Focusing on cycling is one direction. “Cars are no longer the priority” Johnston states unequivocally. “We need to get the cyclists who are not comfortable in Spandex… The 66% who say they are interested but afraid.” To this end, Johnston supports the new separated bike lane on Hornby St, but knows it faces challenges. He made it a point to ask the crowd of businesspeople to show their support with letters and emails to City Hall.

The admittedly green crowd then peppered Johnston with challenges and opportunities in waste diversion, muni/provincial politics, and small business support.

For my part, I commented that their definition of ‘small & medium business’ as those with 500 or less employees, left something to be desired for the majority of city businesses who probably have less than 10 employees. (On a side note, Maureen Cureton from Vancity Community Investment later emailed me with some info on ClimateSmart programs for smaller businesses… but more on that later)

Johnston encouraged everyone to submit ideas to TalkGreenToUs.ca, and vote for those they feel most strongly about. For my part, I officially submitted my ‘Green Capitalist’ suggestion (Green Briefs Blog, Nov 6th) so feel free to vote early and vote often.

The Green Briefs 2 Bits:
Talk Green To Us is a good idea, with nice branding. It may be one too many brands for the public to absorb, however. What would have been wrong with extending the Green Capital brand for more consistency and participaton? ‘Green Capital Ideas’ for instance, would link the local initiatives with our global Vancouver brand.

The visual of the cement mixer spreading foliage is very well crafted and engaging, but may paint the real issues and challenges a bit lightly. Sadhu Johnston’s presentation style and personality are strong, and an asset to the city’s brand. I would like to have seen him on the video. Overall a good campaign IMHO. I look forward to seeing how they follow it up, especially with those of us who took the time to Talk Green To Them.

By the way, if you like this kind of Green Business Model thinking, you should consider joining the Board of Change. Their events are inspiring for greenies and capitalist weenies alike.