This year I attended the EPIC Vancouver Sustainable Living Show as an exhibitor (with two clients) as well as a blogger, shopper and beer sampler. There were brand and product concepts aplenty, offering a creative marketing boost as well as a feeling of genuine entrepreneurial optimism. Sure, the usual flock of ‘green’ graphics were on display, with their obligatory sans-serif typefaces and bamboo-wood backgrounds. And there were likely more overpriced niche products than rich hippies to buy them. But overall, the mainstreaming of sustainablity was evident, from the decidedly non-green-and-fuzzy crowd demographic to the inclusion of retailers like London Drugs in the exhibitor mix. I only had so much time to focus on a few interesting brands in my video highlight reel, but you can learn more on the EPIC Vancouver web site. Maybe we’ll see you there next year. Enjoy.

I recently completed a very fun project, the CD and package design for The Bent Nails, a band I have been involved with off and on for more years than I care to admit. I have always rather detested the classic ‘jewel case’, so I was eager to find a solution that was more compact and environmentally-friendly, but still provided room to feature the unique character of the band. In the age of downloads, the CD format itself may well be destined for the tar-pits (see comparison below) but it’s hard to sell downloads at a gig.

Working with Hemlock Printers, I found a cardboard sleeve that could be digitally printed on FSC-Certified 100% post-consumer-waste recycled stock and sealed with a small perforated transparent tab to avoid plastic shrink-wrapping (and the inevitable search for a machete to cut it open after five minutes of futile fingernail-fraying frustration)

Further discussions with the printer revealed that there was ample room on the press sheet for a few more items to be printed. In a fit of design efficiency I wedged in a postcard, a coaster and two business cards, all printed in full colour on both sides. I’m sure some cutter operator at Hemlock is still cursing my name.

The result is a coordinated package of material which, thanks to the photographic mastery of Clinton Hussey, captures the eclectic, rootsy blues feel of the band without toasting too many trees.

What about the carbon footprint of the whole CD and DVD process?

A recent whitepaper on the Environmental Leader website, sponsored by Microsoft and Intel, examined the carbon footprint of music delivery methods, all the way down to the final trip home in your car. They found that purchasing music digitally reduced CO2 emissions associated with delivering music to consumers by 40-80 percent, as compared to buying a CD at retail. Of course, as a study funded by two giants of the digital delivery industry, they probably measured against a Hummer driver cruising to a cross-town mall at rush hour, buying a double-plastic-wrapped anniversary edition of Devo’s Greatest Hits complete with commemorative plastic hat.

I like to think if you took the bus to the Bent Nails Gig at the Cottage Bistro (4468 Main Street, Vancouver) on October 17th and bought one of our 100% recycled-packaging  CD’s straight from the band, the carbon footprint would be almost equal.

Production Notes:

Design: Lorne Craig, Unicycle Creative
Producer: Shelley Stevens
Photography: Clinton Hussey
Printing: Hemlock Printers – Digital 4 Colour Process both sides.
Stock: 130lb Mohawk Options Cover PC White 100%PC FSC RECYCLED
Car: The Termite Taxi – Original 1947 Chrysler Town & Country, courtesy Tevie Smith

On a recent trip to the Okanagan, I discovered just such an opportunity. The Beaumont Family Estate winery has 36 acres of grapes under cultivation in a lush corner of Westbank, BC. I was pulled off the road by their sign:  ‘Wine shop open. 100% Organically Grown Grapes’, adorned with a well-rendered if somewhat mysterious treble clef symbol . As I am a sucker for all things organic, musical and wine-like, I turned in.

Entering the  tasting room, a bar in the corner of their production area, the first thing I noticed was a keyboard, guitar, amps and PA set up in the corner. Owner Louise Lubchynski explained the set-up as she set up their range of wines for tasting. She said they often have musicians playing in their winery, and locals frequently drop by to jam. That’s when I noticed the phrase ‘Wine is friendship set to music’, featured on some of their marketing materials. This thought swirled in my head as we tasted our way through their offerings: Gewurztraminer, Gamay Rose, Pinot Gris, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir and Heritage (a delightful blend of Gamay Noir and Pinot Noir)

Certainly the quality of their product is competitive. My favourites were the Gamay Rose, the Pinot Noir and the Heritage, and we took home a selection.  The organic heritage of the winery itself is also strong, having sold grapes to other organic wineries for years before opening their own label just this May. And, as an operation who started organic farming because of their children, the Lubchynskis have a strong family background story to tell. (Their daughter is now the winemaker) But for me, as a big brand idea, the musical overtones of this winery kept calling. So how can this young performer break through without spending barrels of marketing cash?

Green Briefs Marketing Recommendation

First of all, the musical angle should become the main marketing focus for the Beaumont brand. It’s a natural. Wherever musicians, organics and wines intersect, Beaumont should be there. Louise told me their wines have a strong fan base in the Kootenays. This would be a good place to start to generate some word-of-mouth with social media and some targeted sampling. Local festivals such as the Shambhala Music Festival, the Kaslo Jazz Etc Summer Music Festival and the Island Music Fest in Comox/Courtenay, just to name a few, would be excellent venues.

The Beaumont website could also benefit from some musical presence, as well as telling the excellent family story of Beaumont. Why not make it a place where local musicians can feature their music and downloads right next to the wines and the organic story?

Last, but not least, the packaging and identity could do much more to establish this brand as the musical friendship wine of choice. Certainly it is clean and functional, but when every bottle gets into the hands of a customer, it’s a shame not to have each one tell more of a story. I would even go so far as to rename their line, along musical themes, which would virtually guarantee more sales among  musicians and their fans alike.

After all, stories (and songs) are one of marketing’s most powerful tools.

As an example, Louise told me of one taxi driver who brought a tourist to their winery and stopped short when he saw their musical stage. He ran back to his cab, returning with a flute he had been carrying in his trunk.

“It has always been my dream to play in  a winery!” He exclaimed. “Then live your dream!” replied Louise. And the cabbie did, joining the musical jam.

Likewise, I hope Beaumont lives its dream. As should any brand with a unique niche. If you’ve got one, play it loud.

This was one booth that almost stumped me. It had something to do with EM (effective microorganisms) and involved some sort of kitchen composter for meat, bones and other food waste. (!) As I spoke with their enthusiastic and friendly rep, Lynda, I gradually came to understand that EM represents a proprietary combination of some 14 microorganisms that work together to help reverse the effects of ground pollution and chemical-intensive farming, and has multiple uses in homes, gardens and agriculture. I had to do more research on their web site to understand that composting is their #1 focus, and that the EM blend (called Bokashi) is used to anaerobically compost waste, providing a low-odour liquid extract that can be used in organic gardens, septic systems and house plants. Now it’s starting to sound interesting!
Green Briefs Marketing Thoughts: This is a classic case of having so many good things to say, it’s difficult to know where to start. And as in many of these cases, the people working closely with the brand can sometimes overlook simple key messages that help the uninitiated put the puzzle together. A facilitated session with sales, marketing, R&D and someone who knows nothing about it would help sort out ‘EM101’ for people new to the brand.

The logical vs. emotional question has been debated in smoky ad agency back rooms since back room smoking was actually allowed. So what does this have to do with marketing a solar-powered beer fridge? Well, that’s really just a fake product ad I created to illustrate a theory I discovered in a recent online article that explored the link between age, time perception and ad creative.

The article, (from MarketingProfs, one of many secret online strategic resources I use to help me sound smarter) focused on a research report done in 2005, called “Age-Related Differences in Responses to Emotional Advertisements” by Patti Williams and Aimee Drole. They tested variations of ad copy with older and younger participants to investigate how “time horizon” and the emotional versus rational appeal of an ad affect consumers’ interpretation of a marketing message.

They found that when consumers see their time horizon as expansive, (I am indestructible, I will live forever! More beer!!) they remember and feel more positive toward advertising that is rational.

But when they see time as limited, (A new Porsche for my 40^th?! Gee, thanks, ME!!) they are more favorably disposed to and remember advertising that appeals to their emotions.

Further, consumers who see time as expansive prefer ads that focus on achieving positive outcomes, while those who see time as limited are partial to ads that focus on avoiding negative outcomes.

Obviously, the consumer’s age plays into this as well: “We find that older adults generally prefer and have better memory for emotional appeals,” the report states, “In contrast, younger adults tend to prefer and have better memory for more rational appeals.”

So what might this mean for messages related to, say, climate change?

When communicating to a younger audience, a rational appeal focused on a positive outcome should work. Appeal to their sense of planning. Show how steps taken now can logically affect the future. Perhaps the creative use of statistics, appealing to the need to save money, and other stodgy tricks usually reserved for the balding boomer set would be more useful than we might imagine with kids these days.

With the older demographic, an emotional appeal focused on avoiding a negative outcome should be the winner. Live in the now, don’t put off today what you may not be around to do tomorrow. Oh, and of course, you can never go wrong with cute animals and kids here.

In short, the wacky, devil-may-care advertising we usually aim at the younger set, and the late-night fact-filled Ed McMahon infomercials we force upon sleepless seniors may be the wrong messages for the wrong people.

Check out the PDF of the study if you want to get more information with less glib creative commentary.

“Go ahead and laugh. Unicycles aren’t very fast and you can’t carry much, but they’re cheap, they’re reliable and you won’t have to scavenge fuel. What’s more, with both hands free you’ll have no trouble firing your rocket-propelled grenade.” 

Thanks to Green Briefs reader and World’s-Coolest-Offroad-Unicyclist Kris Holm for the heads up on this sage piece of on-line wisdom. Kris has his own specialty unicycle design and distribution company, and a web site well worth visiting just to see how far one wheel can really go. His KH24 model, shown here, is the actual cycle featured in the article.

Full disclosure: Green Briefs Blog is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unicycle Creative, your post-apocalyptic sustainability creative and strategic resource.

We entered the huge, well-appointed ballroom for the plenary speeches. A glowing centre stage fit for a TV talk show, with five overstuffed chairs was flanked by video screens. The lighting was dramatic, the sound and pacing polished. The crowd eager to get to the 7pm cocktails. But there was both inspiration and optimism in the introduction and speeches:

Sustainable Life was started as a B2B portal in 2004 by KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, Founder & President. She introduced the conference with the observation that even though an economic downturn may take down the ‘hot-ness’ factor of the growing green trend, there are too many drivers to sustainability for the issue to go away. This conference itself is an example. 550 people are coming from 37 states and 9 countries outside US, including Japan, Costa Rica, Ireland and Thailand. This number has basically doubled since SB 07 in New Orleans.

Pam Van Orden from Enlightened Brand (www.enlightenedbrand.com) then stepped up to give props to California as the conference host state and introduce the panel of speakers:

Elizabeth Trask Environmental Defence Fund Elizabeth presented some highlights from a document entitled Innovations Review: Making green the new business as usual. This report features best practices in sustainable technology and process. The California Million Solar Roofs Initiative is a state program announced by the Green Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. To reach this goal, they also use tools like the Solar Power Purchase Agreement – where solar companies fund, installs, operate and maintain panels on the roves of business.

In the Human Resources sector, there is a new trend toward corporations staring their own transit systems. Yahoo Green Guzzler, for instance, is their own private bus service, complete with WiFi, which is an attractive employee benefit and probably a great Friday afternoon party bus.

In the packaging sector, Stonyfield Farms saved $1 Million a year just by replacing the plastic lid on the top of the yogurt container with a sturdy foil seal.

Starbucks became the first food retailer to use post consumer waste in food packaging. (cups) They worked with FDA to get clearance, and now that formula is an open standard for other food retailers to use.

Leonard Robinson California EPA Leonard introduced, among other things, the California Take It Back Partnership. This focuses on electronics and compact fluorescent light bulb return. Oscar the Grouch is the SpokesMuppet for the California EPA’s “Not in my Trash Can-paign”  Leonard also and had one of the best ideas of the conference so far: Companies shouldn’t get a patent for their innovations unless they can show, in a ‘Cradle-to-Cradle’ way, the  lifecycle of the product and what’s done with it at the end.

Spontaneous crowd applause.

Bob O’Connor from Wilson Sonsini Goodritch & Rosati outlined some of the investment in green tech going on these days. Capital is pouring into clean energy – 148.4 Billion global investment in 07, up 60% from 06. California leads the way, with 1.8 Billion in investment (Compared to Western Canada at 131 Million)

Tim O’Shea from CleanFish. (Fish you can trust) uses the high culinary standards of Northern California to help redefine and demand responsible aquaculture. Their focus on ‘Artisan Fisheries’ gets consumers to demand it, and make the marketplace respond. In short, you’re either voting with your fork for better food practices… or you’re voting with your fork for practices that degrade systems.

Paige Poulos from the Mendocino Wine Grape & Wine Coalition left us with a beautiful and inspirational look at that Northern California county, billed as  ‘America’s greenest wine region.’ 

Paige puts it in simple terms: “Mendecino Wineries are pure. Clean. Open. You can go behind the barns – through the fields. Then ask yourself – could anybody go anywhere in your company and you wouldn’t be afraid that they would open the wrong door…?”

A worthy challenge with which led the eager crowd onwards to the shmooze fest at the TUSCA restaurant.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

4:45 AM – Even the birds are rolling over for another hour of sleep. The taxi shows up to take me to the Main Street Station for my 5:30 bus to Seattle, and as though by design, it’s a Prius hybrid. Vancouver’s Terminal Station looks proud in the rising eastern glow of a cloudless travel day. The Sustainable Road Trip is officially underway.

We’re in Seattle by 9am. After checking in, I venture forth seeking sustainable caffeination. Two blocks from the station, Zeitgeist Coffee provides organic espresso, a Ryan’s All Natural Non-filtered Cider and a non-organic banana in a funky heritage warehouse  atmosphere. Thus far, the purity of my sustainable biomass is relatively untarnished.

9:30 AM – I board the Coast Starlight Express at King Street Station. The building was originally constructed in 1906, and is being restored, but it’s not there yet. The imperturbable superiority of the conductors and staff, however, remains untarnished.

Nestling into car 1112, seat 49, the first thing that strikes me is the legroom. With my back in the seat I can’t even reach the chair back in front of me. As I marvel at this, our Train Car Attendant comes by to hand out pillows. Touché.

So far, the score is Amtrak 2, Airlines Zero. And I certainly don’t miss having to take my shoes off in supplication to some surly Hun at security.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

I began my pre-trip journey on the Carbon Footprint calculator, adding up the emissions for my various travel options from Vancouver BC to Monterey CA.

Distance: 2,810 km
CO2 emissions if traveling by air: .67 tonnes
CO2 emissions if traveling by car (@ 9L/100km): .586 tonnes
CO2 emissions if traveling by rail: .169 tonnes (about the weight of my carry-on)

This made the choice pretty straightforward from a purely environmental standpoint. I then compared the cost  of air with rail:

Air: $284.05 Return
Travel time: 7hrs 38 Minutes (each way)
Additional costs – Taxes: $81.66
Total: $365.71
 

Rail: $208. Return
Travel time: 30 hours (each way!)
Additional costs – Food, magazines and enough bar car booze to anesthetize me sufficiently to sleep in a train seat: $150
Total: $358

So, costs being somewhat equal, I looked for the Amtrak customer communications that were going to make me feel eco-righteous enough to make up for sleeping in my clothes like a hobo.  I had to dig surprisingly deep on their web site just to find this bit:

“The environment is a precious resource that we should all do our best to protect and rail travel is at the head of the class when it comes to eco-friendly travel. Trains consume less energy and produce less harmful pollutants than either car or air travel. Hopping on an Amtrak train will save you gas and daily wear and tear on your car. It also reduces the ever-increasing traffic congestion on the roads and in the skies.”

Wow. So what about their advertising?

Here’ s link to a 2007 Amtrak ad. Not a peep about CO2. Likewise in this Amtrak campaign from DDB Seattle, featuring a talking car and a strange little fairy godmother-thing that stirs your coffee and holds the curtains back. Creepy, but not green.

Last, but not least, when I received my Amtrak tickets, the sleeve was wall-to-wall paid advertising, featuring such eco-inspirations as the Teletubbies. Even creepier.

Ground Transportation

I tried my hardest to rent a hybrid car. Really, I did. There is one company that rents them, FOX Rent-a-car, but they only have locations at airports. For those guilty plane travelers, I guess. So I decided to rent a bike. It’s my main mode of travel around Vancouver, so why not Monterey?

The Bay Bikes Rental web site looks well-equipped and convenient. And they’re open on Sunday when I arrive. They also rent this cool ‘Surrey’ pedal-mobile that would look pretty swank pulling up to the valet parking at the Hyatt!

Green Hotel?

Once again, there was little or no eco-marketing on the accommodations side of things. The Sustainable Brands 08 web site gushes about the sustainable initiatives of their host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Monterey. But even at the discounted rate of $205 a night, my Scottish Wallet Sustainability Gene forced me to seek an alternative that would use less of my personal green.

I found it in the Monterey Oceanside Inn. I’m sure the tightly-cropped snapshots don’t do it justice. But after 30 hours on a train, it’s going to be heaven.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.