GDUSA Green Newsletter

February 2012

CELEBRITY GUIDANCE
 
On 30 Rock, one of the characters states that celebrities are important because without them to tell us, we wouldn’t know how to vote. There is a bit of that thinking creeping into green marketing as well. Jessica Alba is the latest celebrity – think Colin Firth, Elizabeth Hurley, Justin Timberlake, Sting, Soleil Moon Frye – to leverage “star power” to launch an eco-business around her “personal brand.” The Honest Company, at Honest.com, offers “eco-friendly family essentials” through a monthly subscription service. Alba created the company “to help moms and to give all children a better, safer start.” I intended to be snarky when I started writing this, because it sounds so pretentious. But in researching the story, I found that Alba actually is knowledgeable about the issues, really has had input into the products, packaging and marketing, and consistently supports worthwhile causes. So no snark attack. And, after all, there are worse things than participating in the Holly-weird culture; she could be a member of Congress for example.
 
— Gordon Kaye

IBM TOPS NEWSWEEK’S GREENEST
Newsweek’s annual Green Rankings seek to cut through the green clutter and compare actual footprints, management policies, and reporting practices of big companies. Here are a few highlights. The top five ranked companies globally are: Munich Re, IBM, National Australia Bank, Bradesco, and ANZ Banking Group. In the U.S., technology, healthcare and financial services companies took the top spots, partly because these are inherently low-impact industries, when compared with, say, utility companies. Among the top five are IBM, HP, Sprint Nextel, Baxter, and Dell. Office Depot is the only retailer to score in the U.S. top 10 and Adobe is the graphics star with a ranking of 14 domestically. Shifting the prism, which companies are at the bottom? The coveted “Least Green” rankings go to T. Rowe Price, BlackRock, Monsanto, Invesco, CONSOL Energy, and ADM. Those at the bottom are either in traditionally “dirty” industries. Or they are financial-services companies whose investment portfolios include companies engaged in environmentally damaging activities, such as coal mining or gas drilling, and the rankings take this into account.
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GREEN IS CUE FOR FRESH FOODS
Duane Reade collaborated with CBX, its creative retail brand partner, to develop the name, look and feel for UpMarket Fro-Yo, yet another offering in the fresh food offering space. The UpMarket sub brand made its debut last year at the chain’s Wall Street location near the sushi bar and juice bar. It’s a continuation of the chain’s strategy to develop neighborhood-centric niche offerings emphasizing health and freshness. The contemporary design epitomizes the quintessential New York feel with the application of black and white subway tiles and introduces a new signature color of green to indicate an expansion of the fresh food offerings. Playful language punctuated by an edgy tone is complemented with graphic icons that speak to the various activities and places people usually enjoy while eating frozen yogurt including bike rides, ice skating, ball games and the beach

BRINGING BIRDWATCHING ONLINE
Birdwatching hit the internet in a big way this past winter as Audubon launched an extensive social media campaign, Birding the Net. And the social media campaign, by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, will accept a National PR Award next month. Visitors to over 100 websites encountered unexpected avian visitors. The social media campaign was timed with the release of 20th Century Fox’s The Big Year, about competitive birdwatching. “Birds are the best possible ambassadors for the environment, and this will help people see them in a whole new way,” said David Yarnold, President & CEO of Audubon. At the time of its release, Jeff Goodby described the campaign as combining “bird preservation, education and alluring animation in an addictive experience that spreads across the Internet.”

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“What we need most of all from government – at all levels – is leadership. Specifically, we need leaders who can inspire us with a vision of what's possible, a story of what happens if we get things right. A story of economic recovery, job creation, innovation, healthier communities, energy and housing security, and all the rest – all stemming from a transition away from fossil fuels. I don't see anyone telling that story. I had hoped that President Obama would, because I believe he understands that vision. But he hasn't been willing or able to go there.”

– Joel Makower in Mother Nature News, 1/30/12

L’OREAL FLIPS OVER PACKAGE
Beauty and cosmetics brand, L’Oreal, has redesigned the bottles for its Pureology brand professional hair products. Hoping to combine sustainable packaging with the kind of sleek look demanded by the beauty industry, the products have been literally flipped over onshelf and are contained in pearlescent toned, multi-tasking bottles in order to reflect their 100% vegan formulation. Robert Bergman of Mpact – a former L’Oreal creative director – executed new graphics and developed the curved set of bottles that are manufactured from a single mold. Explains Bergman: “L’Oreal wanted the new Pureology bottle to appear organic and natural in form, while looking different from all other salon products.” He describes the result as a bottle shape that is “organically professional.” Other attributes: they are designed for zero waste – to expunge every last ounce of shampoo and conditioner out of the bottle – and they’re 100% recyclable.

LOVE IS IN THE (CLEAN) AIR
Valentine’s Day may have recently passed, but green is the new red. Or so say the results of Timberland’s Eco-Love Survey released this month, revealing that 77 percent of people regard eco-consciousness as an appealing trait in a potential mate, while 50 percent of Americans are attracted to those who practice eco-friendly behavior around the house such as conserving water, recycling and turning off the lights. The online poll surveyed over 1000 men and women 18 years of age or older. Timberland took the survey findings to the next level, partnering with dating gurus from the free dating site OKCupid to create the Timberland Green Guide to Dating and Love, full of tips for those on the hunt for their eco-sweetheart.

THE NATURE OF DESIGN
Design by Nature, written by graphic designer and educator Maggie Macnab, is an eclectic journey that examines the versatility of nature, and how nature’s ingenuity can inspire compelling designed communications. Macnab has been creating logos and designs since the early 1980s, fueled by a passion for nature, design and creative problem-solving. Written for designers and creative thinkers, the book uses clear explanations, examples, and hands-on exercises to explore the natural processes that consist of everyday patterns and shapes often taken for granted, but are effective in visual messaging. Debbie Millman wrote the foreword.
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MENTHLAB GENERATES IDEAS
The latest effort of Legacy, the antitobacco education foundation – best known for its “Truth” ad campaign targeted to teen smokers – involved convening designers, health experts, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and community activists in Detroit for a summit to address the danger of menthol cigarettes in urban communities. The workshop, dubbed MenthLab and held at the College for Creative Studies, sought to generate grassroots ideas for products that would appeal to teens and steer them clear of menthol cigs – “the cancer stick of choice for many African-American adolescents.” Legacy CMO Eric Asche had become increasingly alarmed by menthol cigarettes' seductive power over youth. Over the course of a week, MenthLab participants brainstormed more than 100 ideas for services, events, and products – many branded with a mint-green hue. Among the highlights: Adam and Marty Butler of Butler Bros., an Austin creative firm with a focus on cause marketing, pitched the idea of a line of products or events that would be co-created with the communities that smoke the most menthol. A dozen or so concepts were prototyped, and Legacy plans to launch some of them soon. Asche says the power of design brings an engaging weapon to the fight.