Sustainability trends that are changing the business landscape
Recently, we launched a new DBA. Because we registered it with the City, it was avilable for all those who market to new businesses. Within days a flurry of junk mail ensued and no less than 4 telephone books showed up. In the Age of the Internet, why on earth are we producing telephone books and more importantly why are we chopping down trees so that I can recive 4 new telephone books? It was a DBA, which means I already have the other telephone books from the existing business.
We can opt out of junk emails, but when do we get to opt out of junk mail. I realize I am dangerously close to becoming Kramer when he tried to stop the Pottery Barn catalogs, but really in our desire to save the planet - can you spare me another piece of junk mail?
OK, I did a little Googling and most phone books are made from recyled paper - bully for them. Is there not still a carbon foot print in producing and distributing these books? And many come wrapped in plastic - don't even get me started. And I am not alone.
Sustainability trends that are changing the business landscape.
Source: Environmental Leader
Published: Friday, September 25, 2009
Interest in all things “green” continues to grow as the economy sinks. About 34 percent of people are now more likely to buy environmentally responsible products and 44 percent of consumers indicate their environmental shopping habits have not changed as a result of the economy (Cone Consumer environmental survey 2009).
From offline to online.
Brands can no longer hide behind their TV ads or billboard posters because of the power of online search. Consumers can find information about anything, anytime, and they are actively seeking information about the brands with which they interact. In 2009, it is going to be increasingly important for brand image to match company behaviour. After all, 81 percent of UK consumers place more importance on what companies do than what they say (The Drum 2008). So it is about clear, genuine, authentic messages that promote transparency, as this research shows there is a positive correlation between transparency and trust – It’s about being tangible.
From printed papers to digital development.
Digital marketing has provided new tools for brands to reach their audiences; the development of online videos, social networks, podcasts and games, highlights that the digital marketing space will continue to expand. A consumer’s online experience can significantly affect future behaviour; 81 percent of consumers are more likely to return to the website if they had a good experience (Cosmetics Design 2008).
Brands will increasingly use online spaces in 2009 to communicate with consumers. Digital means that today the brands that will win, will be those whose consumers and other stakeholders tell the best stories. It’s no longer a one-way narrative, it’s about a two-way conversation.
Labels: business landscape, offline, online, Sustainability trends, Sustainability trends that are changing the business landscape
posted by Mike Doherty at
3:32 PM
1 Comments:
Nice post. You are right that brands have to move away from a model where their message is everything, and is accepted without question, as epitomised by TV advertising. Digital media has given a wealth of opportunities to consumers and they are grabbing them with both hands. It has long been recognised in the digital marketing industry that consumers are a lot further down the line than a lot of brands and we are seeing brands gradually getting the idea that an overall digital marketing strategy is needed. Companies like Interactive Mix are starting to challenge the ad agencies for a position on a brand's ‘top table’ of suppliers. That is a situation which was unthinkable even a couple of years ago.
It is an exciting time because in the past traditional ad and brand agencies would wheel out the 'digital guy' to wave his hands around in meetings and then tuck him back in his box whilst everyone got on with the serious business of offline media. That isn't going to wash any more with clients and a lot of offline agencies are ill equipped to deliver what clients are starting to ask for.
Having said that a lot of digital agencies are also ill equipped to deliver it because they have grown in an environment where digital just does what the offline let tells them and says thank you. Similarly the term ‘digital’ can mean a lot of different things, and most of them are offered as boutiques which specialise in a particular discipline, whether it be search, web design, eCRM, social media or digital advertising. They are not geared up to offer this because their world view is based on individual services rather than an overall view of the marketing process as applied to digital media.
One thing is for sure though and that is that media is undergoing a massive shift at the moment, led by consumers and is going to evolve into something very different from what people know today.
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