SparkBlog by The Hartman Group

Sun Chips and the Power of the Consumer

Crunch, crunch, crunch. By now you've probably heard that Frito-Lay has decided to discontinue production of its 100% compostable chip packaging due to overwhelming complaints from consumers that their SunChips bags are too noisy. Sales of the chips have declined since the introduction of the new bags last December and consumers have taken to YouTube to air their grievences about the tasty noisemakers.

Now, we're hearing that the bags may not live up to their compostable promises in the first place. Frito-Lay's claims that SunChips packaging will break down in fourteen weeks has been met with cynicism from expert composters. One blogger writes:

A good sixteen weeks after we composed the bag, I pulled it out and...I've been accused of being cynical, and I think that the real problem is that the bag doesn't work as advertised. To be even more cynical, most of the people who bought SunChips for their environmental benefits don't know this because they don't compost.

Perhaps the worms found the noise off putting as well?

The larger lesson here of course is that consumers increasingly have the power to call companies out on their claims. With increasingly powerful results.

 

Visualizing Energy Consumption

Celine Marcq, a textile designer, has developed wallpaper that interacts with energy usage. Flip on a switch or plug into an outlet and patterns begin to grow.

Marcq's masters thesis, Inconspicuous Matter, poses the question: Can the visualization of electrical energy flows lead to textile and material innovation? It definitely generates awareness. Imagine an office wall after a long day at work. Or the possibility of applying Marcq's technology to building exteriors.

The only problem? We're not sure we'd want to turn out the lights.

(via Co.Design)

Intersection of food and cycling = Pedaling.tv

  Here's the concept according to their website:

Equipped with only two wheels and a love of communing, our social-savvy hosts embark on culinary bike tours throughout the New York City metropolitan area - exploring each unique neighborhood’s vibrant characters, scenic destinations, and memorable rides. PEDALING hosts will guide viewers through some of the city’s best nooks and crannies. Episodes will contain practical tips for urban cycling, including an inside peek at a professional bike fitting, traffic etiquette, and where cyclists in the area ride, eat, and live. Special guest stars and a few unexpected forks in the road lie in store for our PEDALING hosts.

The first few episodes are heavily food-centric with chefs, spice traders and visits to food trucks and a hefty dose of sustainability thrown in.

The surprise and delight of sustainable packaging

While it’s the intrinsic contents or use of a product that determines a purchase, consumers within the World of Sustainability (who make up 88% of our population) view sustainable packaging options as “simple” measures that all manufacturers can take. It's a minimum requirement for all products, even if the products themselves don’t resonate as sustainable. As consumers become increasingly engaged with sustainability behaviors and the social life of products, earth-friendly packaging is the first price of entry for manufacturers attempting to create a more environmentally responsible halo.

Packaging enhancements also present unique opportunities to surprise and delight consumers lulled into low expectations by commoditized sizes, shapes and designs. Ecolean, a packaging alternative dubbed as "A Lighter Approach to Packaging," seems to do just that with its innovative, "Wow" design and modern approach.

Via The Dieline

"Lightweight packaging is our answer to the demands of the liquid food industry and consumers asking for modern and clever packages. By using a minimal amount of raw material we create a lightweight package which combines low environmental impact with consumer convenience. Saving resources is saving the environment. That is why lightweight packaging has become a heavyweight argument."

Ecolect writes, "Ecolean bag weighs 40-45% less than a carton package and 60-65% less than a plastic bottle of the same size. Even if the mixed material is not really good for recycling, the packages could be remanufactured as mixed plastics and used for products such as pallets, trays, or artificial wood."

But, how does Ecolean fare in the eyes of the consumer? Since awareness of packaging is so personally tied to the daily lives of consumers in terms of use and disposal, it follows that individuals understand sustainable packaging primarily in terms of its back-end environmental impacts (what happens to the packaging after they use the product at home). Front-end issues, such as energy used in production, are much less understood. For example, a discussion about energy savings gained through use of aseptic packaging, like Ecolean, is unknown to most sustainability consumers. Because front-end issues are largely invisible to consumers, when asked about preferred packaging characteristics of the products they buy, back-end issues, such as recyclability and being biodegradable are of greater importance, followed by attributes such as reusability and compostability. Though, when digging deeper, many of the issues of biodegradability and compostability fall further along the adoption pathway in the World of Sustainability.

Below are 6 attributes of sustainable packaging and how they resonate with today's consumers:

• Recyclable: Packaging made from paper, glass, metals, and plastic that can be recycled by consumers through conventional (curb-side) recycling are preferred.
• Minimal packaging: Packaging that features less head space, fewer layers, and less content
• Made from recycled materials: Products made from recycled materials go one step further than simply being recyclable.
• Re-useable: Items that can be repurposed connect to environmental sustainability pathways through notions of decreased waste.
• Biodegradable: While many consumers do not understand the technical aspects of biodegradation, they have vague notions that certain “things take a long time to break down.” Most consumers consider plastic materials the worst offender because they perceive them as never fully degrading.
• Compostable: As composting is an activity further along the adoption pathway in the World of Sustainability, most individuals are only vaguely aware of compostable packaging. Even for consumers most intensely involved in the World who view compostable packaging as the most sustainable option available, it is only “nice to have” — a value-added attribute, and not a purchase driver.

Direct Trade is the new Fair Trade

Image: www.stumptowncoffee.com

Fair Trade coffee is so yesterday. A few independent coffee roasters are taking on the status quo on even some of the best production and trade practices in the coffee-growing business. We recently had the pleasure of visiting Stumptown Coffee in Portland, OR and were excited to see what they (and others, like Counter Culture Coffee out of Durham, NC) are doing with direct trade coffee. Direct trade coffee purveyors often have higher-than-market pay minimums, as well as quality that they say exceeds that of their fair trade counterparts. For example, over half of Stumptown Coffee Direct Trade coffees are more than $1/lb above the current Fair Trade price. (Their least expensive Direct Trade coffee is more than 20% above the Fair Trade price.) This, they say, "is what makes the difference between a good cup of coffee and a ridiculously good one."

While concepts and ideas like "local," "Fair Trade," "cruelty free," and "transparency" can now be said to be fully operating in the cultural domain, the consumer notion of doing the right thing for the common good is an even stronger guiding principle that establishes hope, even in what seem to be hard times.  Importantly, we see consumers seeking out those products, services and retail outlets that they feel represent forward-thinking, higher domain experiences within which sustainability has profound connections at personal, social and global levels.  Going forward, what we find fascinating, and of great value to manufacturers, retailers and service providers, is that many of the core beliefs and aspirations surrounding sustainability behaviors represent personal journeys for consumers:  These philosophically and objectively driven travels are inspired by not only individual hope for higher quality experiences and standards of living for themselves and their communities, but are quickly becoming a broadly focused expectation to find such qualities reflected in the stores, employees, brands and products they buy, interact with and use on an everyday basis.

And as socially conscious terms like "ethical consumption," "sustainability," "organic and natural" and "fair trade" are now so regularly used that they have entered into the mainstream, consumers will be looking for continuing this personal journey seeking deeper connections to sustainability and their personal values. In this, direct trade may well resonant as a more authentic connection to the source.

Green Box: saving the environment one pizza box at a time

Pizza box turns into plates and a storage unit...so cool!

The world's first compostable chip bag

This is ground-breaking enough to warrant remembering as it rolls out. Compostable chip bags. Sure beats "made with 15% post-consumer paper."

SunChips is Making Packaging That's Better for the Planet - Click here for more free videos

Happy Earth Day: 5 Tips for Marketing Sustainability

1. Speak to consumers using their own words to describe sustainability
As we’ve said in the past, while the term "sustainability" is not a household word it is an umbrella term for six key values: healthier, local, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, simple living and control. Before framing messages of sustainable values it is important to find definitions that consumers can relate to.

2. Link your product or service to a personal consumer benefit if possible
Green attitudes do not necessarily translate into green behavior. Consumers are intrinsically preoccupied with matters of personal and family health and wellness; these in turn represent absolute gateways to sustainability. Consumers need to see a personal benefit to initially act on sustainable aspirations.

 

3. Understand that sustainability isn’t just about environmental concerns
A variety of values trigger consumer awareness and interest in sustainability. Consumers express attitudinal concerns for issues ranging from economic and social to environmental and personal safety. Individuals can be drawn into awareness through any one or several different triggers depending on their experiences, lifestyle, and interests. Initial triggers for awareness are often radio, television and print media.

4. Tell consumers the story behind your sustainable product
Packaging is among the first things consumers notice. Consumers are seeking narratives and storylines regarding sustainable practices and the people and places behind sustainable products. To the untrained eye it may be product packaging but to the average consumer it can be a field, a farm or a factory.

5. Connect “value” with quality in the current economic downturn
Economic concerns top the list of consumer concerns. Recent events have shifted consumers’ perceptions that quality of life will change for the worse. The current economic downturn is not changing most sustainable behaviors, but consumers are making more considered decisions and tradeoffs in less essential categories.

For more and to view our recent webinar , Earth Day Special: 5 Tips for Marketing Sustainability

7 Tips to Build a Better Restaurant Brand in Today's Economic Reality

Today, our very own Michelle Barry, Ph.D., Senior VP, gave a brief webinar on tips to strengthen your brand in the current economic climate.

 
And there are seven:

Tip 01: Create great community spaces

Tip 02: Offer free Wi-Fi, creating a great brand experience, sense of ritual that includes your brand

Tip 03: Be purveyors of fresh and quality, an extension of consumers' home behavior

Tip 04: Establish strategic partnerships with key artisans on a regional basis (as a sustainability halo)

Tip 05: Work diligently to ensure a consistent, yet local and unique brand experience - food is inherently local

Tip 06: Nurture brand evangelists by taking care and fostering expertise

Tip 07: Give back to community, stress truly local philanthropic efforts