Adobe Introduces Tools for Sustainable Design

Here are some videos on how Adobe is infusing sustainability into their products.

Recession-proof your marketing

In today's economic climate, you can't afford to waste significant amounts of time, money and talent on marketing campaigns that fail to achieve your marketing goals. Simply put, you need to receive more 'bang-for-your-buck' (or as one of my clients likes to say, 'do more with less'). Here are 3 proven marketing tips that will recession-proof your marketing and improve the return on your next communication project:

How well do you really know your customers? Now is the time to learn all you can about those who buy your product or service. Do you capture names and marketing data at every occasion? Is there a database of past customers sitting somewhere collecting dust? When was the last time that you communicated with them? Well, no better time than now to dust it off and start a dialogue.

The opportunities available online with new social media tools and state-of-the-art print-on-demand technology make it easier than ever to deliver a targeted and very cost-effective message to your customers. For your next marketing communication, think about ways that you can build and then use your list to attract new or continuing business.

Traditional image-building advertising is dying because it does little if anything to build relationships. Is someone really going to remember your ad - the one that had one line of text and a web address so small that it was unreadable? Why would they take their valuable time to respond - unless you gave them a reason to do so? A relationship marketing approach that builds a connection with your customer is more effective. Try to avoid talking at your customers; instead, begin a dialogue with them.

Most traditional marketing does not challenge or engage the consumer. It has become immensely more difficult to cut through the clutter and make marketing materials more involving. There are, however, a variety of specific ways that you can invite action on the part of your customers and make something good happen.

Traditional awareness-driven advertising is no longer the most effective use of your budget because it has proven difficult to quantify. Your marketing dollars need to go further in a proven way!

A response driven campaign is one technique that will help you gain new customers in a very affordable and measurable way. An invitation to respond can be added to just about anything. Think about including a response mechanism with your next communication. Offer a sample, induce trial, provide more information, qualify sales leads, and watch your marketing dollars work harder.

Those who succeed know that the key is a return to the proven, back-to-basics marketing thinking. Whether your company markets a product or a service, electronically or in print - the basics of good marketing driven design remains the same. The better the quality of marketing thinking that goes into the design of your campaign, the better the results!

Compostmodern09 comes to Toronto

On Saturday, February 21st, SF AIGA held the Compostmodern09 Conference. The conference got GREAT reviews and you can read Worldchanging's synopsis at http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009456.html

For all those who didn't make it down to SF, the event was recorded and RGD Ontario's Sustainability Committee will host a satellite 'live' rebroadcast of the event on March 21 at George Brown School of Design. Participants can sign up for a 1/2 or full-day of viewing. RGD's Compostmodern will also feature moderated group discussions themed around the day's speakers.

Compostmodern is fertile ground for sustainability. Presented by the San Francisco chapter of AIGA and the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design (CFSD), this interdisciplinary conference explored the range of design thinking necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society. Designers, manufacturers and business leaders came together to find inspiration, share knowledge and explore real world opportunities for transforming products, industries and lives. For the complete schedule, go to http://compostmodern.org/

This year's conference demonstrated how sustainable solutions converge as design, ecology, social activism, business and economics intersect. Speakers included Eames Demetrios of Eames Office, Saul Griffith of Makani Power, Allan Chochinov of Core 77, California College of the Arts (CCA) Design MBA Chair Nathan Shedroff, climate strategist Michel Gelobter, John Bielenberg and Pam Dorr of Project M and the HERO Housing Resource in Alabama, Emily Pilloton of Project H Design, and Autodesk Sustainable Design Program Manager Dawn Danby. GreenBiz editor and sustainability author Joel Makower reprised his role as emcee.

RGD Event Pricing:
Members $10 for the half day; $20 for the full day
Non-Member $15 for the half day; $30 for the full day

To sign up for the Compostmodern09 Toronto rebroadcast event or find out more, please email rsvp@rgdontario.com or call 1.888.274.3668

Urban Play

This was a project undertaken by Sagmeister late last year. The video is basically eight days of work condensed into 6 minutes and captures a large-scale project using coins and the phrase "Obsessions Make My Life Worse and My Work Better". Thought it'd be neat to share. To read the full story and see the complete documentation of it click here.

ECO-MARKETING TIPS

In 2008, Corporate Canada jumped on the green bandwagon, and for good reason. According to a poll by Decima Research, two-thirds of Canadian consumers said that concern for the environment was impacting the way they shop. Green was the new black - officially the hottest marketing trend of 2008. So is this still true, or has the economic unpleasantness of 2009 put the breaks on the eco bandwagon?

According to a number of recent articles in the business press, TrendReports and consumer surveys all conducted in the first months of 2009, sustainability initiatives 'are proving to be surprisingly slump-resistant.' This makes a lot of sense when you consider that in most cases going green is good for the bottom line.

However, though the recession doesn't seem to be impacting these initiatives as much as one would have thought, we're still not convinced that green good intentions are being translated into meaningful actions within the wider business and marketing community as quickly as they should or could be. At a recent tradeshow I encountered a number of premium and incentive companies hawking their 'green' plastic ecowares. Most of this was opportunistic marketing (at best) and verged on a big eco-marketing pitfall - greenwashing.

Why aren't positive sustainable marketing initiatives being more widely or quickly adopted? Because, truthfully, it's not easy being green. One can feel overwhelmed. Here are 3 reasons why companies like yours may be hesitating in crafting an eco-marketing strategy:

It's all about Cost vs. Return. Most marketers view any green initiative as a spend that may not directly relate into immediate and measurable sales. Something that everyone is concerned about today. So how do smart eco-companies insure that the money that they invest in the environment returns a positive payback?

The secret is that successful green initiatives, typically address a business problem. We believe that it is possible to grow your business and protect the environment at the same time. Many ideas that are good for the environment will also save your business some money.

With all of the green labels, certifications and designations - it can get confusing. FSC, SFI, PEFC, Environmental Choice, EcoLogo, Green Seal, ISO 14001? There are single attribute designations and multi-attribute designations. Which ones are right for you and who has the time to investigate all the claims and make sense of all of the green options available? We do! And what about carbon offsetting? Should you go carbon neutral - and do so, with or without, using trees?

And just like the previous example of the premium companies hawking their plastic trinkets and trash wrapped in the veil of green respectability, I'll wager that you fear getting it wrong. Did you know that in the area of sustainable marketing, most companies are doing nothing, or worse, are getting it completely wrong. How do you think 'green' in your marketing and avoid any criticisms relating to unethical marketing that seems simply opportunistic? This is called Greenwashing and is a very real concern. There is even a website at GreenwashingIndex that will 'out' companies that try to deceive. Many companies have identified the fear of being labeled as Greenwashing as a reason for inaction.

The fact is that you can't just suddenly 'go green'. Successful companies know that for green initiatives to resonate with customers, they have to be authentic and verifiable.