Archive for the ‘marketing’ Category

Communicating Your Sustainability…or Communicating Sustainably?

What should you do during “recessionary times?” Both.

As stated on Twitter earlier this week (find us @studio_22), consumers 18-34 will be driving green trends in the next decade. We also said that when you promote your products to this group, you should do so in a sustainable way.

If you’re a brand that can demonstrate a genuine commitment to responsible practices, tell consumers your sustainability story. Do it authentically. Brands can gain a competitive edge when they engage consumers on issues that they care about. Do it on a hang-tag. Do it in your catalog. Do it on your website. The person buying your product or service will feel good about making the purchase because it supports a belief that they subscribe to. You’ll provide added value – an important quality at the moment.

Now, about those sustainable communications…those hang-tags, brochures, catalogs, reports. There’s more to a sustainable marketing piece than slapping some ink on 30% recycled content paper. We won’t bore you with substrates here, but care must be taken with the imagery and text, colors, sizing, and ink used in producing your communications. Even the firm you choose to work with has an impact on the footprint of your printed materials. Embracing this concept on the back end will push you even further ahead of the competition in the eyes of your customers.

High Quality Websites Yield Better Results

Kind of a “duh” statement, however, this article on Wall Street & Technology got us thinking. The article reports that researchers “found that the higher an investor rates the quality of a firm’s online features, the more money he keeps with that firm.”

The same idea can be applied to your company’s website, no matter what you’re selling. Think about how your audience wants to receive the information they need. Will they make an online purchase if your product images are too small? Will they feel secure making that purchase if the design of the site is less than professional? If your site is informational, is it organized in a user-friendly way?

Studio 22 and Naukabout Making Memories

Frederick, MD, November 24, 2008 — Studio 22 is helping Naukabout ask their customers, “Where do you Naukabout?” Naukabout retained the graphic design firm to create the marketing piece introducing the new company’s clothing line.

Naukabout’s tops, made from 100% organic cotton, along with hats, beanies and other accessory items, are meant to be worn while balancing life between work and play. The folded brochure embodies the tagline with strong visuals that represent one’s most memorable moments, places and life adventures.

“We could not have been more pleased with the piece that Studio 22 compiled for us,” stated Adam Conley, Naukabout’s Director of Operations. “Our biggest obstacle was finding a design firm who could embrace and understand our message, and convey that in graphic form. Eryn and her team nailed it on the first try.”

In keeping with both companies’ commitments to conservation and preservation, Studio 22 sourced a sustainable printing solution for the brochure. This included using a Green Certified printing company, FSC-certified 100% recycled (100% post consumer waste) paper, and vegetable-based inks. Taking the process one step further, the carbon emissions for the printing shipment were also offset.

“We’re not only excited to help Naukabout announce the launch of their clothing line, but that we have been able to uphold our common values in the production of the piece,” said Eryn Willard, Studio 22’s founder. “We are proud to be affiliated with Naukabout and are looking forward to their continued success.

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About Studio 22, LLC – Studio 22 is a group of outdoor devotees creating award-winning visual branding, print collateral and web design for clients in the outdoor, environmental and consumer goods industries. Practicing what we preach helps us deliver the best creative solutions to our clients. The firm has been producing sustainable graphic design since 2005. www.studio20two.com

About Naukabout, LLC – Naukabout is a lifestyle apparel company that offers active, casual and outdoor clothing for men, women and children. The company incorporates an ideal that embodies one’s most memorable moments, places and life adventures. The Naukabout brand is committed to creating a community founded on Naukabout moments, encouraging people to answer the question: “Where and how do you Naukabout?” Founded in 2007, Naukabout is a private company headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with its corporate office in Rhode Island. For more information, please visit www.naukabout.com.

Press release also available on PRlog.

One Marketing Tip To Heed Now

As Steve McKee said on Business Week’s Small Business website this summer, Marketing is muscle, not fat. Be careful about cutting it.”

Don’t risk losing market share to your competitors in a downturn. This is a time when a slow — but steady — marketing presence can help you come out on top when things turn around.

Can’t justify the cost of a full-page ad series? Cut the size to a half-page. Not sure if you should print the full-sized catalog you planned…and mail it? Reduce the page count or change the dimensions. The point is to maintain your presence.

Your clients and customers still need what your company provides, even during economic lows. If your competitors are cutting their marketing budgets, you can gain some of their market share by being the more visible company to your prospective clients.

Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles Site

Call us behind the times, but we recently discovered Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles website. There, the apparel manufacturing company tells the story of specific products’ marks on the environment. The highly interactive site is not only well designed, but truly informative.

“We believe that to avoid complacency, we must constantly examine our internal processes to improve upon the positive and mitigate the negative,” said Casey Sheahan, president and CEO of Patagonia. “The Footprint Chronicles allows us to do this publicly — sort of learning out loud.”

Site users are also able to leave comments relating to each product detail. Pretty brave on Patagonia’s part!

Not every person or company can be perfect, but we can all implement strategies to reduce our impact. Could you do this in some way with your business?

Studio 22 Launches New Division — SustainabilityReports.com

Evidence shows that social and environmental responsibility pays–in the form of improved employee loyalty, better brand recognition, stronger community relations, and fewer environmental problems. But in order to fully realize the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), people need to know about your commitment.

That is why we’ve launched a new division of Studio 22 — SustainabilityReports.com. The new site answers the questions that many executives and business owners have about CSR. Reporting on your practices will connect your organization with its stakeholders–investors, employees, the media, the community.

We’re scheduling kick-off meetings now for the months of October through December. Let us know how we can assist your company in creating a CSR program, or how we can help you communicate what you’re already doing!

Smelly Marketing

A few years ago I attended a trade show and brought back to the office with me samples of scented papers. There was one paper company that even put together a clever little book (with expensive production techniques, in addition to the scented papers), highlighting a number of scents which were applied to individual sheets. Cut grass, garlic, chocolate, and even plastic bandages (why?) were among the different aromas. At the time, I thought the book was neat and wondered if I would ever see these papers used in marketing materials. I have not. Ever.

But this week, a similar idea has sprung up in advertising news. Marketers such as Pepsi, Pedigree and Mars are using scent to sell their products. Read more about it here in Advertising Age magazine’s article from yesterday.

Because smell is such a powerful sense, using it as part of a marketing campaign seems logical. But, what will be the ROI? Will it offend shoppers? I won’t look forward to being inundated with additional smells while I shop for groceries. I mean, I know what a chocolate bar smells like.

Green Festival 06

Welcome to the news blog of Studio 22! Here you will find our latest news and views on topics such as new campaign launches, events, marketing tips, and sustainability communications. Please feel free to post comments and ask questions. Here we go…

As many of you know, Studio 22 recently exhibited at the DC Green Festival, October 14-15, 2006. I shared booth space with Strategic Sustainability Consulting—with whom I have been partnering to create sustainability communications pieces—where we were able to promote our complementary services. The event was a big success for Studio 22, both educationally and in the exposure the studio received.

In fact, Jared Degnan, creator of the interactive blog “20-Something Marketing,” interviewed me about marketing eco-friendly messages to mainstream audiences. You can listen to the mp3 here. I must admit that I was caught a little off-guard with the interview, but in the end, was glad to have been asked! Wendy Reiger of NBC4 was also there to cover the event for her series “Going Green.”

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