Who's next?

For anyone watching the green branding space (is anyone not?), the past few months have been breathtaking. Even for us jaded ad folk who can work phrases like "tipping point" and "unprecedented rate of change" into any sentence (just try me), the sheer velocity at which things have started moving is pretty freaking crazy.

For years, the green movement crawled along, slowly gaining steam but always finding mainstream credibility slightly elusive. And then all of a sudden in the past year, and especially the past six months, things are moving exponentially. Food miles, air travel, carbon calories, getting rid of plastic bags, and now bottled water: it seems every month a new target comes into focus.
Just how far have we come? Look at shopping bags. By now you've no doubt heard of the canvas shopping bag fracas started by designer Anya Hindmarch. Her canvas bag, designed in partnership with We Are What We Do and bearing the phrase "I'm not a plastic bag", was sold as a $15/£5 limited edition last spring in places like Whole Foods and Sainsbury's. It quickly became a craze. Celebrities were seen with them. Lines formed around the block. Bags are sold on eBay at huge mark-ups.

Then we got the inevitable backlash. All this fuss over a canvas bag? And now counter-bags are coming out. Some are subversive canvas bags saying things like "I'm not a smug twat" or "I'm not a douche bag." The plastic bag industry has even launched a campaign to reuse plastic bags, stencilling them with "I AM a Plastic Bag AND I’m 100% Recyclable."

But here's what's cool about all of this: you know that a trend has landed when the conversation gets all meta. After all, no one's seriously debating whether plastic bags suck anymore. We've moved onto spoofs and commentary. We have arrived.

All of this is by means of saying: can any brand, in any category, afford to not have a green strategy now?  Given how many brands and categories have wasteful practices, and given quickly the pressure has been applied to plastic bags and bottled water, who's to say your category won't be next?

Comments

[Paul]

Hi Jason

Just thought you'd like to know that there is a We Are What We Do in Canada that is part of the WAWWD network. Our site is www.wearewhatwedo.ca. We have a Canadian version of the book that started the whole movement off (over 500,000 copies sold WWide) ... Change the World for Ten Bucks.

FYI we also launched the AH bag at Holt Renfrew in June. They sold out in 28mins.

We Are What We Do started back on 2002 when David Robinson, a veteran of the charity sector, decided to use all the marketing tools perfected by the corporate world to create a brand built around social and environmental consciousness.

Here's a little blurb from David:

We need an idea that has the power to generate its own momentum and we need to market it with all the skills that have been successfully applied in other arenas.

Mahatma Gandhi would not have called it marketing but he showed us that real ideas could be contagious. Peaceful opposition to tyranny, he said, would result in its eventual defeat.

He had none of the advantages of modern communications but he rolled back the British Empire with well-chosen words, bold symbolic actions, the power of example and in his simple robe a striking and meaningful identity.

Awesome.

Any chance Leo Burnett might be interested in getting involved?

I'm based in Nelson BC. 250 825 3457.

Cheers
Paul

[Kat]

It doesn’t really matter where it’s made, or what it’s made out of… The point is, people who like this bag will want to use it and that in itself can reduce the consumption of plastic bags.
The goal wasn’t to diminish child labor or cheap labor in China.

If people like this bag and decide to use it as an alternative to plastic shopping bags, then the message and goal is effective.

People who want this bag know its intended purpose and ultimately it’s a personal choice to stop using plastic or not. The bag itself doesn’t make a difference, it’s the attitude people adopt.

The message is boldly imprinted on the bag so it’s promoting awareness and a 2nd look at things.
Like if you bring it to a supermarket where everyone is packing their stuff in plastic, they might think twice next time.

----BTW, don't be fooled by the price drop of these bags on ebay, there are tons of fakes out there, over half of them are sold from China now. Beware of the lack of pictures, new sellers with little or no feedback!!!