Reading through my peers’ blogs the other day, I stumbled upon a thought-provoking insight on Joana Ho’s blog. She states;
It is interesting to see what actually motivates people: it is not money that economic theorists point to, it is not the benefits you gained; it is fun.
I think that fun is indeed the benefit that most marketers forget about. Aside from the LOHAS segment, nobody is going to expend extra resources (time, money) to buy a product that sometimes offers only intangible, immeasurable value. As much as people may wish to deny it, human beings are selfish by nature: if it doesn’t have direct benefit to me, I don’t want to buy it.
This is where marketers need to come in. Sure, educating the customer on the environmental benefits is important. But showing the customer that the product will allow them to live a more fulfilling, and happier life, might be the better option.
I will refer back to the much-discussed Sun Chips noisy bag example. Sun Chips introduced the compostable bag this year to an uproarious response of the negative kind. They advertised it as green; the customers saw it as noisy. As a response, Sun Chips Canada launched a PSA campaign to highlight the environmental benefits of using such a bag.
They took the education approach. I guess this appeals to my logic, but it doesn’t make me want Sun Chips. I can’t see this bag adding value to my life personally. I propose this: the fun approach. Market it as noisy. Market it as obnoxious. But most of all, market it as fun. “Express your sustainability in a cool new way; the noisy bag, from Frito Lay!”
Now that sounds like fun.
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While taking some time dip into several blogs I came across an interesting and relevant post by MIke Rogers. Mike’s brilliant comment on the Sun Chips video (posted above) is as follows:
“They took the education approach. I guess this appeals to my logic, but it doesn’t make me want Sun Chips… I propose this: the fun approach. Market it as noisy. Market it as obnoxious. But most of all, market it as fun. ”
Mike, I must say I agree with you and even had the chance to present this idea to Helmi Ansari, the Sustainability Team Leader speaking in the PSA!
While in Toronto for an interview with PepsiCo Food (owner of Sun Chips) we were asked to work on a case study and present it to a board of judges including Helmi Ansari. The case was based on the current situation with the Sun Chips bag and essentially discussed how the Frito Lay in the US pulled back the bag and what Frito Lay Canada should do.
My group all agreed that the bag should be kept in Canada due to a considerably more environmentally cautious market when compared to the US. In addition we came up with several marketing ideas that I will briefly highlight a few.
1) Turn the weakness into strength. Create a “Make some noise for the environment campaign.” This will essentially glorify the bag, educate consumers, and make individuals proud to eat from it instead of embarrassed. In addition, and most importantly this would make the bag fun for consumers to play with and used to leverage sales.
2) Many consumers do not know how to properly dispose of it or do not own compost. Therefore being the first of its kind they have the responsibility to educate the consumer and should include bullet points on the back of the bag informing consumers of proper disposal techniques. This could be as simple as “Dispose of me in your green bin! If you don’t own a green bin visit sunchips.ca/makenoise for more information”
3) Show consumers they are making a difference by having an image on the back of the bag of two Sun Chips bags = “a quantifiable carbon foot print reduction such as 1 tree”.
4) Run an in store promotion that sells two bags for a discounted price. This promotion will match the two bags = a carbon foot print on the back and drive incremental sales.
The board of judges were very pleased with our ideas, especially the “make some noise for the environment campaign.” It is even a possibility that some of these ideas may be used in the near future so keep your eyes open!
Following the presentation I had a chance to discuss the bag with Helmi Ansari. One interesting point he brought up is that by putting the bag on the shelves they are creating a new market for sustainable bags. More and more companies that currently produce bags will see the first proto-type and invest in R&D for a sustainable bag of their own. Helmi also believes that despite all the media attention the bag has been a big success for being the first of its kind. A comparison is a hybrid vehicle they began by being expensive and unaffordable but have now become affordable and fashionable. It is the same with the bag and in time it will be quiet and perfected.