Put a value on your brand when buying marketing materials

In the age of the internet and austerity the fashion of today for many organisations is to buy cheaper.

Buy it cheap buy it twice.

Cutting costs and improving efficiency are laudable business aims, but organisations need to be careful to understand the difference between buying cheaper and attaining the best value.

Dissipating your brand value

And when buying in marketing materials this adage is even more important.

And this is because marketing materials represent your brand. And your brand is quite simply your organisations greatest and most valuable asset. It is estimated that 93% of Coca Cola market value is associated with non tangible assets. These assets are what you and I have in our heads about Coca Cola!

Buying with our brand in mind

In larger organisations there are product or brand guardians. But for most SME's this role can be undertaken by a host of differing people, often with no real training and understanding of what they should be buying in terms of its brand impact.

So there is a real risk that buying design, print, web, marketing and the host of other marketing services based on price alone. Not only could this not deliver the brand values you expect but, even worse, it could serious undermine the organisations perception in the customers or prospects mind. This means you spend money to have a negative effect!!

How to buy with brand in mind

There are two key aspects of brand delivery - clarity and consistency. For you to buy services with your brand in mind there are a few things you can do:

• Ensure you have a brand strategy and brand guidelines and use these when buying marketing materials
• Review your brand delivery and ensure there is some gap analysis done as part of this
• Try to measure your brand effect (sometimes difficult but not impossible)
• Use suppliers that understand brand delivery and can ensure your brand is represented well and to the standards stated in the brand guidelines.

If you are still not convinced, then I will remind you of the Ratner effect. Gerald Ratner oversaw a huge jewellery empire and was represented extensively on the high street. His shops represented great value jewellery for many customers.

That is until he was reported widely as stating that his products were 'total crap'. Nothing else changed. The products stayed the same, the shops stayed the same and the prices stayed the same. What changed was how customers perceived what they were buying. What was in the customers mind changed and he wiped off £500m off of the value of the organisation he owned.

Sustainability claims that are really cost reduction exercises

The real cost of claiming sustainability

27% of Utility companies are making unsubstantiated claims with regards switching to paperless billing to save the environment (www.twosides.info).

The reality of these claims are that these organisations are using emotive language to persuade customers to turn off paper based billing so that they can reduce there own cost base. If the claims were true then this activity could be accepted. However, when these claims are clearly unresearched and in many cases unsubstantiated then these organisations need to be taken to task.

We all need to make efforts to reduce our environmental impact and act in a sustainable manner. But in doing this we need information that guides our actions that is robust and accurate.

For large organisations to be manipulating information to suit there own profit and loss accounts is dangerous and actually counter to the very message they are purporting to make.

My advice to everyone is to question claims like these and ensure that they information they produce is accurate and in the interests of the wider society they are trying to serve.

How the development of UV inks is changing the face of print procurement

The print industry is very used to 'change'.

In the last twenty years technology has had a huge image on commercial print production to such an extent that a modern print operation is a very high tech environment - a world away from the print production techniques employed as little as twenty years ago.

And change continues unabated. The most recent 'game changer' has been the development of UV Ink technology. UV ink and UV printers are nothing new - but historically this type of printing has been the remit of specialists. Now the benefits of UV printing are now being transferred to the commercial printing market - with devastating effect.

So what are the benefits of UV inks and UV printing?

• Faster turnaround times: jobs are ready for 'finishing' the moment they are printed. In this respect they behave like digitally printed jobs - but without any of the quality compromises that can be the downside of this type of printing.
• Better pricing: having printed sheets that are immediately dry has a significant benefit in terms of production efficiencies. They can be 'backed up' immediately. The sheet has no spray powder contamination. The sheets can be immediately processed in the finishing department. All in all our experience has demonstrated a 30% increase in production efficiency for most jobs.
• Improved quality: instantly dry sheets eliminates problems such as 'dryback' and, because UV inks dry without absorbing into the paper, create much sharper and vivid images when printing on uncoated papers.

I believe that for print buyers this technology is a game changer and makes a positive contribution to the argument for printed media playing a key role in an organisations marketing mix.

For more information on H-UV printing and its benefits please contact Greenhouse Graphics or see how new UV Printing technology contributes to sustainable printing.

The role of strategic marketing for business development

 

For many the world of marketing is about producing an advert, a website, a brochure or an email blast. The reality is that although these are tactics delivered by marketers, the real skill of marketing, and the huge success that this can deliver to an organisation, lies in developing a clear marketing strategy.

With pressures on those organisations in the education sector  and the results they deliver at an all time high, how could a strategic marketing perspective make a positive contribution to a schools development?

What you do and what stakeholders think you do:

Marketers know that it is not what you do - but  it is what your customers or prospects think you do that is the key to business success. The example of Gerald Ratner crystallises this point perfectly. From running a billion pound business to bankruptcy  almost overnight because he changed the perception of his product in his customers minds - from great value and accessible jewellery, to 'crap' (using his language).

Understand your stakeholders mind:

The story of Parker Pens (I am old enough to have been a pupil in secondary school when what pen you used really mattered) shows how customer feedback really does deliver results. Suffering from decreasing sales despite extensive marketing activity to its male dominated user base, the company completed an extensive customer feedback exercise. They found that although the consumers of their products were indeed male, their customers most certainly weren't! Most pens were bought as gifts - by females!!!

The power of positioning and brand:

There are numerous examples in the business world of companies that have become hugely successful through marketing and brand development. Some of the most valuable companies in the world have focused key resources on building a compelling brand proposition to its customers and prospects.

In recent times Apple has been revered in this context. Yet there are clearly very capable competitors for its products and its pricing policy means that they do not have the cheapest products on the market. It is also rarely first to market with its products. The difference is that its customers are almost 'evangelical' about it products. They have recognised that most people do not buy on price - even in difficult economic times. They have created a brand that resonates with customers and prospects at an emotive level.

Einstein stated that 'We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.' A strategic marketing perspective understands that the world changes as does the desires and needs of customers and prospects. Organisations that want to be successful don't just adapt to change - they create the change. Will Apple be successful with its 'wearable technology'? Would you want to bet against it?

GreenTex - a revolution for SME branding

GreenTex is a brand new exhibition and event wall covering product from greenhouse graphics.

The product is PVC free, in line with the company's strong sustainability printing policy, and offers a number of tangible benefits for businesses and organisations that wish to develop a strong brand message. These benefits are:

GreenTex is easy to apply and doesn't need a professional installation service.
GreenTex is tough and enduring
GreenTex is reusable
GreenTex leaves no residue on walls and is very easy to remove.
GreenTex is one of the most cost-effective ways of applying branded graphics to walls.

Whether you are planning an event, exhibiting or wish to add impact to your foyer of offices, GreenTex is a remarkable product that will make an instant impact. GreenTex was used as an event branding tool for the 2013 Rugby Expo at Twickenham stadium

Delivering bottom line results through great design

Here is the scenario:

An advertiser agrees to take out an advert (either online or offline) at a cost of several hundred pounds. Having spent this money, and not wanting to spend any more, they decide to put together their own advert in a software application they have access to.
They spend many hours creating their advert and finally submit it to the publisher.

The likely result of this?

1] The artwork will not be in the correct format for the publisher and will get rejected.
2] The artwork will not be in the correct format for the publisher, who will publish it anyway, regardless of how it looks.
3] The advert will not have impact. It may read like 'War and Peace', lack an appropriate structure, have no call to action, ignore brand values, not relate to any marketing or communications plan, have no colour management and will not have any clear call to action or method of monitoring the result.

The question I often ask myself is why do organisations and business spend sizeable sums of money on advertising space, but are reluctant to invest in marketing or design services to ensure the advert achieves tangible results? Especially when the spend on this is often significantly less than the spend on buying the space in the first place.

Is is similar to buying your favourite car, then not driving it because you don't want to spend money on the petrol!

If you are not sure of the tangible results of professional design services, take a look at this video about the benefits of great design.

Exporting contacts out of LinkedIn

More and more business professionals are using LinkedIn as a method of keeping in touch with key business contacts. However, how do you integrate this information into your contacts list or your CRM system.

Exporting contacts is relatively simple if you want to create a CSV file. If you go to 'Contacts' tab and choose 'Connections' from this menu, a list of your contacts will appear.

At the bottom of the list on the right hand side is a link called export connections.

Click on this link and you will be able to export all the connections to a CSV file. This you can import into another contact or CRM database.

If paper is so bad, why is wood so good?

I was looking at a customers website today to find out some contact details. The customer makes bespoke children's play areas. What really caught my attention was the analysis on the materials used.

Concrete and Steel were generally seen as poor environmentally and were large energy users and carbon emitters.

This was the comment on wood:

'Wood from sustainably managed sources cannot only be an excellent structural material, but also an environmentally conscious choice.  As trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air, whereas cement and steel release CO2 into the atmosphere.  In well-managed forests, trees are coppiced or new trees are planted after harvest, to continue the carbon absorption process.  So timber is a ‘carbon negative’ material (which is a good thing!) (Forestry Commission publication ‘Carbon benefits of timber in construction’ 2006)'

Now the thing about this is that we are constantly being told that paper is a source of environmental harm. 'Think green and keep it on screen' we are told.

Surely there is a contradiction here. Paper and timber both come from the same place.

The reality is lies in the marketers phrase - 'it's not what you do, its what people think you do that counts'.

For example, data centers that power the internet use 2% of the UK's energy resources - the same as the Airline Industry and more than the print and paper industry (TwoSides). And spam email produces the carbon equivalent to driving a car for 33000000 miles! (McAfee). Yet, digital delivery is dressed up as a green option??

Makes you think doesn't it?

Ten tips for implementing CSR in an organisation

The following ten key tips are taken from an article that appeared in Ethical Corporation (www.ethicalcorp.com), which I thought we interesting and worth commenting on.

1. In a survey for the report, 93% of companies recognize the value of embedding CR into business processes yet only 49% of companies confirm that CR is a clear component of overall company strategy, and 49% or companies do not believe that they understand what is necessary to do to embed CR into their business.
   
   
2. Embedding requires a simultaneous top-down and bottom-up approach – to ensure consistency and shared values at the same time as local ownership of issues and impacts.
   
   
3. Corporate responsibility requires communication throughout the process – with different audiences, for different purposes, using different tools. CR communications can help to bridge the divide for colleagues and management, helping them to understand and feel part of the CR agenda.
   
   
4. Don’t neglect commercialisation considerations; sustainable R&D needs to be married up with marketing, so make sure you anticipate challenges in introducing more sustainable products into your mainstream product offering, and capitalise on the knowledge and experience of marketing professionals to guide your efforts.
   
   
5. A company’s sustainability risks and impacts – and its CR potential – may be closely tied to its activities up and down the value chain. Working with raw materials sourcing, contract manufacturing, logistics, distributors and customers can greatly increase your control over your CR objectives. For an increasing number of industries, such value-chain activity is essential to meeting consumer needs, reducing risk and expanding opportunity.
   
   
6. Companies should be aware of the role of social media in giving voice to stakeholders, including local communities. Social media allows groups – even small community groups – to extend and magnify their messages, reaching much more influential audiences than they might have otherwise.
   
   
7. Consider how NGO partnerships can help you meet community needs and aspirations while making use of your core strengths and position as a business.
   
   
8. Setting and delivering on targets requires a fuller implementation plan – a road map – to bring together a clarification of the company’s objectives with the physical, financial, human and intellectual resources required to get there.
   
   
9. Green lens: Looking at the business through a different “green lens” means people spot new opportunities to reduce impacts and costs by less obvious means. (M&S Case Study)
   
   
10. Achieve a few early CR successes, and you might be excused for wanting to rest on your laurels. But CR isn’t something that can be “done” and left on a shelf – it’s a continual part of risk management and market creation. 

 I think one of the key tips given is the importance of both a top down and a bottom up approach. Top down is in my view essential. If there is no support or empathy at Director or Board level, then there is little chance of success. Yet, to achieve measurable success, you need to align this with a strong bottom up strategy. We have experience of this at Greenhouse.

What is EMAS?

What is EMAS?

The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a management tool for companies and other organisations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance. The scheme has been available for participation by companies since 1995 and was originally restricted to companies in industrial sectors. 

Since 2001 EMAS has been open to all economic sectors including public and private services. 

In 2009 the EMAS Regulation was revised and modified for the second time. Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) was published on 22 December 2009 and entered into force on 11 January 2010. 

Greenhouse Graphics were awarded EMAS in 2010, one of only a handful of companies in the graphics sector to hold this level of accreditation. Greenhouse Graphics is also ISO14001 registered.

EMAS Awards

An EMAS Award is the most prestigious award in environmental management and is only handed out to top performing companies and public authorities

.

You can find a list of all nominees by category on the official EMAS Awards website. More information about the exemplary ways in which the nominees are managing their water use will also be presented on the website shortly.

If you would like to find out the benefits of procuring from an EMAS accredited company, please feel free to contact Greenhouse Graphics Directors Ian Crossley or Timi van Houten

Binding alternatives to saddle stitching

We often get asked about different methods of binding magazines and books using alternative methods than saddle stitching. Here are a few of the more common alternatives.

Perfect binding

Perfect binding puts all the pages or signatures together, roughens and flattens the edge and then a flexible adhesive attaches the paper cover to the spine. Paperback novels are one example of perfect binding.
Booklets, telephone directories, and some magazines use perfect binding methods. Compared to other binding methods, perfect binding is quite durable and has a low to medium cost. It can be used with publications that are several inches thick.

Burst binding

Burst binding is performed by removing a small slot from the spine of the text at folding stage, so no allowance needs to be made in the spine. The adhesive flows through the slot to give added strength to the book. It is most important that the slot removal operation is performed correctly and consistently during the folding stage.

PUR binding

PUR (polyurethane reactive) glue is the most durable binding glue available, offering design flexibility for any number of applications, including catalogues, instruction manuals and art books.
PUR adhesives differ from conventional EVA hot melts, once cured the adhesive's higher molecular weight provides a tough, pliable bond that is resistant to temperature extremes.
PUR adhesive is impervious to temperature extremes. The page pull strength of a PUR-bound book is more than 2.5 times that of a standard perfect-bound book using EVA adhesive. Books bound with PUR adhesive simply will not fall apart, even under heavy usage in the most demanding conditions.

Thread sewing

Thread sewing (otherwise known as section sewing) we sew through the spine of each signature with a single thread thus enhancing the strength and quality of the book and enabling it to lay flat open. Typically section sewing is applied for books that require heavy usage for an extended period of time, such as: text books, catalogue & brochures, library books, and religious publications.

If you have any further questions about magazine printing or sustainable printing then please feel free to call the greenhouse team on 01256 880770.

Proofing for print

Proofing is a crucial stage in the printing production cycle. It is important that you understand how this process works, what your options are and what are the implications of signing off a proof ready for print production.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the document is prepared correctly, ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the document is correct lies with the client. The proofing process is the stage that these checks are implemented. You need to satisfy yourself that the proofing method you have chosen is suitable for your needs, and that the proof supplied has been thoroughly checked before agreeing for the job to be sent to production.

A Commercial Printer's job is to ensure that the job they produce is accurate to the proof you have signed off.

Various proofing methods:
There are several methods of proofing a document prior to production, depending on your proofing requirements.

Screen PDF (Softproof):
Benefits:
A Screen PDF gives a proof that confirms the layout of the document to be printed. The layout, typography and positioning of elements in the final printed piece will be accurate to the Screen PDF supplied. This is the most popular proofing method used by our clients and is provided free of charge bu greenhouse.
Weaknesses:
A Screen PDF should not be considered to be colour accurate, due to the calibration settings of various computers and monitors it is viewed upon. Also, it is very difficult to tell how pixel based images and pictures on a Screen PDF will print when reproduced in a commercial printing environment. This reflects the need for higher resolution images to be used in the lithographic printing process, than is required by a PC monitor.
If you print out the pdf supplied to your desktop printer at your premises, you should not assume that the colours you reproduce will be the same as those supplied to you in the final printed piece. Colours produced locally are nearly always innaccurate unless the desktop printer has been calibrated to professional settings. Even if your desktop printer has been calibrated, the Commercial Printer will not agree to match any colour from your desktop printer. Only Contract Digital Proofs supplied by ourselves should be considered to be strongly colour accurate.
Conclusion:
Use a Softproof PDF to check page layout, spellings, and design features only.

Non Contract Digital Proof:
Benefits:
A Non Contract Digital Proof is a hard copy printed proof supplied to a customer. The Non Contract Digital Proof has all the same benefits of a Screen PDF (Softproof), but is supplied as a hard copy. It is often easier to spot typographical and layout errors on a printed piece rather than on screen.
Weaknesses:
In terms of colour, the Non Contract Digital Proof should not be considered colour accurate, but is normally much closer to the actual colours in the final printed piece (dependant on the paper used) than a Screen PDF softproof.

Contract Digital Proof:
Benefits:
A Contract Digital Proof is a calibrated hard copy printed proof supplied to a customer. The Contract Digital Proof has all the same benefits of a Screen PDF softproof, but is supplied as a colour calibrated hard copy.
The Contract Digital Proof is produced on a calibrated inkjet printer and can be considered 90% accurate in terms of colour to a job produced on a lithographic printing press using a coated sheet in CMYK. This type of proof combines all the benefits of Non Contract Digital Proof, but provides a strongly indicative representation of colour, when printing the final piece on a coated sheet in CMYK.
Weaknesses:
The Contract Digital Proof cannot be 100% accurate because of the differences in screening technologies used by the inkjet proofing system, and the different paper stocks used in the final printed piece.
In terms of colour, the Contract Digital Proof should not be considered colour accurate if you are not printing the final piece on a coated sheet. If you are printing on an uncoated sheet it is very likely colours will not be accurate. In addition, if you are printing the final piece outside of the CMYK colour model (ie additional spot colours and metalics) or with additional effects (varnishes and laminates), these will impact on the colour produced on the final printed piece which cannot be replicated by the Contract Digital Proof.

Press Proof:
Benefits:
Press proofs are the ultimate proof, because they use the same material, process and paper as the final printed piece. They will be a very accurate representation of what the final printed piece will look like.
Weaknesses:
A press proof will not show the effect of additional post press processes on the printed piece such as a lamination, foiling, Spot UV or Overall UV Varnish.

Old tech that delivers marketing goals

We live in a digital age and marketers are falling over themselves to chase that cutting edge channel that will deliver them new audiences.
But in the rush, one can forget the simple old tech established channels that deliver results.
A great example of this is local community based magazines. These magazines allow the marketer on a small budget to target very specific geographical and socioeconomic groups with great precision in a flexible and affordable way. Often very well received in a community - certainly by the older generations - these magazines align perfectly with a well thought out segmentation, targeting and positioning plan.
Even better, combine them with new digital channels, using elements such as QR codes on the pages, and the marketer will be providing their customers or prospects with a broad experience that will appeal to a wide audience.
In my locality a site like www.fromthesmallestseed.co.uk, highlights how local community based magazines can be used by marketers targeting local areas in a cost effective and measurable way.

The printed piece that always delivers

As someone with a fair knowledge of the printing sector, I remember being approached at a networking event by an SME business owner who knew my background.

'Look at this' he said, and proudly delivered in front of my eyes his new box of business cards.
'£5 for 100!!' he beamed at me, delighted with the bargain that he had driven.

I looked at the cards and saw his home renovations business advertised prominently in full colour.

'Well' I said. 'If I was a householder who had not met you, and you approached to renovate the most important investment (my house) I have, I would think this guy had his business cards done yesterday at a motorway service station and for all I know could have left the country next week. Am I going to let him near or into my house??'

His smile turned to a frown.

The lesson is:

Your business card does NOT really function as a vehicle for transferring contact details. You can do this with a pen and a sheet of paper or with a phone or a number of other means.

Your business card acts as a first point of engagement to engender interest and reinforce positive perceptions about who and what you are.

Many years ago at University I was told by my Sociology Lecturer that 80% of the impression you gain of another person is attained within the first 5 minutes of meeting - AND that perceptions once formed (whether right or wrong) are almost impossible (and, if possible, expensive in terms of time and money) to change.

Make the right impression first time - don't be embarrassed by your business card. For business success, it could be the best printing investment in time and money you make.

Is print, as a communications channel, on the rise again

I was at a weekend course in digital marketing recently and the group were talking about various digital marketing communication tools.

When the subject of email marketing came up I looked at my course notes and it stated: 'one of the cheapest and easy to measure methods of communication'. However, the feeling in the room amongst marketers was somewhat different. Comments included:

Most young people avoid email and converse via social networks
Spam, spam, spam, spam... (and it even has a major carbon footprint according to MCafee.)
I spend too much of my time going through emails that are not relevant to my job.

The comments got me thinking about statistics I had heard from www.printpoweruk.co.uk (obviously with a point to make) that 83% of 18-24 year old surveyed believed that reading from paper is nicer than reading off a screen.

My mind also went back to a Management Diploma course I did when we reviewed different methods of communication in an office. I heard the horror stories of email rants and reactions that are possible due to the ease of access to email and the dreaded send button (and the remoteness of the recipient).

 So are we experiencing the start of the decline of email as a communication tool for marketing? Possibly.

Its popularity is based on its ease of access and affordability - but its assets are also its greatest weaknesses resulting in many ill-thought out, poorly planned and ineffective communications that cause as much annoyance (and damage) as interest.

Its recent rise in popularity has meant hard times for those involved in traditional publishing and print based industries.

Yet there are interesting things happening in the world of printed communications.

QR codes are very effective at taking offline communications online and now are seen extensively on magazine advert, billboards and the like. The use of PURLs via cross media marketing do a very similar job and enable marketers to message across a number of different channels including print, email and social media. New digital technologies are reducing the cost of printed products and enhancing their effect by utilising improved visual effects, textile appeal and smell!! And the case for print as the environmentally sound messaging medium (www.twosides,.info) is being made after years of being the whipping boy for most environmental groups.

Yet the key answer sought by the modern day marketing communications professional is ROI.The channel choice is insignificant compared to the results that a campaign delivers.And an increasing number of campaigns now use more than one channel. Print has numerous USP's and can deliver these to the communications mix working alongside other traditional and new media.

After a torrid few years it could be that the printed medium may have found its feet.

Pricing in an economic recession

For organisations of all sizes, an economic recession usually results is a call for reduced prices by the customer/consumer. Reduced pricing leads to lower margins , lower profits and less investment. The end of this cycle can be the decline of the organisation and, possibly, its ultimate demise.

But not all organisations seem to suffer the same. Indeed some seem to prosper. Why is this so?

Well, the reasons are many, but maintaining a viable pricing strategy is one key component of successful organisations.

Simply put, you can base pricing on 'cost', 'competitors' or use a 'marketing based pricing' approach.

The former two are self explanatory. But it is the marketing based approach that is most likely to deliver your organisation the margins that will allow you survive and even prosper in tough economic times.

A marketing based pricing strategy can be summarised by this quote from Ries and Trout.

‘All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the mind of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion.’

Ries and Trout – The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

The two largest expenditures most individuals make in their lives are on houses and on cars. Yet are these rational choices or emotive choices? Watch any of the many relocation programmes on the TV  and you will see it is definitely the latter. Maslow's respected work on the 'Hierarchy of Needs' reinforces this.

Here are four things that any organisation can do to encourage emotive behavior in their customer and use this to maintain commercially viable pricing:

• Understand your customers wants and needs.
• Deliver a positive personal experience with the product/service.
• Communicate recommendations from respected others.
• Instigate and encourage positive press and peer review from independent source.

 No matter what you sell you can employ these simply tools to deliver outstanding results.
 

2011 – Finding those elusive business opportunities in 2011 through Marketing.

2011, according to many financial pundits, still holds a lot of uncertainty for the business and financial world. The UK economy is certainly not out of the woods yet, despite some encouraging recent statistics from www.riskdisk.com about 2010, including:

• CCJs were down 26%;

• Administration orders were down 34%;

• Winding-up petitions were down 21%;

• Liquidations were down 9%;

• Receiverships were down 35%;

• Dissolutions were down 33%.

Most SME’s may feel distinctly uneasy about the poor trading conditions, significant cuts to public sector spending and difficulties in accessing the necessary finance to trade effectively. Many commentators have spoken of the ‘structural’ nature of this recession, compared to previous cyclical recessions. This means that the business environment will be a significantly different place in three to five years.

Yet, where there is significant change, there are always opportunities.

Organisations identifying and capitalising on these opportunities will create wealth and enjoy success.

From a marketing perspective, FIVE FACTORS will strongly influence an organisations future success:

• AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING FUNCTION IS KEY: Marketing can be defined as ‘Identifying and satisfying customer needs profitably’. This has never been so crucial for organisations and businesses as it is today. The companies that have a strong, effective marketing function, in this context, are likely to be the winners coming out of the recession.

• KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING: An organisation requires a clear marketing strategy with ROI measured and achieved. If you don’t know where you are going, it is highly unlikely you will go anywhere.

• MEASURE AND INTERPRET: the latest digital marketing communication tools have the ability to measure response, especially when compared to traditional marketing techniques. However, remember, there are ’lies, damned lies and statistics’. There are significantly more young people going to University and attaining degrees today than there were twenty five years ago. But it does not mean that as a society, we are collectively more intelligent? Getting feedback from campaigns is important. Interpreting this data correctly and responding effectively is critical.

• COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY: Choose your communications tools because of their effectiveness, not necessarily because they are the latest technology. Tried and tested can often prove more useful than ‘new with huge potential’ – especially when budgets are tight.

• ADD VALUE: Learn what your customers value the most and supply it to them. This will differentiate yourself from your competitors, improve margins and provide you with your USP.

'Choice Editing' - the role of the retailer in sustainable development

'Choice editing' is the phrase used by the Sustainable Development Commission (http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/you-are-what-you-sell.html) to describe how retailers restrict choice to consumers by only supplying environmentally sound goods. An example of this is with fridges, since it is argued that it is very difficult to buy a fridge that is not got a very high energy label because retailers won't stock them.

If you are shopping around the high street, or the Internet, you often come across retailers selling goods in a 'green' section of the store. In this sense the retailer is trying to offer attractive goods to those that buy on ethical lines without compromising their other goods they offer. This is an example of a retailer using the the potential of increased sales to label goods rather than taking an ethical or responsible attitude to what they stock and how they trade generally. I would consider them to be implementing a green marketing strategy rather than becoming a green business.

Of course it is not always easy to identify green retailers or green products. There are a large range of labels and standards which imply ethical, environmental or social standards are being met but it can be confusing to the consumer. The Sustainable Development Commission say that consumers should choose products that they think will ease poverty, reduce climate change and promote a one planet economy.

I think there is a stronger argument for not limiting oneself to the product but at looking at the policies of the organisation selling it. Are you convinced that the organisation is committed to sustainable practices? Does the organisation demonstrate knowledge of the issues that it needs to address? Does the organisation communicate to its customers accurately and effectively to help them make choices?

Green labels are fine. However, they can also be a smokescreen to promote a green image without necessarily understanding or acting on key sustainable issues within their business (energy, transport etc). A really green business will use its position in the market to influence suppliers and ensure that suppliers supplying goods of a dubious nature (child labour, climate damage and exploitation) are not traded with. There is a strong business argument for this and examples of successful companies who adopt these practices (Body Shop and animal testing). Organisations have a lot to gain commercially by being seen as sustainable and responsible.

At Greenhouse, we have adopted 'choice editing ' practices to support our 'sustainable printing' goals by ONLY supplying paper which is either recycled or has FSC certification. We also have ONLY used vegetable oil based inks as standard. ALL of our internally printed products are produced using our ecoprint-system4 process (www.ecoprint-system4.co.uk). We do not offer choice in these matters. There is no 'sustainable' option. And consequently we have customers that feel confident in the fact that when they are dealing with us, they will be getting an ethical and sustainable product, whatever they order.

Carbon Offseting - the Marmite of the Green thinking world

Carbon Offsetting - as a environmentally conscious business, you will either love it or hate it. To borrow a question posed in a recent editorial feature in PrintWeek Magazine, is it cheque book environmentalism, or a legitimate means to achieving carbon reduction targets?

To cut to the core of it, Carbon Offsetting won't solve our climate problems.

To do this we need to significantly reduce the amount we consume as a society and to produce what we consume using as few resources as possible produced in as efficient manner as possible. And we need to control our population.

Can a market driven by materialism and money achieve this on its own? I very much doubt it. What is imperative will be strong leadership by our political institutions who see an opportunity for our society to lead the world in green thinking, living and technology. The concept of 'the polluters pays (not profits)' needs to be quickly enshrined in our legal and taxation systems. This is to some extent happening in the motor industry with the active encouragement of electric vehicles. On the contrary, the pathetic support for the solar renewables sector gives us an example of how established economic power bases, such as the motor industry, are still pulling the financial strings and steering the economic ship.

Yet, our society has grown rich on the exploitation of human and physical resources. This is deeply ingrained in our culture. The human race has proven itself to have very limited ability to deal with long term problems - usually we put our head in the sands, point the finger of blame at someone or something else or end up in denial (despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary). We are all guilty of taking actions which deal with our immediate issues rather than putting our actions into a longer term context.

So what does Carbon offsetting bring to the table if not the answer to our problems? Well, it may help bring the message of resource depletion and exploitation to those who would normally only 'poo poo' the concept. And, of course, once you buy into Carbon Offsetting (literally) you are accepting the existence of the problem and the need for something to be done. If it can convert the hardened market driven minds in this way, it may help our society to collectively use our significant powers to make a real difference to the human races most pressing problem.

Carbon Offsetting won't provide us with the answer to our manmade problems, but it does have a role to play in winning the battle of the minds.

The commercial benefits of sustainable print procurement

'Green' products are sold as an ethical choice and, because they have added value, often attract a price premium. Businesses create the idea that a 'green' product offers more than the standard version of this product. Therefore there must be a charge for this additional offering. In many cases there is no additional cost base to justify this pricing. It is based on what consumers will expect to pay.

The psychology of the consumer has been trained to expect this. Organic foods are sold on this basis. So when you are buying ethically you are often put into the predicament of having to pay more to satisfy your conscience.

In terms of print procurement this mindset is problematic. It is problematic because printing sustainably reduces your cost base and allows you products to be more price competitive. However, as most marketers will tell you, what individuals percieve to be true is the truth. When you advertise a greener printing choice you have to beware of the perception that this will create in the minds of print buyers as to what the implication is for your prices.

It is a battle we at Greenhouse Graphics fight on a daily basis. And it is a battle with an unknown, but potential client. We are trying educate our potential customers about the real commercial benefits of sustainable print procurement. Better pricing results from less waste produced, reduced waste disposal costs, reduced insurance risk (and therefore premiums), improved production efficiency, less resource usgae, reduced energy costs and improved staff morale and motivation.

In 2007 we launched our campaign 'make a choice, not a compromise' to project the commercial benefits of sustainable print procurement. It aimed to make people think about sustainable print procurement based on sound commercial decisions rather than purely ethical choices.

To a large extent our campaigns work and our business continues to grow with an ever expanding client base. Its great when you realise that buying sustainably will put money back in your pocket!!