Environment - A convenient truth
This was written for printers - but it is relevant for exhibitors, producers and exhibition contractors.
It is a crazy, beautiful world we live in. It is full of contradictions. On the one hand governments and the EU want us to be entrepreneurial and dynamic and on the other hand we are expected to be socially responsible and environmentally friendly.
But I, like most modern people, am a believer in positive aspects of environmental best practice. The biggest problem I have with the whole thing is that it is poorly marketed. The whole thing says to me “this is going to be a lot of hard work”.
And why does it say that to me? Well let me ask you a quick question.
What happens when you get a group of lawyers, bureaucrats and chemists (classic left brainers) to create a system of directives that marketers (classic right brainers) have to understand?
You get a disconnection.
And you get a bizarre, strange and curious language that only a few people in the whole world properly understand and that your average human being finds utterly dreary. Here is a sample.
RoHS, WEEE, ISO 14001, FSC, PEFC, EMAS, REACH….
So, we have agreed that there is a distinct communication disconnection. The bureaucrats have bored the market rigid with highly important information communicated poorly.
And marketers, buyers, the easily distracted, the easily bored, (I also admit to being one of these) – fall asleep. I can’t be alone in this can I?
Let me be controversial.
I actually believe that it is not the duty of the printer to be as green as can be.
It is actually your customer’s responsibility.
According to Tim Weissberg, Marketing Week, “environmental concerns should not just be introduced into the proceedings when it comes to selecting the materials (substrates, ink and finishing) used. They should be taken into consideration at all stages of the creative process”.
I agree. OK. It is simple. Logical. Correct and clear. Printers, often chastised for our green credentials should not be persecuted. Marketers, buyers, need to get it right at the beginning and follow a consistent, cohesive path into a carbon positive future.
THEY need to check their green credentials then assess whether their printers align with the goals THEY might have.
So I summarise that there is a convenient truth in all of this.
There is a clear opportunity for printers to educate, inform and inspire our customers with the creative and practical opportunities of sustainable print. Together we can unravel the green mystery and provide creative solutions that will provide customers with competitive and commercial advantage.
So invite your customers in to your factory to demonstrate to them your green credentials!
I reckon you will get more business out of them as a result.
It is a crazy, beautiful world we live in. It is full of contradictions. On the one hand governments and the EU want us to be entrepreneurial and dynamic and on the other hand we are expected to be socially responsible and environmentally friendly.
But I, like most modern people, am a believer in positive aspects of environmental best practice. The biggest problem I have with the whole thing is that it is poorly marketed. The whole thing says to me “this is going to be a lot of hard work”.
And why does it say that to me? Well let me ask you a quick question.
What happens when you get a group of lawyers, bureaucrats and chemists (classic left brainers) to create a system of directives that marketers (classic right brainers) have to understand?
You get a disconnection.
And you get a bizarre, strange and curious language that only a few people in the whole world properly understand and that your average human being finds utterly dreary. Here is a sample.
RoHS, WEEE, ISO 14001, FSC, PEFC, EMAS, REACH….
So, we have agreed that there is a distinct communication disconnection. The bureaucrats have bored the market rigid with highly important information communicated poorly.
And marketers, buyers, the easily distracted, the easily bored, (I also admit to being one of these) – fall asleep. I can’t be alone in this can I?
Let me be controversial.
I actually believe that it is not the duty of the printer to be as green as can be.
It is actually your customer’s responsibility.
According to Tim Weissberg, Marketing Week, “environmental concerns should not just be introduced into the proceedings when it comes to selecting the materials (substrates, ink and finishing) used. They should be taken into consideration at all stages of the creative process”.
I agree. OK. It is simple. Logical. Correct and clear. Printers, often chastised for our green credentials should not be persecuted. Marketers, buyers, need to get it right at the beginning and follow a consistent, cohesive path into a carbon positive future.
THEY need to check their green credentials then assess whether their printers align with the goals THEY might have.
So I summarise that there is a convenient truth in all of this.
There is a clear opportunity for printers to educate, inform and inspire our customers with the creative and practical opportunities of sustainable print. Together we can unravel the green mystery and provide creative solutions that will provide customers with competitive and commercial advantage.
So invite your customers in to your factory to demonstrate to them your green credentials!
I reckon you will get more business out of them as a result.
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Comment by Lee Ali on April 15, 2008 at 4:22pm -
Marcus;
I agree that it is the printer's customers and relevant to this website the exhibitors responsibility to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
I am going to be even more controversial on one particular area in the world of Exhibiting. Why is it that Exhibitors insist on bombarding the visitors with endless amounts of leaflets and booklets in the first place?
Yes traditional marketing dictates that you have to give as much information to the visitor/ potential customer as possible. But do you really need to have everything on show and bombard the visitor with all you have got right at the beginning? The whole purpose of having an exhibit should be to create suitable sales leads or meet your existing customers to generate extra business. Not to throw away endless amounts of paper in the process of doing this!
If putting endless amounts of leaflets and booklets on the booth isn;t bad enough; Exhibitors will employ promotion staff to stand there or walk around and distribute leaflets to visitors. Now please tell me that i am not the only one - I normally end up with a bag load of leaflets and booklets walking around the showfloor and whats the first thing i do? I go back to the hotel; and clean out the crap that i don;t need and shove it in the bin to avoid having to carry 10 tonnes of paper on the train or plane! Now if you times that by 1,000 executives doing the same thing - that is a whole lot of paper just wasted and trees killed!
Exhibitors need to adapt a smarter way of giving the show visitor information that they need.
Almost every business has a computer now so why not collect an email address and send them a pdf file or any other electronic brochure? Or even combine a give away like a USB and have your info pre loaded onto it. This is far likely to be read than a leaflet which was collected from a promo girl only because you wanted a closer look at her vital assets!
Which leads me onto the point that promotion staff should not be used to walk around and hand out leaflets. They should be there to attract visitors to the booth and introduce them to the exhibitors sales force if they are a suitable qualifed prospect. Why o why do exhibitors waste their money on still taking this approach?. A classic example was at the Business Continuity Show at Excel London a couple of weeks ago - An Exhibitor had 3 girls stood at the booth in hot pants and all they did was hand out leaflets as visitors were walking by........I know what i did with the leaflet - it went straight into my bag and into the bin when i got back! The few minutes that i watched them - not once did they engage in conversation with a visitor. Now only if the exhibitor had said to the girls - be pro-active, approach the visitor as they walk past; ask them a question about their business, make an interest statement about our company and then ask them if they would interested in learning more about our solutions - if they are interested - collect a business card or scan them or introduce them to the sales guys! If a promo girl is unable to do this then they should not be given the job!
This way -not only do you have a suitably qualified lead, you create a better first impression, you are not wasting money on useless promotion staff and most important of all you are saving forests!
Is there any exhibitors and show organisers brave enough to actually ban distribution of leaflets all together at a show? I think it is feasible to have a show without them. Only then will an exhibition or an exhibitor be able to call themselves environmentally friendly!
And just to make a point - we will not be distributing any leaflets at our booth at the Exhibiting Show in June!
Lee Ali
Business Manager
www.expostars.com
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Comment by Marcus Timson on April 15, 2008 at 8:19pm -
Good for you and I agree with you mostly. I do not think hot pants are entirely bad though.
See you at Exhibiting Show!
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