SCREAMING FOR INNOVATION

In Business, May-June, Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 30

ECOSTYLE

Delia Montgomery

A recent press release revealed the growing trend of individualism from the Natural Marketing Institute. NMI is a strategic consulting business for the wellness and sustainability marketplace. They name this breed of consumers brand agnostic.
The theory is that individuals are into fast changes and temporary products. The focus is how to adapt to the changing trends of consumers with a strategy that protects them against brands which turn to disfavor.
So according to NMI, there is a consumer waning of brand loyalty. The scoop is that 51 percent of consumers stated they were brand loyal in 2005. Then the brand loyal consumer dropped to 44 percent in 2006.
The 2005 percentage was probably derived from Booz Allen Hamilton, a global strategy and technology consulting company. In collaboration with a branding firm, Wolff Olins, they formulated a study that complained about companies who relied on unbridled creativity and innovation for their success. In conclusion, they believed that any business who rejected a return on investment method was stupid. The study was well publicized and distributed.
The 2006 percentage is possibly derived from the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at University of California in Berkeley study. Reason being the Berkeley students concluded an approximate 44 percent drop of brand loyalty also. However, keep in mind that their research is based on conventional food brand items, not organic, natural, or sustainable products.
Such research occurs because of a repeated age-old typical question from conventional retailers: What must be done when sales are down? For years consultants have answered retailers with branding and better advertising advice. Trouble is the manufacturer is rarely spending marketing dollars to make their products better.
Of course, it makes sense to analyze how to overcome green purchasing barriers of consumers. But are phenomenal growth rates within the $209 billion green market necessary to overcome? If branding to advertise more is the answer, one should question the question. Are retailers catching the useless fear factor to contemplate an existing or what if decline in sales?
We often hear barriers must be addressed and the worry winner in NMI's view is lack of availability. Number two is comprehension of the green product, and number three is higher costs in comparison to conventional items.
Regarding availability, the only retailers who need to worry are the giants. What will WalMart and Home Depot do if they can't sell the same stuff in every store? These are very brand-conscious operations who don't know how to deal with creative and exclusive items.
Now ask what will community retailers do if the giants aren't selling mass productions? Will they win innovation awards by supporting small and exclusive suppliers who continually strive to improve their products? Will they better walk the love earth talk with their neighbors?
As for comprehension of green products, we've got an education issue. And so what's new? Some consumers are into it and some aren't, but the answers are readily available while marketeers learn how to package and present educational bites for cleaner living. It's getting better, not worse.
Of course, it helps to reduce the cost of goods to be competitive. We repeatedly hear and read that mass production is necessary to do that. Yet a growing number of organizations, like the Fair Trade Federation, are confronting such analogy. Consumers are definitely shifting to a less is more attitude while becoming increasingly selective and conscious about what they do buy.
Contemplation over consumers' trust in brand focus is endless for the big guys while small businesses don't really need big business to substantiate the purity and good intentions in all their products. It's the merge of admirable missions from small businesses that give us reason to believe the green fashion and design markets will double in size by 2010.
I recently overheard a restaurant owner talk about her declining clientele. She was stumped since her prices were competitive and advertising worked so well at first. It never occurred to her that the quality of ingredients was poor and the menu was uninspiring. By golly, she was going to spend her dwindling cash flow on new forms of advertising.
Thankfully great ideas from creative recycling to solar energy and new technologies are expanding with respect for nature. If you stop, look and listen, you can hear the public screaming for innovation. I'm thrilled to witness small businesses stepping up to the plate.

Delia Montgomery is an environmental design consultant and eco shopper for home, body and garden products. She is author of the “Chic Eco Materials Directory” 2007 Edition. Questions or comments are welcome. Visit www.ChicEco.com or e-mail Info@ChicEco.com.

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.