Planet Metrics: A New, Carbon-Cutting Tool for Product Developers
By Cliff Kuang
 

You hear about green products all the time–but most of these are just a massive greenwash, for one simple reason: The carbon emitted in creating a product isn’t about whether the materials are recycled or organic. Not even close. Upwards of 90% of a product’s carbon footprint lies in its supply chain–the diffuse network of materials suppliers required to create the product in the first place. T-shirt made of organic cotton? Doesn’t matter if that cotton comes from thousands of miles away, and was shipped on boats, planes, and buses before it got to the factory.

Which is why Planet Metrics [1] is such a potentially powerful tool. The software, recently released in beta [2], allows companies to model their supply chain. From there, it estimates the exact carbon footprint that each link entails, using a database that factors in the electricity used, the transportation means, and the miles traveled, among other things. The software is then able to suggest replacement components with lower carbon footprints, and show exactly how these alternatives might affect margins. Brilliant! But not so fast. As Treehugger points out [3], Planet Metric’s database doesn’t factor in the non-carbon components of sustainability–fair wages or ethical business practices, for example.

But their second point is the sharper one: Will Planet Metrics even matter, if consumers don’t know how it’s effecting a product? It might be well and good to cut a product’s carbon footprint in half, but unless that becomes a key selling point, there will never be enough demand for Planet Metric’s services to keep the company going (and effecting change).

That said, there seems to be a decent number of companies for whom carbon footprint is an inescapable part of their brand: Method, for example, already uses the software. Which makes us think: As Planet Metrics expands, perhaps they should double down on some sort of co-branding campaign. After all, think of the runaway success of “Intel Inside,” and how it turned something obscure–that is, computer chips–into a key selling point.

Related:
Hara Software Helps Large Organizations Make Small Footprints [3]

[Via Treehugger [4]] 
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Links:
[1] http://www.planetmetrics.com/howitworks.html
[2] http://www.planetmetrics.com/PM-Method-PR.html
[3] http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/is-supply-chain-emissions-software-the-silver-bullet-for-businesses-to-get-green.php
[4] http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/is-supply-chain-emissions-software-the-silver-bullet-for-businesses-to-get-green.php

Why Ugly Sells
By John Edson

A while back, I was standing in a checkout line at a drug store, passing the time by wondering who would ever buy the ugliest clock I’d ever seen, on display at the front of the store. It wasn’t a regular sort of ugly. It was nuclear ugly.

Sliced from some unsuspecting tree trunk that never hurt anybody, the heavily shellacked face of the clock preserved pictures of red roses and drippy script type that read “LOVE.” The hands and numbers were plastic with a cheap layer of shiny gold-crap covering them.

I was on a roll, hating this thing.
Then, out of the blue, the woman in front of me pointed at it. “Honey,” she said to the young girl accompanying her. “Go see how much that is.”

My own mother is known for a number of sayings which I carry around with me. One of them is an old standard: There’s no accounting for taste.
The nightmare for product managers is working for months on a new product launch only to see their brainchild fail because the market says, “Ew, are you kidding me? That’s ugly!” I think this is the reason why so many things we buy are just ‘nice’: They are perfectly fine products that focus on their functional appeal while borrowing their aesthetic from some other successful thing on the market.

In a recent focus group, we were getting feedback on preferences and habits related to certain electronic products. “They should all be black and silver,” declared a rather vocal leader in the group. Everyone else nodded in submission. “Yes, black and silver,” they droned. Then the moderator pulled out her Motorola Cobalt phone, a lustrous blue folding number with silver trim. Everyone ogled the phone. And they changed their votes.

The real trick is to resist navigating consumer taste and understand the emotional sources for taste so that you can to them instead.

For the rose-clock lady, I suspect that she was responding to personal associations that I didn’t have with the clock, a collection of pleasant memories centered around the idea of home. A remembrance of grandparents, warm times opening presents Christmas morning, the hearty family dining table. The natural grain of the wood showing through the clear overcoat, like a windowed view on nature, captured and brought indoors. Nostalgia. Nature. Nurture.
Around the same time as I encountered the rose clock, we designed a kick scooter, the Xootr, whose design was rooted in the very same framework of meaning as the clock. Its simple use of low tech materials, wood and aluminum and steel, is reminiscent of homemade scooters. Exposed mechanisms and lack of flourish appeal to our sense of so-called simpler times. Xootr triggers feelings of nostalgia subtly and without literally replicating the object of yesteryear.

So ultimately, don’t all these things sell by tapping into a person’s sense of what is meaningful? I would suggest that they do. That’s why some ugly stuff sells, and some beautiful stuff sells more.

What ugly products have you seen being embraced by consumers? Or is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

gge.com would like to know what you think

Seen on FastCompany.com

It isn’t often that we at gge.com see a good guide to planning trips outside the U.S. Alec Drew has provided us with this one.

 

Tips on: Planning a Trade Show

Well that’s it all sorted out. We have just booked our stand at a Trade Show in Birmingham next June, paid the deposit and the pack will be with us in the next fortnight. We will have a look at the situation about two weeks before the show and order all of the extras that we need like pens, brochures and graphics. There is plenty of time. WRONG! – this is an all too familiar situation that some companies find themselves. The end result is panic, budgets exceeded, opportunities lost and a promise to do it better next year.

But there is a better way which involves a simple planning process that will give you a much better return on your investment. Hopefully this simple ‘checklist’ will help you.

The Show

Is this a once-off show or multi-venue show? (Yes) (No)

Will this show target the right audience? (Yes) (No)

Is it well known and well attended? (Yes) (No)

Is it a show with other non-related products? (Yes) (No)

Is the size of our stand suitable? (Yes) (No)

(Who are we located beside, will their stand overpower anything we have?)

Have we agreed electrical points, internet access, fixtures and fittings? (Yes) (No)

Is a Carnet document required? (Yes) (No)

Staff

Who is going to man the show?

(For example if it is a twelve hour day you will probably need three people at a minimum).

Have they any experience? (Yes) (No)

Have travel arrangements been made? (Yes) (No)

If someone falls ill is there a replacement? (Yes) (No)

The Stand

Is it a bespoke stand? (Yes) (No)

Who is building it and who is dismantling it?

Are the organisers supplying the stand and graphics? (Yes) (No)

Show Material

Are you sending out invitations? (Yes) (No)

Are promotional items being distributed? (Yes) (No)

Have you got support material? (Yes) (No)

(brochures, product information sheets)

Have you a proper enquiry pad? (Yes) (No)

(who is going to follow them up?)

The Return

Have all contacts been properly sorted, (Yes) (No) logged and followed up?

Have you set up a tracking system (Yes) (No) to measure return on your investment?

The Cost

Have you allowed for all of the above? (Yes) (No)

We would like to look at the whole area of cost in more detail and identify each of the areas that will affect your budget. Companies make a decision to enter a trade show for a number of reasons. Whatever the reason it is important to look at the true costs so that you can gauge the potential for your business.

The Stand

Identify the actual size of the area you are getting. Is it sufficient for your needs? Could you work within a smaller space? Use a sheet of grid paper and mark in the items you will have with you such as machinery, computers, displays, furniture etc. You may also need an area for small meetings and hospitality. This will give you an accurate picture of the space required.

Cost One – Space

You will then need to identify other items for the stand.

Option 1 – shell unit

These are the walls provided by the promoter. You may also get X number of lights and a socket. You will also need graphics of some sort and there are restrictions on how you apply these to the walls.

Cost Two – shell unit

Option 2 – build your own unit.

This is for the experienced exhibitor. If you intend to exhibit on a regular basis or need to make a large impact then this is worth considering. Costs here include stand design, transport, building on site, removing from site and storage when not in use. You will definitely need public liability insurance (you may not be allowed on the site without proof from your insurers).

Cost Two A – specialised unit

Some stands come with basic lights and may or may not include an electrical socket. Will you have sufficient lighting and sockets? If not you will need to order them in advance and give their location points.

Cost Three – lights and sockets

Documentation & Transport

You may need a Carnet document to allow you to move your samples in and out of a country without having to pay duty. This can be done through the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and involves a fee. You also need to allow for the costs of shipping your samples/stand material.

Cost Four – document and transport costs

Staffing the Show

How many people will be needed for the stand? The costs here include travel, time lost from normal duties, accommodation and meals. Can the stand be left unattended, if not you need at least two people and with many exhibitions open for up to twelve hours you may need three.

Cost Five – staff

Promotion

You will have to inform people that you will be attending the show and this can be done through direct mail and advertising. The direct mailer can be sent to existing customers or you may decide to buy a database list. You may advertise in trade journals, newspapers or in the promoters catalogue. You should also cost in a follow up mailing with your full catalogue to all people who attended.

Cost Six – direct mail/advertising*

What will you give people on the day of the show? Will you have special literature or a promotional pack?

Cost Seven – stand collateral*

Get advice*

it is important to talk to your Marketing Director or seek advise from your Design Agency well in advance of the show. Both of these areas when planned carefully will make a huge difference to both the response you get and the amount of money you can save.

You need to have realistic budgets in place if you are to make a success of it.

Maximise your investment. Some of the items mentioned may seem trivial but they do make a difference.

The stand

Many people order furniture for a stand for the wrong reasons. It looks nice, its handy to sit down when you are tired or perhaps it will be used as a display for the brochures. The problem with furniture is that it becomes a barrier. Unless you need to sit down to write orders you are probably better off without it. For example if you place brochures on a table you will probably do what most people do and that is arrange them in a nice pattern. Believe it or not most people do not like disturbing items arranged in a nice pattern so they probably won’t take one. You are better off either having a proper brochure stand (which you can hire) or handing them out. Free samples and promotional items left on a table will be picked up by everybody. If you are happy with that, fine, but if these are expensive items you can be more discerning by handing them out. Furniture also restricts movement on a stand and people like the ability to move about unhindered.

The people on the stand

If you are not use to standing all day, then you will find that Trade Shows are one of the most tiresome, energy sapping, crippling exercises around. Long hours on your feet, hot lights and the quiet, boring moments that seem to be endless. This affects the attitude of the representatives on the stand and usually manifests itself with arms folded, bored looks, and a mental picture that says ‘do not disturb me’ - certainly not the place to go if you are a visitor. The seasoned rep. knows how to handle visitors, put off time wasters, use spare time to look at other stands and collect information on competitors. As with all things in life there is a right way and a wrong way but the good news is, there is a short cut to learning the art – training videos. They are a great tool and should be viewed by all those intent on exhibiting.

Collecting the information

You set up a stand to a) sell your goods to a new or existing audience or b) introduce yourself or a new product line/service – in other words you want to add to your database. You will not do that efficiently unless you have a clearly defined method. You should either design an enquiry pad in advance so that you have worked out the information you require (make sure that you have a stapler to clip business cards and also make sure your people write legibly) or allow people to register online.

Backup and follow up

It is important that the executives on the stand have office support. All enquiries, contact notes and orders should be collected as soon as possible, brochures/quotes sent immediately and appointments made. It is amazing sometimes to find that all of the expense and enthusiasm put into a trade show ends up with a potential customer’s first experience being a negative one. Information collected and lost, promises of brochures/quotes sent weeks after the show or not sent at all and appointments not made. The worst part of it all is that the show whether it is good bad or indifferent will be blamed for being a disaster.

Finally, I hope that the information supplied is of value and that the world of Trade Shows has been made more accessible. Good hunting.

Alec Drew