1 Small Biz Green: Growth Building Your Business by Selling & Marketing Green Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy, Office Depot [email protected]

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Small Biz Green: Growth

Building Your Business by Selling & Marketing Green

Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy, Office Depot

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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Green trivial pursuit

What is a green business?

Developing your green marketing strategy

AGENDA: THE GREEN OPPORTUNITY

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Green Trivial Pursuit

What is the approximate size of the green products market in the US?[Natural Marketing Institute, 2010]

a. $80 Billionb. $290 Billion c. $160 Billion

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LOHAS Market size = $290 BillionsLargest segments: Personal Health & Green Building

$20, 7%

$42, 14%

$100, 35%

$117, 41%

$1, 0% $10, 3%

Personal Health

Green Building

Eco-tourism

Alternative Transportation

Natural Lifestyles

Alternative Energy

$ - US consumer spending, billions% - share of total LOHAS market

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What does LOHAS stand for?[Natural Marketing Institute, 2010]

a. Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability

b. Life of Health & Stewardship c. Lifestyle of Health & Stewardship

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In the next 10 years, the Federal Government plans to transition this % of its $500 Billion+ purchasing towards ‘sustainable’ products:

[Executive Order 13514, 2009]

a. 50%b. 75%c. 95%

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EXAMPLE ECONOMIC DRIVER: BUSINESS TO GOVERNMENT OPPORTUNITY: EXECUTIVE ORDER 13514

$500 BILLION PLUS OF FEDERAL SPENDING EXPECTED TO SHIFT TO “SUSTAINABLE ACQUISITION” FROM 2011 TO 2021

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What does LEED stand for?

a. Leadership in Energy Efficient Design

b. Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design

c. Leading Environmental Excellence & Demonstration

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THERE WILL BE APPROXIMATELY 30 BILLION SQUARE FEET OF LEED CERTIFIED BUILDINGS BY 2020

How many Manhattan’s

~5~20~40

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Green Trivial Pursuit (quick bonus)

What is LEEDS?

a. A City in England

b. The term you use if you don’t know what LEED is

c. Both of the above

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What is a green business?

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• Green businesses operate in ways that help solve, rather than cause, environmental problems. (Green America)

• A sustainable business is an organization that participates in environmentally (friendly) activities to ensure processes, products, and manufacturing activities adequately address environmental concerns while maintaining a profit. (Wikipedia)

Example definitions

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WHICH OF THESE BOXES IS GREEN?

A B

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D EC

WHICH OF THESE BOXES IS GREEN?

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light green green darkgreen

NEW GREEN PERSPECTIVE: THERE ARE ONLY SHADES OF GREEN

meets industry norms

not green/unknown

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[ Green does not need to be this ]

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MID GREEN:

Incorporates green habits beyond the mainstream; sees business opportunity in green

LIGHT GREEN:

Open to doing simple green things as long as there is no lifestyle shift

DARK GREEN:

Lives the greenest life, perception of green = “activism”

THERE ARE SHADES OF GREEN AMONG CUSTOMERS

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Grail Research: The Green Revolution

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KEY LESSONS: FIND THE CHANNELS, MESSAGES & MEDIUMS THAT RESONATE WITH CUSTOMERS AT DIFFERENT SHADES OF GREEN AND WITH DIFFERENT PERSONAL INTERESTS

HELP CUSTOMERS MOVE UP THE SHADES OF GREEN

CONTINUUM IN WAYS THAT ARE MEANINGFUL TO THEM

REMEMBER DIFFERENT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT

DIFFERENT ISSUES…NOT EVERYONE CARES ABOUT

EVERYTHING

DEVELOP PRODUCTS AND MARKETING APPROACHES

THAT BREAK THROUGH THE CLUTTER

DON’T GREENWASH – CLAIMS HAVE TO HAVE A BASIS

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“Balance environmental issues with primary customer needs or be forever relegated to the green graveyard.”

GreenBiz: Lessons from the Green Graveyard

Lessons from the Green Graveyard

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1. Share your experiences selling green

2. What is your greatest challenge?

3. Share your table’s most well-articulated challenge

CHALLENGES ROUNDTABLE

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1. >getting people’s attention…showing value

2. >chicken and egg

3. >educating customers to make upfront investments

4. >lack of incentives/ length of ROI

5. >getting to right person in leadership

6. >education / getting word out

7. >preparation / awareness of your segments

8. >apathy/education

KEY CHALLENGES SHARED

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Bringing Green In: Office Depot Case Study

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Buy Green

Be Green

Sell GreenWhy

Green?Tell

Green

Ensure a Customer-Focused

Assortment

Reduce Long Term

Operating Costs

Grow Sales & IMU in All Channels

Prepare for Emerging Needs and

Risks

Promote & Protect the

Office Depot Brand

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY SUPPORTS OUR BUSINESS NEEDS

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Source: Michael Porter

Economic Benefits

Combined Environmental,and Economic

Benefits

Environmental Benefits

What are our CUSTOMERS environmental impacts?What do THEY care about?

Where are they spending? Can we help?

FIRST QUESTION:WHAT DO OUR CUSTOMERS WANT?

WHAT PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS

SHOULD WE DEVELOP TO SERVE THEM?

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2004 2005 2006 2007 2008-2010

• 2009-2010 version with “Ends July 2010” sticker avail. at officedepot.com/greenbook

• Virtual Version works with your customer pricing

• Recently we released two Mini Green Books

Example Solutions: Green Book: Contains 2200 of our “greenest products” e.g. recycled products have minimum 30% Post Consumer content.

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Immediate Savings

Savings through Lower

Operating Cost

Hig

he

r Initia

l Co

st

Hig

he

r Initia

l Co

st

Savings through Lower Re-

purchase

Higher Cost Items:[ Save by avoiding waste ]

Same Price per Unit

Examples:

RemanufacturedCartridges

Refurbished items

Water bottle alts.

Many Recycled items

Waste Avoidance

Examples:

CFLs / T5 Lights

Energy-Efficient Technology

Power saving strips

Hybrid Vehicles

Astroturf

Examples:

Microfiber cloths

RechargeableBatteries

Refillable Pens

Reusable products: totes, mugs, plastic shipping containers

Examples:

Many Green Cleaners (concentrated)

Many RecycledProducts

Bulk packs

Greenguard Furniture

Examples:

Recycled copy paper

Compostable dishware

Organic Food

Green Power

EXAMPLE SAVINGS ACROSS PRODUCT CATEGORIES

Confidential

Developing Your Green Strategy

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Who? Who is your green customer and what do they want from you?

What? Identify your most material environmental impacts Find ways to save money by reducing impacts short/medium/long term Identify your customers priorities Define solutions to help meet those priorities

How? Think about what you want to be able to say in 1 year / 3 years / 5 years Define your Environmental Key Performance Indicators Plan Do, Track, Adjust Report & Celebrate success

10 STEP GREEN PLAN

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1. Perception

2. Perception

3. Pricing needs to be cheaper / address a WIFM

4. Florida

5. Defining green

CHALLENGES

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1. Understand the needs of your target customers

2. Speak the language of your target

3. Make the economic case / not just environmental case

4. Normalize greener behavior

5. Yes lives in the land of no

LESSONS LEARNED

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Binary: Green vs. Not Green One green attribute: recycled Preachy Guilt-Inducing Negative focus: the problem Granola Crunchy Leaves, trees, brown imagery Perfection Transformation Berkeley

Shades of Green Various green attributes Friendly Quietly Educational Positive focus: the solution Crisp and Modern Clean, bright imagery Progress Small Steps Manhattan

SELL GREEN BY RECOGNIZING OLD GREEN VS. NEW GREEN APPROACHES - AND FOCUS ON THE NEW

NEW GREENOLD GREEN

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ICON NEW GREEN BRAND – METHODHOME.COM

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FOUR MORE EXCELLENT RESOURCES

www.greenbiz.com www.sustainablelifemedia.com

www.environmentalleader.com www.treehugger.com

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1. What is your one main takeaway from the day?

2. What’s your three step plan?

3. Share your plan with the table

4. Best plan from table gets shared with group

NEXT STEPS ROUNDTABLE

Documents

1 Small Biz Green: Growth Building Your Business by Selling & Marketing Green Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy, Office Depot [email protected]