CivilizedNation.com Blog

"All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level."

Bill Bernbach

At one point, Starbucks was just one little coffee shop, McDonalds was one little hamburger stand, and Whole Foods was one little co-op grocery store.

But now, here they are, decades after their inception, with hundreds of stores, thousands of employees, and millions of dollars.

So how did they do it?

And how can non-profits and other organizations, working for environmentally sustainable and socially responsible causes, learn from these for-profit businesses?

These are the questions that are asked, and in part, answered in a book called Branded Nation which analyzes the success of varying organizations and their branding efforts.

Obviously, the challenges that face non-profits are in many ways more complex than their for-profit counterparts (when it comes to communicating brand message) but many of the basics remain the same: consistency of communication, attention to detail, superior customer service, adherence to the mission statement.

If NGOs and non-profits are serious about being successful in fulfilling their goals, this book would be a great place to start.

And if anyone else out there knows of similar literature demonstrating successful techniques of other organizations, we here at CivilizedNation.com are all ears.

Let us LEARN from each other.

Whether we like it or not, just about every holiday or "special" day in America has been commercialized.

For Valentine's Day, it's chocolates and roses and lingerie.
For Easter, it's chocolate rabbits and easter eggs and color dye.
For Memorial Day, it's flags and images of eagles, and anything else associated with national pride.

So maybe it's time for the sustainability movement to figure out which holiday it can turn into one of its own. After all, beer companies have, for a long time, attached themselves to a number of holidays with clever ad campaigns to sell more beer.

If greenies are smart, they'll learn to take advantage of such famous days as St. Patrick's Day, linking their cause with a celebration that's already in place.

St. Patrick's Day, with a concerted effort, can become synonymous with solar power, recycling, and conservation. Instead of drinking green beer, people can have a hearty glass of wheat grass juice to promote healthy living. Leprechauns can educate people about a wide variety of green activities in a family friendly way. The possibilities are endless.

The point is, every holiday can be viewed through a green lens, encouraging people to celebrate with sustainability in mind, so that we may all keep on celebrating for many generations to come.

It's no doubt that sporting events have the potential to create enormous quantities of waste. But when you figure that a lot of that waste comes from beverage containers (beer cans, soda bottles, etc.), a lot of that waste could be recycled. I would love to see more stadiums and sporting events step up to the challenge and do what the Philadelphia Eagles have done, to at least TRY to get the message out there about recycling. If one out of every five ads around the stadium were about recycling, do you think it would sink in and have an effect on the behavior of people at that particular stadium, at least for the game? We'll never know unless we try.

The ad shown here comes from the Collaborate San Francisco and is called 4.5 pounds of trash.

If anybody knows of other examples of stadiums or sporting events with innovative/creative recycling ad campaigns like this one, please send me the link at chris[at]civilizednation.com

Here's an idea that just came to mind.

Why not use solar-powered school buildings as a place for guided tours so that curious residents and possibly even tourists could see first-hand how these systems actually work?

I think one of the things that is keeping people away from solar power (besides the cost) is the complete lack of knowledge people have for what goes into installing the system and how it works.

The key, of course, to building a reputation for these tours, is to make them consistent. Hence, the idea for "Solar Sundays." Offer people a nice atmosphere, a little food, a little entertainment, and let them take a nice leisurely tour of the facility with a cheerful, well-informed guide, who can answer all those "confusing" questions and give people an opportunity at the end to sign up for a newsletter which will then allow them to stay up to date on the latest developments, rebates, etc.

Yeah. Solar Sundays. It's got a nice ring to it.

Any takers?

Here is a great campaign from Sukle Advertising & Design for Denver water, with the tagline "Use Only What You Need."

I love it when ads take on this minimalist approach, using the actual physical space as part of the commentary.

If you know of any other campaigns similar to this one, where the billboard/adspace itself has been deconstructed as part of the message, please let me know.