The Plastic Problem

Call me naive, but the crushing reality of what plastic and plastic bottles are doing to our environment and our oceans has been a bit removed from my active conscious. Well, no more. I just read a PBS article on the plastic problem and it was a bit of an eye opener. Did you know that there is an 'island' of plastic the size of Texas floating out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? No? Well neither did I until now. So why are companies still selling so much stuff in plastic? Many of them are trying to call themselves 'green' while at the same time continuing to exacerbate the plastic problem.

Wouldn't it be nice if a few of the large packaged goods companies really took a pro-active stance in solving this huge and frightening problem, rather than waiting until the government realizes that it has to do something to stop us literally drowning in our own garbage?

I am feeling a little hot under the collar about this and wonder whether there are things that we can do to stop this happening, apart from cutting down on the amount of plastic bottles we buy?

Does Susan's Makeover Ruin the Magic?

I just came across an article in the UK press that informed us that Susan has just spent 100 pounds ($150) on a makeover. On the one hand I am glad for her because it represents an external manifestation of her success. She is feeling good about herself, so why shouldn't she express her sense of 'feel good' with an external expression of the change that has occurred in her life. Selfishly though, I am not so sure I like it. It reminds me a little of those commercials or movies where the original was such a huge success that the producers try to build on the success by producing a sequel. The sad truth is that the sequel is never as good as the original.

I believe that a central element to Susan's success - beyond the beauty of her voice - was her complete authenticity. There was nothing fake about her and it was wonderful to see.

Anyway, I would love to hear from other people about whether her makeover is just another natural step on her road to stardom, or whether as a society, we run the risk of ruining what made everyone who saw her feel so awe inspired.

Take my survey on this page, and let me know what you think!

The Annoying Inconsistencies of Green!

I just returned from a two day business trip to New York where I stayed at a very nice boutique hotel called the Lucerne. Like so many hotels nowadays, they had a little sign in the bathroom saying that they were trying to do their part for the environment, and consequently if guests were willing to use their towels more than once to not leave them on the floor. Since I know, not only from personal experience, but also from talking to many other women, that environmental concerns are of great importance to female consumers, this should be a good thing right?

However, unfortunately the inconsistencies that exist regarding how different companies actually apply green practices, have resulted in my being more skeptical than anything else. In regards to the hotel example, that little devil on my shoulder tells me that they are really just trying to cut down on their electricity bills by not having to do so much washing. As with many other hotels, I also don't see a lot of 'green' efforts in other parts of their service and customer experience programs. Perhaps they recycle 'behind the scenes' but when it comes to disposing of bottles etc. there don't seem to be any obvious efforts being made on the recycling front.

I also recently had the experience of going to a resort in Florida that produced a shameful amount of waste without a single effort being made to allow guests to recycle bottles and cans. Those of us that recycle religiously at home, suddenly found themselves faced with the unwelcome reality that in other parts of the country, no one was making an effort at all.

I also have the same feeling of being 'tricked' when a company has non environmentally friendly products in its portfolio and then launches a supposedly 'green' brand. I immediately find myself thinking that the company is clearly launching a green brand in order to make more of the other kind of green, rather than really caring about the environment.

Okay - so having 'ranted' about the lack of consistency with environmental efforts - companies really do need to make it consistent or not do it at all - here is a great article on picking your battles when it comes to being green.

Green Article

Inspiration in a Bottle

I know that probably a million people have written about Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent at this point, so why be the one million and first? I think because her performance is so meaningful to so many people on so many levels, that one can't help oneself.

Watch Susan Boyle here.

In the world I work in, that of advertising and marketing, the English language is so frequently misappropriated that saying that something is inspirational has become almost meaningless. Every time an advertiser or marketer calls something 'unforgettable' that then turns out to be desperately ordinary and dull, we sink a little further into a quagmire of consumer indifference.

So is it surprising that we are all almost on our knees in gratitude that we have finally been exposed to the real thing. A woman who on the outside is totally ordinary and unmemorable, opening her mouth and having pure magic come out. It is the ultimate Cinderella story and what is so extra special about it is that we don't feel compelled to rush out and change her. We want her to stay just as she is because she hasn't been transformed into something plastic and superficial by our plastic and superficial society.

If only we could bottle it and experience something as wonderous as this every day we would all be so much better off. In the meantime, I will take what I can get and just watch her performance over and over again to try and keep hold of the feelings of joy she inspires.

Go Susan!

Am I Being Greenwashed?

As a woman I am definitely into companies being environmentally friendly, and in fact over 50% of women agree that it is very important to their choice of brands and products.

Well, so far so good.

So how about one of the most un-environmentally friendly product out there; the automobile? In terms of appealing to female sensibilities, car companies are certainly moving in the right direction by talking about electric cars and reductions in emissions, but I am not sure whether to like them more or less.

One of the reasons is that I happen to know that the first electric car was invented by Scottish Inventor, Robert Anderson in 1832. So what happened in the last 180 years? Unfortunately we have been exposed to all sorts of stories including the one about how GM tried to kill the electric car about 50 years ago because it was going to undermine the profits it was making from oil driven vehicles. I also happen to know that despite all the fan fair around the launch of the Chevy Volt in 2010, as is pointed out by Robert Fargo on the truthaboutcars.com the Volt won't be a big seller, it's role will be to change perceptions. So hang on a minute. Basically, what this means is that the Chevy Volt isn't going to do anything to help the environmental or the emissions problem, it exists purely to brain wash me and my other fellow consumers into thinking better about GM.

This seems to be where a lot of companies are going wrong in how they use the environmental angle in their marketing plans. There seems to be a general perception by companies that all they have to do is to throw something out there and call it environmentally friendly, and consumers will come running. However, I beg to differ. I think that all consumers, especially women who are more into the environmental sale, want to be shown that companies really have their hearts - and not just their wallets - in the green game. Unfortunately, our perceptions aren't quite so easily swayed.

It has to be part of the mission statement, not just a sideline to the main marketing effort.

Personally, I am not buying the Chevy Volt - either literally or figuratively.

Don't Hard Sell Me Young Man!

My family went to Orlando last week for our once in a lifetime visit to Disney land. I say 'once in a lifetime' because much though we loved it, we proved not to be lifetime fanatics of the experience.

However, Disney is not the focus of my blog this week, but rather the sales process we were exposed to at the resort we stayed at. We decided that we would take advantage of being able to get half priced Disney tickets in exchange for sitting through a 90 minute presentation on the resort. Clearly they were determined that we would buy a timeshare but we were equally determined not to.

Thus we embarked upon a fairly humorous 90 minute experience.

Firstly I have to say that if we were thinking of buying, the salesperson would have inadvertently persuaded us not to. The first mistake he made was having said that the presentation would take 90 minutes, and then looking insulted when we informed him that we would be leaving after that period of time. He was clearly used to saying that it would be 90 minutes and then holding his hapless customers hostage for an indefinite period of time until they signed on the dotted line. It clearly never occurred to him that we might be trying to use one of those Disney tickets in order to make the most of the rest of our day.

The second mistake he made was talking almost exclusively to my husband – a real ‘no, no’ when it comes to selling to women. Women have very sensitive antenna to being ignored in favor of their male cohorts, and I am an extreme case. My husband knows this about me, so he kept glancing nervously in my direction, while I made obnoxious comments to try and annoy the sales person. He clearly didn't know that a much more successful sales strategy is to give the woman over 50% of your attention; and she will like you a great deal more and be a more effective ally in trying to convince her husband to buy whatever it is you are trying to sell. Thirdly, he might have been able to win me over if he had spent the time to find out how I like to spend my time on vacation and where are my preferred destinations. He could have then made his sales strategy far more personally relevant. Instead, he couldn't wait to get out his calculator and charts to show the great deal we would be getting. This was a mistake because like most women, I immediately glazed over. He was making the mistake of selling me the price rather than selling me the experience - the rest off my short attention span floated out the window. The nail was finally driven into the coffin when the salesperson told me that we had to decide right there or else ‘no sale’. Women almost universally hate the ‘hard sell’ approach. If you aren’t comfortable giving her some time to think about what you have to offer – in the case of large ticket items – then you probably won’t make the sale at all.

Well, true to form, we didn't buy, although I am still a little worried that the salesperson is going to appear by my bed in the middle of the night, waving a contract and trying to take back the Disney tickets.