A professor turned me on to this site: The Life Cycle of a Jean
Brands are becoming more transparent with their production and manufacturing process, and here we have Levi’s version of that. They are telling you what each step of their process looks like in order to educate and increase awareness about environmental issues. There are seven steps- check them out.
Stumbled upon this article, 25 Advertising Campaigns That Inspire Social Good.
– Nike‘s Bottle T-shirt. The jerseys were woven from yarn made from melting 13 million plastic water bottles. This was effort done was done by Nike to reduce pollution worldwide and to market themselves as a “clean” brand. The collection of water bottles gathered from Taiwan and Japan weighed close to 560,000 pounds.
– Ben & Jerry’s Hubby Hubby. In efforts to show their support for marriage equality, Ben & Jerry’s changed the name of their Chubby Hubby ice cream to Hubby Hubby for one month. This campaign featured copy saying, “Vermont is for lovers… & for lovers of marriage equality” for Vermont’s recently-passed same-sex marriage law.
– McDonald’s Fresh Salads billboards. The campaign features billboards with a garden constructed on the top in the greater Chicago area featuring 15 different types of lettuce that grew over a three week period to spell “Fresh Salads.” Great job Leo Burnett.
Many of these campaigns were not as light & cheery as the ones above. Some causes featured were falling asleep behind the wheel, date rape, the negative side effects of cigarette smoking, and more. They are all great campaigns, I highly suggest you check them out.
A History of Green Brands 1960s and 1970s- Doing the Groundwork. Fast Company.
Today you can find an eco-friendly alternative in every category, but in the 1960s & 70s, you couldn’t. Today more and more products aimed at being more “environmentally friendly” are introduced every year.
An article written by Russ Meyer featured on Fast Company describes the 1960s as “The Awakening” for green brands and sustainability practices. The pesticide DDT was still on vegetables and lead was still in paint. Two books, Silent Spring and Unsafe at Any Speed, were said to be two books that ignited social and political change that was seen in the 1970s.
The 1970s, in the article, was referred to as “The Response” due to the passing of three important acts: Safe Water Drinking Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act. Natural products flourished and brands like Tom’s of Maine did exceptionally well due to their marketing of their phosphate-free laundry detergent. Brands like General Mills, Kellogg’s, Quaker Oats, and Grape Nuts were endorsing their products as healthy alternatives.
These two decades were said to be when the “seeds of consumer interest in sustainability was first sown.”
More on green brands: Best Global Green Brands, Interbrand. (Top 50)
A professor of mine says that, “Social media marketing only sells itself.” It’s a thought I’ve been playing with inside my mind.
An interesting blog post related to this: Social Media Marketing- NORTH.com
The Greenwashing Index is a place online where you can view and rate ads carrying messages about the environment based on how offensive or authentic their messaging is. Greenwashing means the ad is misleading in regards to its environmental messaging. Greenwashing exaggerates the benefits or unsupported claims in support of the environment, in advertising and other persuasive communications. The term ‘greenwashing’ was coined by environmentalist Jay Westervelt. Put together by EnviroMedia + collaborators, The Greenwashing Index is an online conversation, not simply just a place to come and say this is ‘good’ and this is ‘bad.’
I wrote without any plan, without any aesthetic or philosophical theory in mind. I wrote at the age when one writes instinctively and when reflection serves only to confirm our natural tendencies. People wanted to see it as a carefully thought-out argument…I was not trying to do anything like so important and I was completely surprised by all the fine things critics found to say about my subversive intentions. Criticism is far too clever; that is what will be the death of it. It never judges straightforwardly what has been done straightforwardly.
-A. Dupin
Holly: What do you do, anyway?
Paul: I’m a writer, I guess.
Holly: You guess? Don’t you know?
Paul: OK, positive statement. Ringing affirmative. I’m a writer.
I’ve wondered a few times how some agencies got their names, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Advertising agencies aren’t known for their tame or explanatory names. The names of these places are typically mashups of silly verbs & adjectives mixed together. Or so it seems. I love advertising agency names, and there are some really great ones out there. I was intrigued when I stumbled upon this article from adweek: 40 Strangest Agency Names, and Where They Came From | Adweek
#40. Taxi: They believe that their team of experts should remain small, about the number of people that can fit into a taxi.
#36. Droga5: Reportedly named for the label that founder David Droga’s mother would stitch into his underwear when he was a child, to clarify which Droga sibling it belonged to. (Easily my favorite.)
#32. Wikreate: According to their website, this San Francisco agency is built off of the “wiki” model, or the platform that collaboration occurs with field experts and associates, as well as agency team members.
#28. High Heels & Bananas: Founders of this agency wanted the name to be fun and sophisticated. Bananas are fun and high heels are sophisticated.
#23. The Glue Society: Agency refused to give explanation on origin of agency name. Interesting.
#20. Elephants & Ants: The name illustrates the company’s willingness to work with any client, big or little.
#18. David & Goliath: The agency founder David Angelo is the David in the agency’s name. The biblical story is the agency’s ethos, and they bravely take on challenges others walk away from.
#5. Kids Love Jetlag: The name of this Paris-based agency is meant to inspire/evoke youthfulness, giddiness, and travel.
#3 StrawberryFrog: The name was chosen to make the agency the antithesis of “agency dinosaurs” often found on Madison Avenue. They describe themselves as “a radical with blue jeans.”
The Think Tank (T3) recently added a post to their blog concerning pro bono work. In a post titled, “Why pro bono work matters,” Rick Doerr says that while pro bono work does not pay the bills, there are still invaluable rewards that come from it.
Doerr says that pro bono work yields the best results when you and the agency backing you can say that you are believers in the cause you are backing. For T3, Fallen Heroes was something close to their hearts. Another aspect to look at when contemplating pro bono work is creativity. “Implied in pro bono work, says Doerr, “is a degree of creative freedom you may not enjoy on everyday client work.” He says that, “One Fallen Heroes client remarked, ‘You will love us as a client, because we’ll let you do anything.’ I think that sums it up.” Doerr says this situation is a win-win. It allows for experimentation that can “unveil possibilities for future client work.”
Doerr says that pro bono work can be a time to shine, an opportunity to take creative risks & develop new leaders, and it is a chance for the agency to self-define based off of supporting causes or organizations. And, there are even special awards categories for pro bono work, such as the Cannes “Grand Prix For Good” award.
One of my favorite pastimes these past two summers in Eugene has been going to Eugene Emeralds baseball games. They recently went through a rebranding and revealed the results yesterday at Ninkasi Brewing. The Emeralds hired Brandiose in San Diego to do the rebranding, and I think the new logos, etc. look great. Check out a promo video & new logos. The new logos include Sasquatch, but the mascot will still be Sluggo; however, throughout the season, I have heard that there will be Sasquatch sightings. Pretty cool.
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