One Purpose PR & Communications

My Longmont Ledger Biz Mix Column Debut!

2009-11-02T19:06:00.005-07:00

I'm happy to announce that I've joined on as the business columnist for the Longmont Ledger, the weekly free news published by the Boulder Daily Camera. I've always wanted to write for a newspaper and as a kid, I used to love to pretend I was Rosalind Russell in "Gal Friday," or Lois Lane.

The column is called "Biz Mix" and I'll be focusing on the local and small business community in Longmont, one that is rapidly changing and expanding. Take a look and become a fan and a follower! And send me your business column ideas!

When the Good Guys Let Us Down, or the Case of the Broken Brand Promises

2009-10-15T18:30:00.000-06:00

Marketing 101 - A brand is a promise. A promised consistently delivered through relationships with consumers.

Silk. Sigg. What do these brands represent to you? To me, they represent a way of life embodied by the acronym LOHAS, lifestyles of health and sustainability. But recently, I've discovered that Silk (made by WhiteWave and owned by Dean Foods) and Sigg stand for something else. Broken promises.

Let Down Case Study #1:

One of my children hates regular milk. Refuses to drink it. But she has happily guzzled Silk's Very Vanilla, aka VV, for a number of years, that was until I read about White Wave's decision to replace the organic soy beans used in VV with conventional ones. I read and re-read every article, each time with increasingly more anger. I had just come from the market and purchased VV. I threw open the refrigerator and grabbed the carton. Same colors, same package. Same schoolhouse chalkboard scrawled "Kids Fortified" message. Unless I knew to look for the change, I would have completely missed the fact that this was a vastly different product than the one I thought I was buying.

In case my sinking stomach was misguiding me about the stark difference between conventional and organic soybeans, I consulted the Organic Consumers Association's site, folks I highly respect and consult on all issues related to organic products. In a June 11, 2009 OCA posting by Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute:

Recently, Dean Foods reformulated their Silk product line converting almost all their products to "natural" (conventional) soybeans. They did this, quietly,

without telling retailers or changing the UPC code numbers on the products. Many retailers have reported to us that they didn't find out about the change until their customers noticed and complained

To add insult to injury, not only did the price of Silk products not go down when they switched to cheaper conventional soybeans, but they now reintroduced three products with organic soybeans and raised the price on those.

Sounds like the classic bait and switch, if you ask me. But beyond the obvious profit-grabbing move by Dean Foods, Kastel's illuminating details on the health and environmental impact of their soybean choice solidified my choice to NOT choose Silk as a brand our family supports:

Silk's Light soymilk, as well as its "Heart Health" soymilk, is made with hexane-extracted soy flour instead of whole soybeans. Hexane is a highly explosive volatile solvent. It is a byproduct of gasoline refining and a neurotoxin. Soybeans used in Silk's Light and Heart Health soymilk are immersed in this neurotoxic petrochemical to make soy flour, which is listed as the main ingredient in these Silk products.

Hexane is classified as a "hazardous air pollutant" by the Environmental Protection Agency and emissions are regulated for their contribution to air pollution. Food processors are the country's major hexane emitters. When The Cornucopia Institute sent samples of hexane-extracted soy flour to an independent lab for residue testing, residues as high as 21 parts per million were found. The effects on consumer health of repeated and long-term consumption of hexane-extracted soy ingredients have not been thoroughly studied. An extraction process that does not involve hexane is available, but using hexane is cheaper for the processor.

Our family has tried the new "Organic" vanilla, only because above mentioned daughter still is not willing to drink cow, goat, almond or any other kind of milk. Silk "Organic" is an inferior product in taste, consistency and besides, I don't like being betrayed by a company I've supported with my hard earned dollars for so many years. I don't like being betrayed by a company who I've entrusted my child's health and nutrition with. A shameful and greedy choice

and one that also betrays the very nature of the mission and vision of the company Silk was founded by.

Very Vanilla is a product created and marketed to children and parents. Dean Food's decision to detrimentally hamper with this product, but keeping the price point and packaging the same puts them in the same categories as the companies peddling sugar-laden food during Saturday morning cartoons. And we're not buying it.

Let Down Case #2:

When the news programs started getting flooded with reports of the damaging impact of BPAs in plastic food products, many of them bought by parents and used by young children, the outrage was real and the impact immediate. Within a few months, BPA-laden products were replaced and I began to weigh the non-plastic choices for water bottles for my kids. I consulted with a friend in the renewable retail world and asked her about SIGG bottles. I was seeing them everywhere, they were cute and had a line made just for little mouths. My friend, a thankfully no-nonsense person, told me that although SIGGs were being marketed as safe alternatives to plastic bottles, the cleaning instructions were strangely similar to regular plastic bottles and the company was not releasing the contents of its liner. A little red flag went off and besides, with the adult bottles coming in at a cool $20 a pop, not to mention an equally high price for the kids' bottles (don't any of the other parents' kids lose their bottles?), coupled with the ambiguity of the liner, I chose three brightly colored and decidedly non-trendy stainless steel bottles.

Fast forward to fall 2010, the beginning of another school year. My kids are one school year older, brand-savvier and making a really good case for the financial investment of three SIGG bottles. I had to agree, they were greatly colored and the kids older and more responsible. And then the news hit. SIGG bottles made prior to August 2008 contain - guess what - BPA. That proprietary information? Nothing more than the proverbial man behind the curtain saying, "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

The numbers of SIGGs sold are mind-numbing and those sales were made based on the promise of clean water, with a huge segment of those numbers coming from parents like me who want non-chemically impacted water for our children. As reported on 09/04/09 by the Canadian Broadcasting Centre - cbcnews.ca:

According to marketing monitor Advertising Age, Sigg's sales rose 250 per cent between 2006 and 2007 as concerns about BPA escalated. The bottles are sold in upmarket health food, outdoor adventure and baby stores in Canada as well as retailers such as Whole Foods.

In March 2008, CBC News reporter Curt Petrovich had asked Sigg's Swiss product manager Christian Roth if there was any BPA in the plastic liner of its bottles. At the end of a series of email exchanges, Roth told Petrovich there was "no trace of any BPA."

A no-brainer. Decision made. No SIGGS for us, ever.

I'm pissed. Pissed that companies who have built their reputations on the coat tails of generations of environmental, sustainable and consciously-minded grassroots people, organizations and visionaries have made a choice that is based on deception, betrayal and greed.

Hey, White Wave and SIGG - you are supposed to be the good guys. The sad fact is that these are companies that would have been just as successful, just as profitable by coming through on their brand promise because their success was built on the promise of socially responsible practices. Instead you sold out and let down the folks who believed in you, who worked extra hard to afford the higher prices your products demand because we believed in your promise to us. Clean, safe water. Organic and delicious food alternatives. The choice to purchase your products is not a rogue thing, it is a conscious and deliberate choice to live a life in as healthiest manner possible for ourselves and my children. The choice to purchase your products is one made to do my part to help slow down the rapid progress of global warming, to offset the loss of local farmers, the loss of sustainable and safe food choices.

Was the betrayal worth it? The greed? I doubt it. It never is.

FYI: This post is my contribution to Blog Action Day 2009, which happens on October 15, 2009. If you have a blog post related to the topic of climate change, let the fine folks at Blog Action know and join in. And if you want to keep up on all the BAD09 happenings, follow them at www.twitter.com/blogactionday.

Tweet, Friend and Connect: Social Media Trends in the Insurance Industry 2

2009-10-08T12:19:00.002-06:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Tweet, Friend and Connect: Social Media Trends in the Insurance Industry 2

View more presentations from One Purpose PR & Communications.

I had a great time in Chicago with The Greenwich Group talking it up about how social media can benefit their business relationships, build new customer bases and extend their marketing budgets. Reminded what a great town Chicago is and also, how social media is a viable tool for anyone in any kind of industry. If you'd like to view the presentation, please do so! If you'd like to know more how One Purpose PR & Communications can develop a social media strategy for your organization, please contact me at ltrank@onepurposepr.com or follow me on Twitter!

2009-03-03T21:56:00.001-07:00

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Denver Green Living Examiner: Denver # 7 in EPA Energy Star Top 25 Cities for Energy Efficient Buildings

2009-03-03T21:54:00.001-07:00

Denver Green Living Examiner: Denver # 7 in EPA Energy Star Top 25 Cities for Energy Efficient Buildings

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2009-03-01T21:22:00.001-07:00

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Denver Green Living Examiner: Greenprint Denver - A sustainable movement

2009-02-26T17:10:00.001-07:00

Denver Green Living Examiner: Greenprint Denver - A sustainable movement

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Denver Green Living Examiner: ReDirect Guide Denver, Fort Collins, Boulder and Longmont - All the news that green to print!

2009-02-26T17:07:00.001-07:00

Denver Green Living Examiner: ReDirect Guide Denver, Fort Collins, Boulder and Longmont - All the news that green to print!

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Denver Green Living Examiner: Everything's Coming up Green in Denver!

2009-02-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

Denver Green Living Examiner: Everything's Coming up Green in Denver!

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Denver Green Living Examiner: Longmont turns green with energy

2009-02-22T15:07:00.001-07:00

Denver Green Living Examiner: Longmont turns green with energy

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Denver Green Living Examiner: Living Green is Easy on the Front Range

2009-02-22T15:05:00.001-07:00

Denver Green Living Examiner: Living Green is Easy on the Front Range

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One Toner Cartridge at a Time

2008-12-03T19:12:00.010-07:00

It's interesting how something as benign, as everyday, as ordinary as a printer cartridge can make all the difference in the world. In my travels as a message and media consultant, I am lucky to come across some really amazing people and everyday I'm blown away at how many people are dedicating themselves to positive change. Last spring, I was fortunate enough to meet and work with Rob Dube, President and co-founder of Image One, a "company that is helping many companies across the nation to manage and simplify their printing environments," based in Oak Park, Michigan. Rob and his partner, Joel Pearlman, have been in business together since high school and built an award-winning methodology and business model. But I met Rob because he and his partner wanted to make a daily difference in lots of people's lives. You see, Joel's daugther, Danielle, has autism and because Joel and Rob believe that businesses should give back to their community, they decided to launch TonerForAutism.com, an easy way for organizations, businesses, schools and people to make a difference with the simple act of buying toner for their printers. Their goal? TonerForAutism.com is dedicated to raising awareness and donating at least $1,000,000 by contributing 5% of every sale to organizations that support autism-related research and issues.

I had a great conversation with Rob today and am THRILLED to be joining on board as a partner development associate, to help bring TFA's mission and vision to organizations who already support families, children and communities dealing with autism, as well as anyone else interested in making a difference.

I'd love to invite anyone who believes that small change adds up to huge impacts, to take a look at Dani's story and the mission behind TonerForAutism.com. You'll be glad you did. If you're interested in participating, either on an individual basis, or through your business or organization, drop me a line and I can help you to get started.

Green Purchasing Power - To Buy or to Pass?

2008-12-01T12:39:00.007-07:00

Most people agree that switching to greener products makes sense and is the right thing to do. But a recent McKinsey Survey shows that when it comes to actually buying green products, consumers are not so fast to plop down their dough. Why is this the case? Is it an issue of accessibility, cost, culture or something else?

Does the same hold true for promoting green products? With every product now claiming 'green' status, how do you make your truly green iniatives stand out and be noticed, from the press to the market place?

As a sustainable message and media relations professional, one of my main jobs is to educate, oftentimes with my clients even more than the press. Reason being, my clients are passionate and dedicated people who have devoted huge amounts of time developing and creating innovative products. I have to remind clients that the rest of the world has to catch up to their vision and that takes some time. In our consumerist society with the focus on immediate gratification, green product promotion, as well as green buying takes a more thoughtful approach.

One of the issues I see, and one that the McKinsey survey mentions, is with the very issue of consumption itself. The ultimate ideal is to consume less, and that means buying less products, green or otherwise. And that may mean when we ask consumers to think about buying green, that we are also asking them to embody more than the purchasing element, but an overall philosophy that reduces consumption, from the product's impact, purpose, packaging or whether, in hard and easy economic times, we actually need that green item?

What did you think?

Say something nice

2008-11-30T00:45:00.006-07:00

It's simple - say something nice...about a person you know or don't know, about a product you think helps the world, about an organization working long hours to sustain families, animals, our planet.

My mother used to tell me - if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. I used to roll my eyes and then railed in therapy about my emotions being suppressed, but you know what? She was right. We could all use more than a little kindness in how we communicate.

I started this blog as an on-going research project on what sustainable marketing means and how it is being practiced. I like to make lists, so here is a small one list for investing in kindness and changing the world -- one press release at a time:

1. Promote kindness.
2. Take projects you believe in.
3. Try on a different culture.
4. Give back and give often.
5. If it doesn't make you laugh, cry or think, it's probably time to be moving on.

What's the last nice thing you said, or that was said to you? Did it make you want to pass that feeling along?