Over the next several blogs, I’ll try to explain how each of these terms can be defined, as well as how they might be used as marketing tools.

“Green” can legitimately be defined in several ways: Reusable, Renewable, Recyclable, Recycled and Biodegradable. Our first blog focuses on Reusable Products.

Reusable

By definition, reusable is something that can be used more than once. But unlike in recent years when we used these items (usually thin plastic bags) once and then threw them away, the ubiquitous “blue bags” have been replaced by “green” polypropylene totes. These totes don’t necessarily have to be made of eco-friendly material (they merely have to be durable enough to be reused a number of times). Eco-friendly materials include bamboo, organic cotton, fabric made from recycled water and soda bottles, yogurt containers, and many other similar things, but we’ll cover this in a future blog.

Lately, it seems as though every major retailer is selling self-promoting polypropylene totes and, as well as helping the environment, they’re also saving a tremendous amount of money by doing so. Even a short two years ago, it would have been absurd to think that people would buy their own bags to tote home groceries, but it’s being done every day. Especially when customers learn that these bags, as well as having the “green” effect, are also highly durable! Retailers who purchase these bags are usually trying only to recoup the cost of the bags, so there’s rarely a bit profit in them. They do, however, dramatically cut the cost of supplying plastic and paper bags, as well as garnering a tremendous amount of advertising by being imprinted with the company logo and any message they would like to convey. The bags also tend to demonstrate to customers that the retailer is a good neighbor, who is concerned for the environment and in turn showing concern for their customers.

The bags are also being used by retailers to show sponsorship of, or affiliation with local organizations. One popular use is for a retailer to team up with local sports team and also imprint their name on the bags. Both retailer and organization pitch in and you have branding at its finest with a very reasonable price tag to boot.

Colleges and local eating establishments are another good pairing. The restaurant receives great advertising space and the college provides needed information to students, as well as providing a useful product that promotes “green living”, a very important issue for today’s college students.

Human resources departments might want to partner with a local gym to create a bag. The gym benefits by marketing their facility to a targeted audience, and the human resources department can promote a healthier lifestyle, which may hopefully entice some employees to get into the swing of the preventative end of health care.

Not only can you market company to company, but also department to department. For example, a community college’s business development department could team up with the admissions department to promote a new course being introduced for small-business owners. The departments split the cost of the bags and each department gets wonderful advertisement for half the price.

The list can go on and on for the use of bags as well as hundreds of other reusable items (mugs, lunch bags, brief bags, coolers, pens, etc).

If you’re interested in marketing reusable products, give me a call.  I can help you to come up with some interesting and innovative ways to use green promotional products for your next campaign or event.

Timely Tidbit

According to the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), one single tote, on average, creates 1,038 impressions per month? With quality reusable totes costing as little as $1.85 each, that’s less then a penny per impression. So how can you afford not to think about marketing this way?

This blog was written by Maria Cerar, a Promotional Consultant for Tidewater Incentives Group.  Maria has been in the promotional products industry for the past ten years and enjoys the “search” for the perfect marketing tool for her clients.  She may be reached at 410-638-7502, or email her at maria@notjuststuff.com. You can also check out our web site at www.notjuststuff.com.