The Green Production Process: Environment-friendly practices that make social and economic sense
April 2008 By Crystal Uppercue
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Both certification programs tell your current and prospective customers or donors that you are dedicated to protecting forests. The movement has taken hold enough that consumers now notice — even look for — a certification logo, assuring themselves they are interacting with organizations that take stewardship of the environment as seriously as they do. Clearly, a direct marketer’s choice of production partner responds to marketplace concerns.
Reduce your carbon footprint
Today’s consumer pays attention to the environmental impacts of many manufacturing processes, including practices in the marketing industry. Web sites like carbonfootprint.com and nature.org enable individuals to calculate their carbon footprints and offer pointers on how to live carbon-neutral lives.
Many forward-thinking direct-marketing production companies aspire to operate in a way that reduces or eliminates whatever adverse environmental impacts they may have. Carbon-neutral status is challenging, to be sure — but sensitivity to the direct-marketing carbon footprint belongs on the list of every direct-marketing manager’s goals.
Improve ROI
Good managers focus not only on improving the number of responses; they also pay attention to the cost of achieving those response rates. Green production can go a long way toward improving a project’s ROI.
For example, a total green approach to direct mail can encompass sophisticated modeling and data mining techniques, the efficiencies of co-palletizing and commingling, FSC- and SFI-certified paper, variable data personalization and other sophisticated cross-media marketing techniques, as well as proper disposal and recycling practices. All reduce adverse environmental impacts, and — in the case of direct marketing — fewer but better pieces in the mail will boost ROI by delivering appropriate messaging to those audiences likely to be the most responsive.
The precise benefit of green production may be difficult to measure for such a results-oriented business process, especially in the direct-mail channel. But remember: Green direct marketing can make social and economic sense. It’s up to the smart direct-marketing manager to explore how and when.
Crystal Uppercue is the marketing manager for Rockville, Md.-based direct-marketing production facility EU Services. This article originally appeared in the April issue of FundRaising Success sister publication Target Marketing.
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