Is It Really Possible To Green Direct Mail?
Don’t get me wrong, I too agree that direct mail is an effective way to reach potential customers, and I encourage my clients to use it in select circumstances. But, like others quoted in the Times article, I’m a bit skeptical of the effectiveness of the Green Marketing Coalition’s efforts. You can download a copy of their “Recommended Guidelines” at their site and see what I mean. Among the recommendations they list:
Purchase recycled paper.
Choose vendors and partners with internal environmental initiatives.
Use UV printing presses and comply with hazardous waste disposal standards.
Improve “list hygiene.”
Proof and edit using PDF files rather than hard copies.
Use chlorine-free, recycled paper. (this seems like a redundant point)
Benefit from tax savings by going green.
These recommendations are good ones, but to me they seem a little obvious. Shouldn’t direct marketers be doing this already? And the last “guideline,” “Companies can benefit from the tax savings associated with going green,” seems like where their real efforts lie.
According to Spyro Kourtis, president of the Hacker Group as quoted in the Times article,
“This industry just didn’t have any real green standards.”
Well, at least they’re doing something. But we’re not living and working in a vacuum here. The guidelines were developed with the help of the above-mentioned Hacker Group, which is a direct marketing firm. One has to wonder why direct email or other types of electronic marketing aren’t on their guidelines. Obviously they’re protecting their own interests, but if this were truly a broad-based initiative to really green direct marketing and do more than just greenwash and reap some tax breaks, their guidelines could easily go beyond printed junk mail.
I have to agree with the conclusion of the Times article:
“So far, the coalition’s guidelines are long on earnestness and short on truly new ideas.”
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
A friend of mine just emailed me one of your articles from a while back. I read that one a few more. Really enjoy your blog. Thanks
July 24th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Thanks Mike! It’s always good to hear someone is enjoying it, rather than the negative remarks that come through from time to time.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Thanks for starting this discussion! As part of the company that started the Green Marketing Coalition, I’m interested to see how it’s coming across.
I shouldn’t be surprised that the talk about our group has all been about direct mail. But it’s the Green Marketing Coalition, not the Green Direct Mail Coalition. As you point out, email and other electronic media may be a better way to go for many marketing strategists. Our agency always recommends electronic solutions whenever they make business sense — just as you recommend mail in select circumstances. (I have to point out that people sometimes forget that paper is a renewable resource and computers and servers have their own carbon footprint and some nasty, non-recyclable components. I’m just saying that there isn’t really anything we do as marketers that’s going to be completely carbon neutral.)
Anyway . . . I appreciate that you think the Coalition is a least a small step in the right direction in terms of determining best green marketing practices. Thanks!
July 24th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Great article! As a direct marketers, I know that the industry can do a better job of making more real guidelines. But, heck, this IS a start.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Oh, and by the way, I posted some guidelines that I think might beef up the coalitions’ guidelines on my Direct Marketing blog today. Would love to hear additions!
July 24th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Carolyn,
Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to read MarketGreener. I think the main reason the talk has been about direct mail is because it seems like that’s where the recent guildelines’ focus is. Yes, trees are a renewable resource, but there’s a lot more that goes into making paper and then sending it as mail than just the trees. That direct mail piece has a lot of miles on it with a pretty heavy carbon footprint by the time it reaches the intended recipient.
That said, I’m glad to hear that the Green Marketing Coalition is focusing on other areas as well. I also agree and am well aware that nearly nothing we do as marketers will be completely carbon neutral. Add to that the fact that nearly everything we marketers create is headed to the trash heap as soon as we’ve made it. Oh, the shame!
We’ll never be a carbon neutral society until we’ve given up our capitalistic, consumptive ways and all of us—marketers and everyone—are out of business. But knowing that even the most idealistic of us probably don’t want that to happen, we do the best we can. I’d love to learn more about the Green Marketing Coalition’s effort and will certainly investigate further.
Thanks again,
Chris
July 24th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Suzanne,
I checked out your suggested additions to the guidelines and I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for the thoughtful addition! Definitely worth checking out.
Chris
July 30th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
The list provided by the Hacker Group is a great start and I applaud them. But we should not stop there. When you set basic guidelines for an industry, corporations tend to fulfill those and not truly try to go further as it may not be in their best financial interest.
Although it is honorable for companies such as Microsoft to take action, we should not forget that small and medium sized businesses are needed in this battle as well. It will take hundreds if not thousands of us working together to make a significant change.
At Bizcard, we have followed these guidelines and a few more since our inception. We usually participate in Green Forums, blogs… and we ask industry experts as well as readers what we can do to improve our green practices.
“Together We Can”
Go Hacker Group!!!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Absolutely it is possible to green direct mail. If the direct mail vendor has data analytic tools that drive companies marketing campaigns with target marketing, the traditional waste of ‘mass mail’ is eliminated. Does that not make a more green direct mail campaign?
August 5th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Adam, it definitely pushes it in the right direction. Marketing usually works better when targeted anyway. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not against direct mail. As I write this my designer is working on a postcard for a client. But we’re also running a parallel email campaign. We’re also sending the bulk of the cards home with students in their welcome packets (it’s a communication piece for the local school district) so we’re cutting down on some of the carbon footprint of mailing by utilizing existing channels. We’re also hopeful that the piece will hold more weight because it is included with other very important student information. Either that or it’ll be ignored among the pile of permission slips and other stuff. Such is the way of marketing.