It's Not Easy Being Green.

Aw, Kermit. If only we had known how right you were.

I've always been an advocate for the idea that small changes can make a big difference. I do not, however, appreciate it when the responsibility for a huge political and economic problem is passed along to the 'little guy'.

The influx of green products, and now the looming carbon tax, focus responsibility on the consumer to make better choices. That's all well and good, but Big Business needs to take their responsibility to make better, sustainable products more seriously- what need would we have for a carbon tax if there were more viable fuel alternatives, for example?

There certainly are viable alternatives to the way products are made and organizations operate - it's just easier for them to stick with the status quo. Change means work and, in my humble opinion, corporations are often much better at managing work than actually doing any.

Case in point, firms are able to sustain themselves quite well solely by doing it for them. IDEO, a design and innovation firm, published a joint report with Business for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit business association, entitled Aligned for Sustainable Design: An A-B-C-D Approach to Making Better Products this last week. The A-B-C-D framework serves as a guide for companies to Assess, Bridge, Create and Diffuse sustainable capabilities in their organizations. Perhaps breaking things down in Sesame simplicity such as this may make it obvious enough for Big Business to finally get the point.

The success of the Green category shows that people are more than happy to buy better. It's not their fault that things aren't made better, though time and again they are made to pay for it, literally and figuratively. Green would be a lot easier if the powers that be would stop selling it to us and actually buy into it themselves.

Are women loyal to loyalty?

All this talk about loyalty programs and it begs the question; are women loyal to loyalty programs? Where are marketers missing the mark? And, where is loyalty when you need it?

Take a particular Canadian telco that will remain nameless. For now. In the last year, I have switched over both of my business phone accounts, set up a new business Internet account, switched over my home phone account and upgraded my wireless data account. In all, between my businesses and my personal and household telecommunications and data use, we hold 6 accounts with this telco.

Now, what would make good sense is that I would be rewarded and recognized for the total sum of business that I have with this company and will bring to this company over time (lifetime customer value). Yet, when I call, I wait on hold for more than 30 minutes (on my cell phone!), they often cannot find my account at all, and the technician doesn’t show up for scheduled appointments making me waste countless, valuable business hours waiting to give them business. I have complained many times with no acknowledgement.

Now here is my prescription for an ideal rewards and recognition program that would work :

· Discounts on monthly fees based on total business value (across all accounts)
· Consolidation of accounts- single view across call centers
· Front of the line service and recognition flagged for call centers (key codes reducing waiting time)
· Prompt resolution when problems arise

Are women loyal to loyalty programs? Essentially we need to separate the brand from the program. There are programs that we have an emotional connection to where a loyalty program may be icing on the cake but won’t ultimately affect the brand love. Then, there are brands that we tolerate and sometimes like where a great loyalty program can make all the difference. In short, loyalty programs need to:

1. Be highly usable (not creating extra work at uptake or for ongoing use)
2. Show immediate reward ($ off, front of the line recognition, other redemption opps)
3. Bring the consumer closer to the brand (increase switching costs, increase frequency of purchase and increase brand favour)

Revlon - more than a branding Oops

Revlon is going through some major changes. What's also interesting is that its product line Vital Radiance, aimed at the baby boomers, will be discontinued due to poor sales despite $17 million spending over the last 3 months. Revlon said this was due to (a) their failure to leverage the Revlon name (b) organizational changes.

So, where did Revlon go wrong in terms of marketing? Scanning through the site, it seems to have great ingredients. For an ONLINE shopper, this may be an ideal destination. Colour matching (based on what I am already using), community, spoke models, makeup tips, product details, and much much more.

Sadly, the experience is not replicated in store. Imagine CVS and its shelves and shelves of products (most claim to be anti-aging in some way nowadays!). None of the "greate ingredients" listed above could be replicated in real life.

Like cooking, good ingredients do not necessarily mean good results. To truly understand shoppers behaviours...field observation.

Ah, a mobile Salon shopping trip!