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Method Products, the cradle to cradle cleaning company, is an intriguing example of how marketing and green are not mutually exclusive. This San Francisco company, which generated a breathtaking $75 million worth of turnover in 2007 has opened its doors in the UK and will soon expand further into Europe.
Its worth keeping an eye out on what its directors, Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry, are doing,
if only because the Obama-Biden team spotted them and invited Ryan to the inauguration ceremony.
The same guy – a former marketing guru – also struck a recent deal to provide Microsoft with a modern image. He acts himself in the computer giant’s latest tv commercial, an animation themed ‘Be Weird – Be Different’. Check out the ad on the company’s blog here.
Oh, and as for the cleaning, the company takes the high-flying approach. It somehow successfully targets Americans and UK ‘cultural creatives who take life lightly’ but presumably want to have a clean house without harming the environment. The products come in 100% carbon neutral bottles and dispensers designed by Joshua Handy, the world famous designer. In case that doesn’t do it for you – there’s a ‘cleaning manual’. Written by the two bosses, this is a hilarious epistle about -yes- cleaning your house.
Method is a model for learning what selling the environment can be all about. Its strategy manages to steer clear of everything that reeks of frugality and it obviously works. Spending loads of dosh can be very successful in an environment-oriented business. The company thrives on its marketing. It has redefined the phrase ¬¥equal opportunity¬¥ and re-branded it as E.O.M.E.D., which stands for ‘Equal Opportunity for Environment and Design’.
