Logitech's "Plain Brown Box" Saves Money, Makes Impact

I was reading one of my favorite news and discussion sites tonight and found an image someone had taken of a package sent to them from computer hardware maker Logitech. The plain, brown box was without any glossy paper or colors and had a message written on the side listing some of the benefits to its simplicity: No plastic, easy opening, cheaper, and recyclable to boot! The full screenshot is below (though it's a little hard to read).

Lately, excessive and annoying packaging has become a common consumer complaint, so it's refreshing to see a company not only doing something about it, but also taking the time to explain to folks why reducing packaging is important. Logitech isn't the first company to start making an effort, but their "plain brown" concept is a nice approach, especially because of the message it includes for consumers.

Obviously, reduced packaging without the glossy extras you'd see on a store shelf, saves a company like Logitech money as well. But I'd hazard to guess it also builds brand loyalty and customer satisfaction...

From scanning their website, the "plain brown box" program doesn't merit a mention, however, looking at a few product pages, I did discover that the scaled down shipping is also listed as a feature for most product offerings, displayed as follows:

My hunch is that consumers might gloss over the pre-sale messaging above, but are likely to remember the messaging on the package they receive. Some consumers might even investigate further, stumbling upon additional Logitech efforts such as their trade-in-program for out dated products. That's precisely what I did when I started looking around on their site. I'd say that's exactly what a good environmental responsibility program could hope for.

Needless to say, though the impact of this box program may be relatively small, millions of consumers still lack even the most basic education or inspiration toward understanding the impacts of their consumptive actions. Even a little project like this, well executed and messaged, can start to get people thinking a little more deeply than before.

To quote the box: "A brown box may not be pretty, but we think the results are beautiful".