Marketing Home Products

The Great Water War between tap water and bottled water is an ongoing one. It seems that debates about the environmental effects of tap water and the impact of unrecycled plastic bottles will forever continue between environmental advocates and bottled water executives.

National Public Radio estimates that the number of gallons of bottled water consumed by the average American has grown from 1.5 gallons in 1976 to 30 gallons in 2008. A recent article on Boston.com suggests that 88 percent of water bottles are not recycled, totaling a whopping 30 million per day. However, the article also suggests that the bottled water industry cannot be completely eliminated due to the use of bottled water in disaster relief, such as Haiti’s earthquake in January.

Does this leave us at an impasse? Is there no real environmentally safe alternative to tap water and bottled water?

Wait…up in the sky…it’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s……boxed water?

A new company, Boxed Water Is Better, LLC, launched in Grand Rapids, MI last year. The company describes itself as “part sustainable water company, part art project, part philanthropic project and completely curious.” Boxed Water Is Better returns its customers to the age of the milk carton, with a simple vintage look composed of 76 percent renewable material. The boxes can be broken down into their original flat state and recycled through most recycling centers. To check if cartons are recyclable in your area, visit The Carton Council’s website.

www.recyclecartons.com

Boxed Water Is Better also chooses to be directly involved with environmental efforts related to its product. The company has committed 10 percent of its profits to water relief foundations and another 10 percent to reforestation foundations. Boxed Water Is Better is growing, placing boxed water in hotels, restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and local markets in Michigan, Chicago and Southern California.

Ultimately, Boxed Water Is Better hopes to provide an environmentally safe alternative to bottled water drinkers while also supporting environmental relief. Maybe boxed water could be the super-hero peacemaker we’ve all been waiting for in the Great Water War.

Numbers released last week by research firm the Freedonia Group say consumer demand for siding in the U.S. is expected to climb a healthy 6.5% per year through 2014. The Cleveland-based market research firm attributed the gains to a rebound in housing completions from the depressed levels from 2007 to 2009.

Among material types, the survey says fiber cement and stucco products will see the most rapid advances through 2014. Matt Zielenski, research analyst for The Freedonia Group, says fiber cement is growing in popularity due to its durability and design versatility whereas wood options have taken a slight dip in sales due to maintenance issues.

NAHB Research Center’s Annual Consumer Practices Survey (CPS), conducted in 2009 of about 40,000 U.S. households. The study says the siding and exterior finishes market continued to see an erosion vinyl siding market share. However, that’s not to say vinyl products should be counted out – the survey also says the category is still the most popular material for re-siding, which saw a 45 percent share in 2009.

Nichiha Sierra Premium Shake

“Of course you’ll get differing opinions within different industries and depending on who you ask, but our personal experience is that requests for fiber cement siding are way up over the past three to five years in New England then prior to that time period,” says Peter Martino, owner of United Home Experts & United Painting Co.  Martino says an increasing amount of homeowners are aware of fiber cement products such as Nichiha or James Hardie’s Hardieplank (or at least have heard of them).

According to Remodeling magazine’s annual “Cost vs. Value” survey, the only upscale projects that cracked the survey’s “Top 10” were the home maintenance projects of fiber-cement siding replacement and vinyl window replacement. The average cost of fiber-cement siding is more than $13,000, but its return on investment reached 83.6 percent, placing it squarely in second place in the survey.

Worldwide, according to Freedonia’s August 2009 global outlook, the use of fiber cement siding is expected to increase in a number of countries, including China and India.

A new initiative sponsored by the Bureau of Consumer Protection wing of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) features a rather novel take on educating kids and ‘tweens’ on the effect of advertising on their young lives. The initiative takes the form of a website called Admongo (admongo.gov), where visitors can get an “ad-ucation” by playing games that feature fictional products closely modeled on real ones.

Admongo.gov

This program, in partnership with Scholastic, a New York-based educational publishing company, starts off with the ominous words: “Advertising is all around you!”

The site’s goal is to have kids ask themselves “Who is responsible for the ad?” and “What does the ad want me to do?”

Research that has been conducted by the Wright Institute, a clinical psychology training program, has turned up surprising results.  Three- to 7-year-olds gravitate toward toys that ‘transform’ themselves (G.I. Joe, anyone?) into something else. Eight- to 12-year-olds love to collect things…like the baseball card collection your mom threw out so many years ago.

The products and pitches used in the mock-up Admongo ads include familiar-sounding (but fictional) brand names. These, according to a New York Times article include ‘Choco Crunch’n Good’ cereal, ‘Cleanology’ acne medication (aimed at tweens), ‘Double Dunk’ sporting goods and the ‘Smile Meals’ (a la McDonald’s venerable Happy Meal) sold at ‘Fast Chef’ restaurants.

I think it’s an interesting approach. No parent needs to tell you the effect toy commercials have on children (especially around the holidays).  The wisdom the FTC is trying to impart reminds me of an old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calvin turns to his mom and says, “Mom, you need to get me Frosted Coated Chocolate Sugar Bombs cereal! It gives me the PUNCH I need in the morning!” Calvin’s mom, with artist’s Bill Watterson’s help, sighs and forlornly serves her blonde progeny a bowl of good old-fashioned Cheerios.  Plain product, plain packaging…why would a kid want any of that? There aren’t even any toys in the box!

Advertisers’ efforts, despite reservations parents may have of their influence, seem to translate into big money. According to marketing expert James U. McNeal, PhD, author of “The Kids Market: Myths and Realities” (Paramount Market Publishing, 1999), children under 12 already spend a whopping $28 billion a year (based on circa-2000 economic figures). Teenagers spend nearly $100 billion on the brands that appeal to them. Children also influence another $249 billion spent by their parents. And since we don’t have to adjust for much inflation, those numbers still ring true 10 years later.

We’ll keep you posted on the findings. In the meantime, keep the kids off the Frosted Coated Chocolate Sugar Bombs.