Marketing Home Products

Bea Johnson of Mill Valley, Calif., has her own unique supermarket rituals.  She brings supplies such as glass jars and reusable bags to store the food items she buys.  She makes her own cleaning products, and she returns milk bottles for refills.  Zero-waste has become the lifestyle for Johnson and her family.

Elements of this zero-waste philosophy have already hit mainstream.  Many shoppers already take reusable bags into stores to limit the amount of plastic bags they collect, or they use containers such as Tupperware boxes to take snacks to work as opposed to plastic sandwich bags.

The California state Assembly has also reacted to the growing trend of zero-waste. It recently approved a bill to ban plastic bags from stores.  Many stores already implement plastic bag restrictions – some even offer incentives for customers who recycle their bags.  Many  Trader Joe’s locations give a small discount for any customer who brings in a paper bags for re-use.

The benefits of the zero-waste philosophy are three-fold: it saves money, is healthier, and it’s better for the environment.  Without any packaging costs built into the price, food costs less.  Buying in bulk at local farmer’s markets also help save a great deal.  Many fattening foods come heavily wrapped and therefore should be avoided.   Also, food is fresher when it doesn’t come in plastic wrapping.  Especially if the food items purchased are fresh products from a farmer’s market.  And obviously, less plastic used in packaging will reduce the amount of chemicals and oils used to make shopping bags.  This will also lower the amount of plastic going into landfills and oceans.

For many zero-waste followers, it has become a refreshing, new way of life. “I think my family is a lot happier now,” said Colin Beavan, author of “No Impact Man.” “It’s not simply about less packaging, it’s about changing your whole outlook, about wanting less and getting so much more as a family.”  And any activity that can help save money while simultaneously saving the environment and reducing pounds will only become more popular. Zero-waste is here to stay.

You can read about Johnson’s daily zero-waste lifestyle on her blog at zerowastehome.blogspot.com.

Have we gone too far?

A 1978 Virginia Slims magazine ad reads, “Back then, every man gave his wife at least one day a week out of the house.” The ad depicts two very different women: a black and white photograph shows a woman in an apron hanging laundry outside while the other image illustrates a beautifully modern woman showing a little skin in a colorful, flowing dress. The ad continues, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” With feministic undertones, the ad is just one example of a campaign dedicated to the independence, glamour and liberation of women – worlds away from cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. It illustrates a woman who is free, happy, and most importantly, unattached.

The Virginia Slims campaign, although not the first of its kind, helped pave the way for a critical change in the relationship between men and women, especially in marketing. The past few decades have been a transfer of women gaining authority in the marketplace. Today, role reversal is extremely common in marketing and advertising with many brands opening the door to women in a man’s world of sex, power and money. The surprising part is that women are coming out on top.

It’s no secret that women are powerful shoppers. Did you know they are responsible for 80 percent of all household purchasing decisions? With such a striking statistic, it’s not surprising that a great focus is directed toward women when it comes to marketing, advertising and the media.

How many ads can you think of that directly target men?  Of those,  do you think the modern man is fairly represented? It has been said that men are portrayed as indifferent, egocentric and self-indulgent. We discuss the role of men in the marketplace (or lack thereof) extensively in our Missing Males White Paper. The research here summarizes the idea that marketers and the media depict a man’s role in the household either negatively or not at all.

Today, not only do we notice the “missing male,” but we see a complete role reversal that changes the male / female dynamic even further.  Women are now portrayed as individuals with male characteristics – powerful, dominant and influential – while men are unexpectedly feminine, slave-like or illustrated as sex objects.

A current example of a brand taking advantage of role reversal is Xanté liqueur. With a racy slogan, “Unimaginable Pleasure – Oral Delight from the Country of Europe,” Xanté specifically targets women with sexually charged copywriting and controversial ads. The liqueur itself is described using words like affection, touch, penetration, and ménage a trios, but one phrase sticks out like a sore thumb: “The Golden Age of Women.” It’s ironic, yet playful and fun. The ads are the real catch with women leading sports in which you’d typically only see men participating – hunting, rowing, sledding, and cricket. In each ad, the men are very robotic, playing the role of dogs, servants and even objects.

It’s obvious that the women are in charge. The men are just their toys.

Take a look at this recent Marc Jacobs ad. I’ve taken the liberty of transforming the word “bimbo” into “HIMbo” when discussing the role reversal of men and women in marketing and advertising. This himbo fits the mold:

There’s been a 30 – 40 year transfer in how men and women are portrayed. It’s as if they swapped roles completely. Has it gone too far? I’m all for independent and strong women – both in the workplace and at home – and respect the necessary and long-awaited advances made in decades past.

But have the tables turned too drastically, where men lose credibility?

Do the media know they have created a true battle of the sexes? Maybe, but women have officially taken off their aprons to show what they’re really capable of: conquering anything a man can do. From leadership roles and strong opinions to successful careers and sports, women have come a long way (baby).

What would it look like to integrate social media more with marketing home products?

Diesel jeans, the makers of ludicrously expensive denim for the 18-25 year-old market, recently used Facebook as part of an interesting branding initiative –customers try on clothes at the store, and if they like the look, they can get a picture snapped of them in the new garb at one of the company’s photo-booth style kiosks. People can even log in to their Facebook account from there for instant photo posting to their wall. Finally, friends can “like” or comment on their friend’s purchase (example comment: “You’re spending HOW much on those?”).

I think it’s a great idea – you have a tech-savvy and designer-label-craving audience built for you in the Millennials (or Gen-Y, whichever you prefer).

Though each person is a unique snowflake, generally, as a whole, this generation would think nothing of sharing shopping preferences or a great butt shot with hundreds of digital acquaintances.

So would this generation share its home buying and product selecting just as freely as they would with retail decisions? You bet. According to the NAHB, Millennials are buying homes earlier than previous generations. They are also buying before getting married and are willing to buy higher density/smaller homes. And they’re checking out homes online and reaching out for opinions to boot.

There are already a few software tools dedicated to helping consumers either buy or rehab an existing home. Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr all have iPhone-capable applications for color selection. Colorjive, Colorcharts.org and Smart Draw (links below) are great tools for creating, but not necessarily for sharing. You’ll have to manually share your creations – none of them have an instant “share” button like the Diesel Jeans kiosk.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see home product marketing take this turn in the not-so-distant future. After all, it seems as though the missing piece is simply a share button.

Check out a review of the Diesel process here: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/facebook/do-you-like-how-i-look-in-these-jeans/.

Colorjive
Colorjive is a fun tool. Users have to create an account, and then you can upload a photo of your house, play around with the selection tools, and then save up to three different versions for free (paid version is much, much more dynamic). It’s not a precise tool (so you won’t generate color codes needed to hop on over to your nearest big box) but you can an idea of what your house will look like in only minutes.

Colorcharts.org
The CBN Color Selector on Colorcharts.org is a complex and powerful software program that lets you visualize the appearance of thousands of colors. Like the color? You can instantly generate the precise CBN code so you can order the color mix from the big box or a dealer right away. The really cool part is that you can test out colors on different surfaces as well – colors will look different on stucco than they will on wood, after all! 30-day trial is offered for free.

Smart Draw
Smart Draw is another deep, powerful program that also keeps its eye out for those of us who might not be a structural engineer. SD has quick-load templates, dozens of house/room/floorplan designs and ready-made renderings of furniture, appliances, fixtures, wiring, plumbing, HVAC, landscaping, and more. Best of all, if you need help, they have free tech support.