In Women We Trust

Woman-to-Women Media, will they have more influence than Oprah?

Are you one of those new mistresses of media that the NY Times talked about last week - a blogging mom? Categorically, moms spend more, talk to other women more and have more social contacts around town than any other consumer group. If you sell a retail product, they represent not only a customer, but a built in advertising network.

Blogging women have become a media all by themselves. Heather Armstrong, the author of Dooce which was profiled in the NY Times article has over 850,000 visitors last month - mostly women.

This puts a whole new spin on "direct" marketing. As women can be very direct, cynical, hilarious, candid... during their daily posts. The wild world of blogging moms raises the the bar more, social media isn't for the meek. Being "direct" is what gives many of these blogs high readership and yet that's also what scares the heck out of advertisers. They have no control over what "content" is seen next to their product. Nor do they have control over what is said about their product should the blogger and her readers choose to comment.

According to the NY TIMES:

Sites aimed primarily at women, from “mommy blogs” to makeup and fashion sites, grew 35 percent last year — faster than every other category on the Web except politics, according to comScore, an Internet traffic measurement company. Women’s sites had 84 million visitors in July, 27 percent more than the same month last year, comScore said.

Advertisers are following the crowd, serving up 4.4 billion display ads on women’s Web sites in May, comScore said. That is more than for sites aimed at children, teenagers or families. “Moms are the decision makers of the household as far as purchases are concerned,” said Chris Actis, vice president and digital director at the ad agency MediaVest.

I have to thank the NY Times to blessing what I wrote two years ago in In Women We Trust, women form groups easily and talk with one another, when they also hold the tipping point purse strings it's easy to see why the line is blurring between "I'm a blogger" and "I'm an advertising media."

NY Times put some numbers on it: 

Although men are heavy users of the Web, they tend not to visit sites explicitly aimed at them. AOL’s Living channel for women had 16.1 million unique visitors in June, while its Asylum site, a top men’s destination online, had only 3.3 million. ComScore does not even track men’s sites as a category.

Guys, don't shoot the messenger. Your numbers may not be low, but they are low enough and coupled with the fact that you aren't the dominate purchaser of retail goods; that's why ComScore doesn't bother to track your sites as a category. There is no financial interest.

If you want to be seen as a media, then build an audience and grab the ad dollars. The tech writers have been doing that for a long time. Men still pretty much own that world. Conversely, women own the retail world. It is what it is.

Last month BlogHer reported that NBC Universal put $5 million into their online blogger model of mostly blogging mothers. NBC wanted a way to integrate their other venues, Oxygen, iVillage, and Bravo into the social media stream.

I can't thank Yvonne enough for starting me down my blogger path. To all my women blogging buds - congratulations for changing your reader's world and the business world at the same time.

Is there such a thing as Green Packaging?

My guest blogger today is JoAnn Hines, the Chief Executive Officer at J.R. Hines International to help us make sense of green packaging. She is an expert in packaging trends and implementing innovative new packaging technologies covering consumer product packaging, sustainable and green packaging, branding, merchandising, retail packaging trends and packaging patent infringement. Her packaging articles and columns are syndicated around the globe including Webpackaging.com, the #1 consumer products packaging site, and a blog entitled Packaging News You Can Use.

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JoAnn Hines: I just got a call from Brandweek to comment on green product packaging backlash. I've been writing about it for a while but this week reading about square milk bottles brought it all to a head. While the idea of a square milk bottle looks good on paper and its attractive financially to the retailer, a lot of consumers hate it.

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Every week I get dozens of new green packaging press releases. Some of these are really a stretch. It seems with green the "in" thing to do, everyone is trying to jump on the band wagon. Many of these innovations really don't make sense or in many cases won't "connect" with the consumer. Just because its green, environmentally friendly, sustainable, compostable, recyclable or biodegradable doesn't mean that consumers will buy a product. Consumer acceptance is a very complicated issue. The growth of convenience and luxury categories flies in the face of the environmental movement too. They use lots of packaging and are expensive too.

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Two companies working to get it right are Cargo Cosmetics and Method. Cargo starts with a bio-based plastic case for their lipsticks and then packages them in seed embedded boxes - just plant the box and you'll get flowers. Method uses 100% post consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). You might recognize the phthalate part as it's been getting a lot of bad press when used in beverage bottles. You don't drink the Method cleaning products; in this case it's a good use of recycling technology. Both are useful products that consumers want - being green is a plus.

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We want it and we want it now. If it happens to tap into the "green movement" so much the better. The average consumer really does care about the environment they just aren't going to sacrifice their creature comforts to get there. In reality only about 10% of the American populace are willing sacrificers. We can all use a little less packaging in our lives, however, without the package you cannot have a product so give packaging a break.

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Packaging has many roles to play in addition to protecting the product and getting it in your hands, and they are attributes which many will not willingly give up. Just think how you shy away from any damaged product packaging or regect the damaged or bruised product at the supermarket. The regection rate is already 20% and without packaging this would skyrocket. And who do you think pays the ultimate price for less packaging? It's not the retailers or the consumer products companies, it's YOU the consumer.

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When was the last time you saw a sales person trained to tell you all about the item you are considering purchasing? The packaging tells you the story about what is inside and why you should buy it. You know the "silent salesperson." So before you jump on the "less" packaging bandwagon give some consideration to why the packaging is there in the first place. I wrote this little jingle for Twitter and that's says it all. "Toothpaste squeezes, eggs aren't cracked, pizza delivered, headache's better, beer anyone? Packaging a love affair you never knew you had."

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Now don't get me wrong, I have seen some very interesting concepts in "green" product packaging some that make sense to the consumer, but I have seen a lot of junk too. Some companies that are just making some green packaging noise hoping to capitalize on some of the current media buzz.

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What's your opinion? What kind of packaging are you willing to give up or have you switched to a different product because of a package seemed more environmentally friendly.

Do you have questions about what is green and what is greenwash? Ask them here or I can be reached at PackagingDiva@aol.com.

How to Produce an Effective Green Campaign

How do you motivate the masses when you don't have much money or even an Internet connection? Thanks to Kimberly Klintworth, who put together GoodTube, you can get ideas from all over the world. Below is an example of how one man mobilized his area of Mexico. Salvador managed to cut the burning of local forests in half and clean up the rivers as well through Campaign Pride.

http://www.goodtube.org/video.php?category=14&l=Environment

GoodTube is a non profit, non religious enterprise, and it is 100 percent free. The site also provides tips for producing quality video of your non-profit's good work. Let me know when you add your video and I'll feature it here.

It's BlogHer's time to be a BragHer.

BlogHer is back in town and taking names, BIG names. BlogHer is now in strategic partnership with I Village, Oxygen and BravoTV, according to the announcement make today.

What a huge endorsement for BlogHer and women’s social media at large! Corporations who turned a blind wallet to BlogHer before won’t be doing it any longer. To ignore women bloggers is to ignore a force of feminine buying and influential nature. You go girls! Can't wait to hear what the next few days at this sold out conference will uncover.

I'm here with Diane MacEachern of Big Green Purse who managed to lose her phone at the airport and will be meeting up with Funny Business bud, Elana in a bit. I'd better stop blogging and start dressing.

Mindful Mama: Creating a better environment from the inside out

I love writing about companies who give to readers and give back to the world. Today I heard from Mindful Mama Magazine that provides new moms information on making their pregnancy and the baby's first home safer and also gives 2% of it's cash to helping other mothers around the world. While giving birth is an every-minute occurrence, it isn't being given the attention that Mindful Mama will be giving the experience.

Taken from their press release:

"The original Mindful Mama is mother, yoga instructor, and birth advocate Sarah Kraft. She has brought together a group of passionate mothers, doctors, midwives, entrepreneurs and artists who are all committed to a healthy future for mom, baby and the planet.

Mindful Mama actively promotes: [I especially like this stand that they are taking. Bravo!]

o  Simplicity
o  Products that are non-toxic to mom and baby
o  Products and services produced using sustainable practices
o  Companies that make efforts to green their workspace
o  Companies that actively work to reduce their carbon footprint
o  Companies that donate a portion of profits to a good cause
o  Mother-owned businesses or parent-friendly workplaces

Built on the same platform as Facebook, www.mindfulmamamagazine.com is the first social network to connect moms directly with birth professionals and wellness practitioners-including obstetricians, midwives, doulas, birth educators, yoga instructors, massage therapists and naturopathic doctors.

In 2008, 2% of Mindful Mama profits will be donated to International Midwife Assistance (IMA). IMA is a charitable, nonprofit, humanitarian organization, whose mission is to raise the standard of maternal/infant care in developing nations and areas experiencing crises in maternal/infant care. IMA trains midwives and other healthcare workers and delivers medical supplies, medications, and teaching aids and is currently active in Uganda, with hopes of expanding into Haiti.

I've never been a natural Mom, so can't relate to whether this is really useful or not. Any moms out there care to comment?

Yes, we can (and must) Save the World through Mindful Shopping

Over on La M, the debate continues in the comment section on whether we can buy our way out of this global warming problem. The answer is not only "Yes," but "Yes, we have to."

[My thanks to Lynn Johnston for capturing in one cartoon why many give up before trying. On some level we all know our good work can be undone in a manufacturing minute.]

The "Smokestacks" are causing the problem and the ONLY thing that will keep the smokestacks happy is profit. Consumer action is half of the solution, the SMaRT Sustainable Standard is the other half. With both not only have we solved the emission problem, but transformed the market safely and kept our retirement portfolios intact. Yes, as Tom Friedman points out, we'll lose MANY products and companies along the way. Detroit's feeling that pain now, but we also will replace them with mindful companies and products we can all live with.

If you want to see how serious business is about change, take a quick read down today's blog at Sustainable Life Media. The stacks want to do it, they just don't know how to do it and they don't know how to talk about it in terms that breadwinners and buyers can understand. Oh, and by the way, it's also required by the EPA.

Not only do we/consumers have to do it, we have to write about our intent before or after we do it. Every time we write about Sustainable products we like, those products stay in the marketing mix and the other ones die.

GM has FINALLY decided that going small and green will bring bigger profits. Why? Because Toyota and Honda made the top ten brands and ate their lunch. You can't go 10 feet in California without running into either car.

Those top ten brands were made inside of buildings which a consumer can also affect - by DEMANDING that the brands are made using Sustainable Standards that certify when a product is in compliance. INSIDE the SMaRT Sustainable Standard are requirements for conserving energy and lowering emissions, VOCs and PVCs (plus over 1200 other chemicals). Not only do the standards cover their buildings, but also the operations and processes for the entire supply chain as well - even if those smokestacks are in China.   

The SMaRT Standard (Sustainable Materials Rating Technology) covers six areas of product development:

• Safe for public health & environment
• Renewable energy & energy efficiency
• Biobased or recycled materials
• Facility or company requirements
• Reclamation, sustainable reuse
  & end of life management
• Product Innovation

Under these areas, products are required to:

• Provide Feedstock Inventory Documentation
• Document No Input and Output Stockholm Chemicals
• Maintain a Manufacturing Facility Energy Inventory
• Inventory of all bio-based and Recycled Content Materials
• Have EMS Environmental Policies and Targets.
• Have Social Equity Indicator Reporting for Manufacturers
• Compete an ISO Compliant Life Cycle Assessment
• Have Operational Reclamation and/or Sustainable Reuse Program
• Meet Product Performance Durability Standards (long lasting products)

And encouraged to keep going until they have achieved:

100% Reduction of Over 1300 Pollutants covering 12 Environmental Impacts
100% Use of Green-e Renewable Power
100% Post Consumer Recycled or Organic/BMP Biobased Materials
100% Reuse/Product Reclamation
Social Equity for Manufacturer & Suppliers (worker's rights)

That's a pretty big stick, but sticks are also fun to chase - especially if you're one of the Big Dogs attending the Sustainable Brands conference.

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After the requirements are met, the Big Dogs can get competitive and earn higher and higher ratings of silver, gold and platinum. Its not impossible, Forbo/Marmoleum and Knoll Life Chair have already have done it. Milliken carpet is on its way.

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But they can't do it alone.

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They and all the other companies trying to go green need buyers for their Sustainable Certified products, people who appreciate the work that has been done on a very high level.  Which brings us back to the first side of the buyer/seller equation - consumers.

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Take a gander at that top ten list again. If you were hired to change the world, which "demographic" would you focus on to make it happen faster? On that list you have, groceries, cleaning supplies, lotion and potions, cars and home appliances. Without doing a massive research project, take a wild guess on which gender has the greater influence either directly or indirectly buying these products?

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In the end, after all the discussions and  the chatter it's going to come down to tightly linking these three tipping points together - women+companies+sustainable standards.

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That's the new balance of power in this global economy. What happens among them happens about the world and it all starts with the heart of a women making the right choices while her purse is open and being willing to talk about them.

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Men can expedite the process by educating the women in their life on the SMaRT Sustainable Standard or other Standards that use a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) across the entire supply chain. While women are the buyers, you are the "sellers." Let's get to work, shall we?

Your continuing ed starts here:

SMaRT Standard Market Overview - for High C's (9 pages)- Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/mts_smart_sustainable_standard_overview_2.1.08.pdf">Download mts_smart_sustainable_standard_overview_2.1.08.pdf

SMaRT Standard Overview - Supplier Education - (slide show) Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/act_smart_presentation.pdf">Download act_smart_presentation.pdf

SMaRT Standard for Consumer Orientation - (slide show)Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/smart_sustainable_standards_102_consumer_orientation_51008.pdf">Download smart_sustainable_standards_102_consumer_orientation_51008.pdf

Forbo Sustainability Report - for High C's, Supply Chain, Distributors, Investors, Consumers (20 pages) Download">http://www.sustainableproductsblog.com/mts/files/forbo_sustainable_manufacturing_and_marketing.pdf">Download forbo_sustainable_manufacturing_and_marketing.pdf

BlogHer Goes Mainsteam with Advertising Age

Congratulations Lisa, Jory and Elisa for capturing the attention of Advertising Age with the study of BlogHer's bloggers and readers. For those who don't live in the marketing world Ad Age is the defining publication for marketers.

That's why this has such impact, mainstream publications are taking women bloggers seriously - enough to report on research that includes more than mommy bloggers. Consequently, companies will be listening even more to what women bloggers are saying.

To give this some perspective, when I attended the first WOMMA.com meeting a few years ago, women - as the word-of-mouthers of goods and services - weren't even part of the conversation. Go figure. I was dumbfounded. Everyone knew at that point that women bought the majority of consumer goods. It didn't take a big leap of imagination to know that they also talked to each other about their purchases; yet, without a sanctioned study, women as a group of influencers were overlooked.

The study, given in detail in the article, shows just how mainstream blogging and the influence of that action has become; plus the mainstream online women profile is pretty darn close to the women blogger profile.

"Demographically, BlogHer users are fairly similar to average online women, although they skew much higher in the 25- to 41-year-old Gen X range, with 68% of the BlogHer users in that age range vs. 42% of overall women.

With so many similarities, the BlogHer co-founders said they believe their user population is a harbinger of online women's habits and preferences in general. "We are almost a beacon of what's to come," Ms. Des Jardins said.

By Ad Age publishing this study, BlogHer and the women writing the blogs, just became a mainstream media that corporations will want to "court" for their word of mouth endorsements.

Now the question becomes what do we(women) want to tell the courters?

Do we want greener products?  Tell them. Do we want products without lead in the paint or that put toxins into our system. Tell them.  We don't have to go any further than our own blogs to make suggestions.

This is the same study that was unveiled at BlogHer Business this spring. Be sure to read the full article, it's a great tribute to BlogHer and all who contribute to its chorus of voices.

Now what category do I put this under? Marketing to Women or Social Change? I think I'll use both as the buyer/seller conversation just evened up a notch.   

Study Shows Blogging Now 'Mainstream' Among Women

Many Web Users Actively Contributing, Not Just Surfing

By Beth Snyder Bulik

Published: May 28, 2008

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- "Blogosphere" may not be a pretty name for it, but it is a pretty attractive destination -- for women at least, and maybe for marketers courting them, too.
According to a recent study by BlogHer and Compass Partners, more than one-third (35%) of all women in the U.S. aged 18 to 75 participate in the blogosphere at least once a week. And that number increases if less-frequent visits are factored in. Of those women who are online any amount of time, 53% read blogs, 37% post comments to blogs and 28% write or update blogs, according to the study....

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=127354

The Women of Kenya: Practical Leadership for Troubled Times

Guest Blogger: Kathe Schaaf / Changing the World

As 2008 began in Kenya, her citizens huddled terrified in their homes for protection from a wave of violence and killing sweeping through their country. Anger and frustration over a corrupt national election process had bubbled up into a river of rage that quickly became a familiar ‘us vs. them’ battle drawn along ethnic lines. Thousands of homes were burned and stories drifted into the global media about violent deaths at the hands of angry mobs of young men.

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By February 200,000 Kenyans were living in tents in primitive camps for ‘internally displaced persons’ with little food and even less hope of returning home. All of this unfolded in a country already struggling with incredible challenges; the short list includes high incidence of HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; a shortage of drinkable water and fuel for cooking fires; lack of educational opportunities especially for girls and rural youth; little sustainable employment; and a primitive infrastructure which complicates transportation, hygiene and safety at a most basic level.

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Following the news of these events, I kept saying to myself over and over again: I trust the African women to restore sanity to Kenya. My faith in the women of Kenya has its foundation in relationships with courageous women from that country. In Bondo, Kenya in December 2006, I had the opportunity to attend the Grassroots African Women’s Conference, spending four days in the company of 513 grassroots African women leaders.  These women were remarkable, tackling the enormous problems in their villages with practical ideas using whatever resources they could find.

• Ten mothers in a small village on the shores of the Indian Oceanhad organized to integrate 50 orphans into their families.
• Women in remote rural areas had created their own ‘merry-go-round’ micro-lending programs to develop small businesses and a sustainable source of income for their families.
• Successful strategies for purifying water and solar cooking were being developed, shared and replicated.

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It was easy to develope warm relationships with these women, both at the conference and traveling to visit them in their villages.  I witnessed firsthand their self-sacrifice and hard work, their creativity and persistence, their collaborative spirit and their commitment to their families. I danced with them, singing their songs of hope and enjoyed their easy laughter. I was hugged and welcomed into their homes and their hearts. We nurture our friendships through the miracle of e-mail.

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So when news coming out of Kenya was at its worst, I took solace in knowing that the women would eventually be able to emerge from their homes and do whatever it takes to pull Kenya back together. I knew that they would begin to care for the children and feed the hungry and find homes for the homeless. I knew that they would talk among themselves about the roots of this violence and quietly find ways to bring reconciliation and healing.  I knew that the women of Kenya would show up fully in the face of this craziness and bring sanity back to their land.

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It is what they have always done.

www.KatheSchaaf.com

http://katheschaaf.blogspot.com/

ORGANIC STYLE no longer an Oxymoron

In the 60s organic style meant wrapping myself in hemp and not wearing makeup. Today I can actually say the word "style" along with organic and have a different vision.

Check out the new magazine called Organic Style. Get your free copy here. It covers women's green issues but with an even split of men and women contributing ideas. That's the 50/50 I've been waiting for, along with topics that can we can all live with. 

This issue features Julie Butterfly Hill who spent 2 years living on top of a tree to keep it from being cut down. That's walking the walk!  Thank goodness we don't have to do that anymore to make a point. It also covers Denis Hayes, the first Earth Day coordinator. He compares Earth Day 1969 with Earth Day now, offering us all perspective and hope. (I'm with him on carbon credits.)

Let me know what you think of it.

Hope to Action - Power of your Peers

It seems like more and more women are mobilizing on the ground to create real, sustainable change. Hope to Action is the lastest to build out network of small groups of 15 or so women making small changes. Check out their video.