September 26, 2005

It's Not Where It's Made. It's How It's Made.

Remember the big "Made in America" craze? Well, that one's dead.

No one cares where things are made any more. In fact, it seems as though virtually everything is made in China. Well, not the dinner you had at that restaurant tonight...but probably everything other than the food and drink.

HOW things are made is what has currency with consumers today. That means, does it include recycled products, are the materials environmentally safe, is the manufacturer environmentally responsible?

You notice it more and more on products. Manufacturers are telling you how things are made, and that can be a powerfully positive message. Smart manufacturers are cleaning up their acts, getting "green," and sharing that info with their customers. Good moves.

Nature Rules

Being green isn't just for manufacturers. We're facing an environmental crisis, and every business is going to benefit from not only being "green" but also telling their customers/suppliers/employees/shareholders/etc. how they are being part of the solution.

Henry Romaine recently returned from the Arctic where he said there is stunning evidence of the effects of global warming.

Joni Thomas is in Las Vegas this week. If she ever tears herself away from the tables and Barry Manilow, she might go over to Lake Mead where she will notice the water is at frightening low levels.

These and hundreds of other anecdotes are part of the same story. We are depleting our precious natural resources.

It's pretty clear that the government isn't going to do anything about it, so it's up to individual businesses to take the lead.

I see this as a tremendous marketing opportunity. Businesses can identify a myriad of ways in which they can help be part of the solution and then they can win great favor (and more converts) by spreading the news.

That's a marketing and communications challenge...and telling people what you're doing is every bit as important as doing it. Maybe more so.

We're already seeing some movement among the major automobile companies. For example, GM is making its SUV's slightly more fuel efficient, and it plans to aggressively promote this improved gas mileage.

Speaking of GM, Jack Trout continues to use GM as the classic example of line extension gone awry. In a recent Harvard Business Review column, Trout notes that early GM had way too much line extension, with the various GM brands cannibalizing one another. Then Alfred Sloan came along and narrowed each car's market by narrowing price ranges, and GM captured more than 57% of the U.S. market. Unfortunately, by 2000, the lines were fuzzy once again. And GM's market share has dwindled.

Why do they have such similar cars, regardless of whether they are Chevrolets or Buicks? Because it's easier and more cost-efficient for them to manufacture cars that have more similarities than differences. That's being company-focused, rather than customer-focused. And, by following that philosophy, GM has been on a steady decline.