Health enforcer heads for the climate department

Just clocked that Will Cavendish, the director of health and wellbeing at the Department of Health and the architect behind the Change4Life programme, is on his way to the Department for Energy & Climate Change.

He is taking on the brief of director-general. Not entirely sure what this entails but marketers should think about getting on his good side. During his tenure at DH he oversaw the push to tone down tobacco displays, traffic-light labelling (which the food industry mostly hates) and seems to have strong-armed the booze industry into launching its joint responsible drinking marketing push, The Campaign for Smarter Drinking.

One of my contacts describes him as a ‘strong supporter of effective self-regulation who appreciates the importance of social marketing’. It will be interesting to see how this manifests itself in his new role.

Newly reduced, sometimes reused and hardly ever recycled

While my thoughts are first and foremost with the people that stand to lose their jobs now thelondonpaper is closing, I can't help but think of all the trees that stand to be saved as a result of this.

We've all seen the state of the tube during and after the morning rush hour; it's impossible to move for discarded Metros, then it’s the same again in the evening with thelondonpaper and London Lite. Now after a certain time these days the Standard becomes free so that's getting strewn all over the place as well.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the attempts to recycle these papers strikes me as woeful. Yes there are a few filler ads in the papers about recycling but London Underground staff clearly treat them as general rubbish and there are hardly any dedicated newspaper recycling bins around the capital.

I'm not sure who is to blame but it seems as if there was little thought about the environment at the outset of the freebie newspaper war.

P&G and Hotpoint take a spin

I’ve just received a piece of direct marketing promoting a tie-up between Hotpoint and Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) Ariel Excel Gel.

It’s a 21st century environmentally-friendly twist on the age-old marketing tactic of teaming a detergent brand up with a washing machine.

According to the mailer, Hotpoint and Ariel have worked in partnership to develop a new collection of washing machines with energy-saving ‘Eco Cycles’. Using the gel with the machines means you save up to 50% of the energy normally used, it claims.

If I take this up, and there is a chance I will as my washing machine is on its last legs, I’ll get three months’ supply of the gel.

Ariel Excel Gel’s USP is that it can clean clothes at a rather chilly 15 degrees. When it launched last year commentators were quick to point out that hardly any washing machines have a 15 degree setting so with this tie-up, P&G seems to have found the ideal match for its product.

I like truckin'

Driving up the M1 yesterday offered me some unexpected examples of green marketing. 

Fancy-pants haulage trucks, it seems, are where it's all at. The first one I saw on my way 'oop north was from Marks & Spencer. Its strange curvy roof was what initially caught my attention. Then as we drew closer I saw it was Plan A branded, emblazoned with the slogan 'Streamlined to save fuel'.

I've have never seen one of these before and was left thinking it was another example of M&S leading the way again. But within minutes a similar truck came into view but this time it was from TK Maxx with messaging about how great these vehicles are too.I resigned myself to a journey of funny-shaped trucks but a conventional one from Tesco was what I saw next.

Come on Tesco, pull your finger out! If TK Maxx can make the switch then surely it's not beyond the UK's biggest retailer.

An afterthought - I wonder if the streamlined trucks' drivers are specially schooled to be environmentally-conscious just in case someone wants to know how these vehicle work?

Spoiling for a fight?

More news emerges about the government's thoughts on food waste, which I have blogged about before, in a number of policy documents released on Monday. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs wants to combat huge levels of consumer confusion by scrapping or reducing in size the 'sell by' and 'display until' dates on food labels. The signs are that retailers will resist this as it helps them manage their stock so there could be some troubled times ahead.

Potentially more of an issue and another way for retailers to fall out with government however is the criticism of bogofs. In the past the practice has been blamed for the obesity epidemic but now, according to these papers, they are also helping to kill the planet. The argument goes that bogofs encourage shoppers to buy food that they end up throwing away because they don't get around to eating it before it goes off.

A Stella(r) idea

We broke an exclusive story this week on a new positioning for InBev's Stella Artois lager brand. The main angle we went with was the fact that it had ditched its period-style ads and had instead taken inspiration from the swinging 60s.

But what really struck me is the way that its marketers have decided to shout its green credentials from the roof tops. Pretty much all the big brewers are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprints, as the mag's booze correspondent not a week goes by without some press release dropping into my inbox relaying how well they are doing on water use or energy consumption. However these achievements are hardly ever communicated through consumer-facing activity which is why I'm fascinated by this move by Stella.

If you haven't clicked through to the story there are two separate green pushes on the brand. One is an on-pack promotion aimed at saving hedgerows. The thinking green woman's pin-up Ben Fogle has been enlisted to PR it. The other is the aforementioned campaign which communicates that Stella bottles are made from 75% recycled glass.

I think this is a clever move for the brand. As I mentioned on a previous blog, green is viewed as premium and Stella is eager to be seen this way and lay to rest its distasteful 'wife-beater' nickname.

Now just to be clear, I'm not accusing InBev of indulging in greenwash. Helping hedges and using recycled glass sounds like a good thing to be doing. I'm highlighting this because in a sector dominated by laddish ads this postioning could provide valuable cut-through for the brand.

We're cutting carbon emissions. Are you?

It’s great to be able to finally share the news that Marketing is close to attaining the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label. Hopefully more brands will be encouraged by our move and take the step.

For months specialist consultants hired by Marketing’s publishers Haymarket Media Group have been poring over the production cycle of the magazine. No stone has been left unturned. They have looked at everything from our paper mills and printing presses through to how readers dispose of their copies every week.

What I like about the process is the way it acts as a catalyst for change for our suppliers. I visited our printer and its managers described to me how they had been adapting to the green agenda over time. The printers didn’t mind having their operations scrutinised by our consultants. On the contrary, they felt that it was a useful experience and something positive they could use to attract new business.

But carrying the mark, as the magazine will do in due course, comes with a duty to continue to cut our carbon emissions.

Now the hard work really begins.