Green Branding
We typically get involved with some type of entertaining on or around Saint Patrick's Day and our food and drink invariably is prepared with the aid of coloring enhancements. I'll serve green snakebites before dinner. The corn bread accompanying the meal is green and whatever pudding is served following the meal will be in some way improved to a mouth watering green.
The timing of the topic of today's entry is not intended to augment the menu - it is truly a coincidence, really. I just read an article describing a very creative branding strategy that is also very green, just not in a Paddy's Day way. The whole story goes something like this.
There is this wombat in Australia that has become endangered. The problem is that it is hard to get the funding to protect these obscure critters - partially because they are shy and don't do much to help themselves on the world stage. Enter a company called Xstrata, a mining company from Switzerland. Xstrata has adopted the northern hairy-nose wombat as their corporate mascot. As a result, their logo is now the hairy-nose.
Having an endangered mascot as your logo comes with a price. You now fund habitat restoration and other programs to keep this not quite cuddly from going the path of the dino. What you get in return is that everything wombat how has your brand attached. Websites, t-shirts, environmental literature and media all show the Xstrata brand anytime the wombat is involved.
I think this is an incredible win-win situation.
You could put your brand on a sports stadium or concert arena, which I think is ridiculous. There is no pride in playing basketball at the Dunkin Donuts arena in Providence. Not only is the brand association missing, but the investment does not really accomplish anything. The Patriots at one time played at CMGi stadium. That branding investment was so successful for CMGi that they filed chapter 11 shortly after the name went on the side of the grid iron.
If you are looking to get your name attached to something think before you spend. Why not check out what the World Wildlife Fund is trying to keep alive. You might find they have just the mammal, reptile or winged creature you were hoping to complete your brand image. And if you do, everybody wins.
