As the project is primarily creating an IDENTITY for the company, I had like to look around and branding and positioning in general across products and services. Considering there is no advertising agency involved, at least in the initial stages it is up to me to carve out a Unique Selling Proposition for this Brand.
The name and the work involved obviously suggests THINK GREEN. Hence i felt a good place to start that would be to get an idea of the benchmarks set in this category of work. I came across an interesting concept which i was aware of but just didn't know had an official term: Eco Branding
With the likes of Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio throwing light on a lot of uncomfortable questions about the state of our planet, a lot of companies like Toyota, Ben & Jerry's, American Apparel have hoisted the green flag over their brand names.
Eco Branding is basically aligning the practices of the company to more environment friendly ways. Now this is done through energy conservation, adopting the 3 Rs
( Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) in their products, packaging and services amongst others.
As mentioned in my Project proposal, one of the biggest hurdles in this process is gaining trust. This is no hair colour that shows result after 45 minutes. An afforestation project will show results only after a minimum of 2-3 years. Also a lot of initiatives do not even have a tangible result.
Also a green buying decision is easier to trigger, as you are anyway fulfilling a product requirement ( example a tub of Ben & Jerrys ice-cream is all for that midnight chocolate craving) but as a side note makes you feel great as you made the right choice. But an endeavor like EcoServe needs to trigger an action to get involved with environment conservation which might not always figure in ones To-Do list.
Considering this Brand does not have any manufacturing systems, its communication system must speak for its beliefs : To Create, Conserve and Contribute.
The way i see it for now, the work charted out for EcoServe ( and in turn, me) would be to locate projects that it can undertake, create communication to approach potential individuals/corporates asking for communication and following it up with sincerity and re assurance.
The impact of the Graphic Design industry on the environment is something i had like to research upon. I need to understand how easy it is in a city like Mumbai to plan eco communication. Just picking recycled paper for the brochure is just the tip of the iceberg.
Also the task for me as a Visual Communicator would be to break through the clutter of Green communication that is already flooding the market. A lot of Save the forests or Save the Environment campaigns have the similar tonality. To craft a unique Visual language i need to delve more into the existing pool of communication and the vision of the company to understand how it wants to project itself.
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