Have you ever shopped in the M&M's or Coca Cola store in Las Vegas, Nevada? If you have you will remember getting retail shopping bags with those stores' trademarks and logos on them. What happens to the over-runs, misprints, or dated promotional material that isn't needed by those companies? Normally the material was taken to landfills to be dumped. What else was there to do with such materials? Well Jonathan Marcoschamer thought there was a better way.
Jonathan Marcoschamer is co-founder of Ecoist, a "green" accessories manufacturer. He saw an opportunity to obtain raw materials for his accessories (which include various types of handbags) in an ecological "fashion".
Contacting major vendors (such as Mars and Coke), he asked if he could have access to the unneeded promotional material and use it in a socially responsible manner, crafting handbags from the otherwise unwanted materials destined to a dump.
Ecoist defines a customer as "an individual that lives a modern eco-minded lifestyle". Jonathan feels Ecoist's mission statement is based on three main pillars - "provide goods and services that are: good for people, the planet and our bottom line".
One challenge Jon has had to deal with was the amount of units demanded by retailers. Due to the "uniqueness" of the products, Ecoist may only be able to make several hundred units (based on the amount of recycled material they have access to) while the retailers wanted several thousand units, leading to a positive and negative situation. On one hand, Ecoist could not have a large sale on any particular line of products (reducing their chance of making a lot of money off one purchase invoice); on the other hand, it led to a uniqueness that consumers enjoyed since there was only a limited number of products in the market place.
Ecoist is a transparent company. You get to see how the company works within a "green" mindset, and it shows through their products, branding, promotional materials and the way they treat their employees.
1. Jonathan's mission statement is based on the concept: "providing goods and services that are: good for people, the planet and our bottom line". What is an important factor for new green business owners to consider about Ecoist's mission statement?
2. Who did Jonathan indicate the target segment was for their products?
3. What was the "tipping point" for Ecoist in terms of promotional exposure?