“Beauty is as Beauty Does”
I’ve been a fan of Aveda products for several years, although I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t fully appreciate the brand or company until I heard a recent presentation at AIGA Boston by Chuck Bennett. Chuck is the Vice President of Earth and Community Care for Aveda and he is involved in leading how the company minimizes its environmental impact – from packaging to using wind and solar energy to power manufacturing facilities.
My attraction to the company was purely from the product and I guess the simplicity of their marketing. What I wasn’t aware of and didn’t have an appreciation for until recently was the company’s impressive and authentic commitments to sustainability that date back to its founding 30 years ago. Aveda is not a newcomer to the “green” bandwagon. Aveda has been dedicated to biodiversity, reducing emissions and being an industry leader in packaging for decades. Not only does the company believe that part of its mission is to run a successful and thoughtful enterprise, but there is a measureable business impact. “All waste is lost profit” – lost profit means reduced reinvestment to the company’s commitments.
Chuck was very forthcoming in sharing that they haven’t always clearly communicated their authentic mission and commitment to green and that the challenge for them is to engage consumers. Aveda needs to distinguish itself from the competition that is jumping onto the bandwagon. You should see examples of how they are doing this in some of their recent print ads featuring messages about wind energy.
To learn more about Aveda’s commitment to sustainability over the past 30 years, visit http://aveda.aveda.com/aboutaveda/mission.asp.
Tags: eco friendly
