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New tools of promotioN -report of promotioNal campaigN

(output 3.3.3.)

Publisher: Research and Innovation Centre Pro-Akademia

Contact: Innowacyjna 9/11 st, 95-050 Konstantynów ŁodzkiVersion: 1.4 After revisionGraphic edition: ISO Studios

This project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERDF.

The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union or Publisher. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This publication is free.

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Introduction 4

Promotional tools 8

Advertising 9

Traditional media 9

Online advertising 10

Websites, competence platforms: 11

Public relations 12

Social media 13

Newsletters/Promotional emails 15

Conferences/meetings 16

Summary 18

Bibliography 19

table of coNteNt

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iNtroductioN

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The era of cheap resources is over. Increasing glo-bal population the expansion of middle classes and rapidly industrialising nations are putting an incre-asing amount of pressure on the global resource base. Europe, being the continent with the highest net imports of resources, is economically depen-dent on a secure and uninterrupted supply of im-ports of all types of resources. Therefore reduction in use of resources seems to be crucial aspect for EU member states.European Union has selected resource efficiency as one of the seven flagship initiatives for its 2020 strategy. [1] It aims to bring major economic oppor-tunities, improve productivity, drive down costs, and boost competitiveness—while also supporting a low-carbon economy and sustainable growth. In a similar spirit, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) promote resource efficiency in their campaign for “green growth” and a “green economy.”

In many developing countries, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of economic and industrial activity, contributing to approxima-tely 75% to industrial activity. With increasing re-source prices, it is becoming difficult for SMEs to sustain the high costs of energy, water, and mate-rial resources for production while remaining com-

petitive in the market. In numerous developing countries, SMEs are often high polluters due to obsolete technology in their small-scale ope-rations and/or the lack of efficient end-of-pipe pollution control systems. Further, most coun-tries lack the necessary institutional structures and capacity to provide the required technical support services to industries. [2]When limited institutional capacities exist, SMEs often suffer the most. These factors are the ma-jor drivers for the urgent need of a consolidated intervention to improve the resource efficiency of industrial production in many of the world’s regions. [2]

Therefore resource and energy efficiency are key strategies for production and recycling ne-tworks. They can contribute for more sustaina-ble industrial production and can help cope with challenges such as competition, raising reso-urce and energy prices, greenhouse gas emis-sions reduction.

One can observe a growing need for sustaina-ble concepts and strategies for their operation, such as improved resource efficiency. This is due to increasing energy costs, international competition on the market, scare landfill and hi-gher deposition fees. Another important aspect

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seems to be clients expectations and their needs. Companies from now on will have to take into con-sideration economic and ecological consequences of their production process, namely: MFA – mate-rial flow analysis and LCA – life cycle assessment. [3]In today’s word ecology and economy are on the cross road. That is why the role of global and lo-cal policy makers is to promote and encourage SMEs to invest in resource efficiency measures. The direct benefits for the innovator consist of: operational advantages such as cost savings from greater resource productivity and better logistics, sales from commercialisation. The indirect benefits for the innovating company consist of: better ima-ge, better relations with suppliers, customers and authorities, an enhanced innovation capability ove-rall - thanks to contacts with knowledge holders, Health and safety benefits, greater worker satisfac-tion. These benefits must be weighed against costs for the company. Surveys show that the majority of companies know very little of either the costs or benefits of their environmental activities. [4]

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promotioNal tools

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Traditional media Although traditional advertising is considered to be losing its efficiency, it is still widely used by vario-us companies and organizations and is a vital part of their promotion mixes, as it enables to reach lar-ge number of people. However, to make success-ful advertising campaigns, they must be not only attractive visually, but also be understandable for target groups. The subject of resource efficiency is complex and complicated. It must be ensured that the messages – either in visual ads or in adverto-rials - are tailored to small and medium companies’ representatives and that they contain a language of

benefits. The selection of media is also vital, so that the ads are launched in media that have appropriate target audiences, for example business and econo-mic media. It is worth to mention that traditional advertising evolve – it is now more integrated with online com-munication. Traditional media draws attention to certain topics, whereas online channels allow to provide more complex information. That’s why it has become common to include in traditional ads website addresses, social media references and QR codes, that - when scanned with a portable device app – easily link a user to a specific website.

advertisiNg:

Fig. 1.: Billboard enhancing for savingsSource: https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=ppg_cobrand.ppg_cobrand_2i

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Online advertising:Google AdWordsGoogle AdWords is one of the basic methods of on-line promotion and may be launched on Google and its advertising network which includes thousands of websites. It is available in two forms:

• a short message, consisting of two verses of text, which is displayed in Google search results or on external portals from Google advertising network

• a graphical banner displayed on chosen pro-file of websites cooperating with Google, with content matching the content of ad, for in-stance ads aimed at small companies would be displayed on business-related portals

Google AdWords campaign is easy to launch and relatively inexpensive. Ads are paid per click, so only when viewers interacts with them. What is more, ads may be quite precisely targeted at various au-diences and advertising effects are easily measured throughout the campaign. It allows to constantly make necessary enhancements in order to reach target groups better.

A broadcaster chooses a list of keywords, after typing which in Google search engine, an ad is displayed to a user in search results. A keyword / keyphrase is a word or phrase typed by a search engine user to find information on a certain topic. Regarding the subject of this publication, we can mention the following examples of keywords, which may be used by users to find out about methods of increasing resource efficiency in companies:

• Resource efficiency

• Energy efficiency

• Company cost reduction

• Energy saving

• Company costs savings

The messages of ads may be different for each key-word, so they are relevant and more precisely targe-ted. Additionally, the popularity of each ad can be constantly monitored, so those which are not clic-ked at all may be deleted and the budget can be focused on those which are the most efficient.

Fig. 2.: Adwords – google marketing campaingSource: http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/how-to-capture-a-larger-audience-with-adwords-for-video/

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Other display campaignsOf course Google AdWords are not the only way of running a display campaign online. Not all portals cooperate with Google – in these cases all arrange-ment must be made individually with a portal. The majority of Internet portals offer also the possibili-ty to buy advertising space for graphical ads other than Google AdWords formats, for example ads that are background of the whole webpage, video ads etc.

Websites, competence platforms:Website is a very important tool of online communi-cation. Even the best online ad, if links to a weakly prepared organization’s website may be useless, as a visitor may quickly leave the page. It is then crucial to have a professional, well-designed, easily naviga-ted website, containing all relevant, up-to-date infor-mation. As it has been mentioned before, it is essen-tial that the language of the messages is adjusted to

the target group – in case of this publication, so that members of a target group understand messages and see why resource efficiency is important for the-ir companies, how they can benefit. All case studies, pictures, videos, infographics and other multimedia materials that enriches communication are highly advisable. It is also good to integrate website with other channels of communication, by providing re-ference to them, for example links to social media. Another aspect which is worth to consider is that nowadays, as people have Internet access on va-rious devices, a way and circumstances of browsing pages have changed. It is common that after seeing an ad in a magazine or on TV, a viewer wants to find out more on the organization’s website. Therefore, a well-prepared website should also be responsive, which means that it is delivered in various sizes, so it may be easily browsed on different devices – lap-tops, tablets and smartphones.

Fig. 3.: Competence platform for RE in Central EuropeSource: http://presource.eu/competence/

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Competence platform that is one of the results of PRESOURCE project, is a one-stop-shop for all Central European stakeholders working in the field of resource efficiency in industrial SMEs. Clearly structured by countries and topics it allows qu-ick access to a wealth of information on how to improve resource efficiency at company level and support on-going policy development processes in this field. As such it is a direct Central European response to the “EU 2020 Resource Efficiency Fla-gship Initiative” and the “Roadmap for a Resource efficient Europe”. What can be found at the Com-petence Platform? [5] CENTRAL EUROPEAN AND COUNTRY SPECIFIC HUBS ON:

• Events

• Publications

• Toolkit

• Good Practice Cases

THE RESOURCE EFFICIENCY ATLAS FOR CEN-TRAL EUROPE WITH COUNTRY SPECIFIC GUIDES ON:

• Actors and Activities relevant for Resource Efficiency

As an overall result of the review of actors relevant for resource efficiency in small and medium-sized enterprises of the manufacturing sector and the-ir activities in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland (done within the PRESO-URCE project in 2013) the following can be stated:

• Financial Instruments for Resource Efficiency Promotion

Based on more than 80 expert interviews in the fra-mework of a market and stakeholder analysis with financial stakeholders that are active in the field of eco-innovation/resource efficiency, the guideline aims to give a comprehensive overview of relevant actors in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hun-gary, Italy and Poland.

• Other Instruments for Resource Efficiency Promotion

In the framework of the PRESOURCE project the involved institutions mapped throughout Central Europe existing tools providing support to entre-preneurs and intermediaries in the field of resource efficiency in SMEs in a partner country. This sec-tion of the Competence Platform summarizes the findings of this research for Austria, Czech Repu-blic, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland. It focu-ses on innovative instruments and tools, which are:

Public relations:Public Relations is a vast set of activities aimed at communication between organization / brand and its environment. Its basic part are media re-lations. Although conducting media relations is a very complex and difficult task, it is worth an effort and is one of the best tools to communicate with target audiences. It results in publications in vario-us media – press and online articles, presence in TV and radio programs, social media discussions, increasing word of mouth effect. It can bring a huge media coverage to a topic promoted by PR pro-fessionals, without great financial expenses, as PR activities should result in leading to arouse interest of journalists, opinion leaders etc. on a certain sub-ject without bearing costs of buying space or time in media. Therefore PR is cheaper than traditional advertising, as well as giving results that are per-ceived by target audiences as more credible, be-cause an audience may regard such messages (for instance articles or TV programs on business channels) as coming from an objective source.However, nowadays, in the era of omnipresent In-ternet access and when Internet seems to become a basic source of information to the majority of pe-ople, PR activities are even more complex. PR pro-fessionals must monitor hundreds of portal news, social media and forum discussions and engage

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in them as much as possible. The world of media has widely grown – there are not only TV/ radio and press journalists, but also journalists of hundreds of internet portals, bloggers etc. Internet allows in-formation to spread in a flash, but it also requires fast actions and constant presence of organization / brand representatives to be always ready to com-municate with target audiences. Materials prepared by PR professionals has also had to evolve. Traditional press releases, with a few photographs attached, are now not enough to suc-cessfully carry out PR online. New media require new tools of communications, containing (apart from press releases, expert comments, reports etc.) multimedia (for instance video podcasts with interviews, videos showing case studies, anima-tions etc.) and more graphical elements (for exam-ple infographics), that attract and engage Internet users. Regarding promoting resource efficiency among small and medium companies it is vital to strive for presence of this topic:

• in economic and business press

• in business TV channel

• on business-related and economic internet portals

• in business radio programs

• on business-related blogs

Social media:Social media are currently one of the most popular channels of communication between companies or brands and their target audiences. Using them ena-bles to create communities around certain brands or ideas and engages them in two-way commu-nication. However, despite the fact that they are commonly used by most of the companies, they are not equally suitable and effective for all. Face-book is mainly used by its users for communication and entertainment. It usually does not engage them as much in topics related to economy, engineering,

heavy industry etc. It is not recommended to fully resign from presence in this medium. However, in this case it should not be treated as one of the most important channels.

• It is more advisable to focus on media that gather people around business topics. One of them is Goldenline, which is mainly used to create business networks and is widely used by headhunters to recruit employees. The portal is also commonly used by its users – various professionals – to create discussion groups on different topics. It is recommended to monitor discussions on such media, regar-ding resource efficiency, take part in them and initiate them.

• Blog platforms are another popular online media. A lot of blogs are currently considered to be more opinion-forming than other, more traditional media. Therefore it is important to monitor them and encourage to engage in promoting increasing resource efficiency some reputable, popular bloggers, who deal with business-, economy- and environmen-t-related topics.

• Writing about social media, there is also another platform, that should not be omitted – Youtube. Although this video platform is also usually used for entertainment, it is very useful for all organizations that are willing to be pre-sent and visible online. It enables to created own video channel on Youtube and enrich organization’s communication online by pre-senting videos containing expert comments, interviews, relations from vital events, presen-ting case studies, promotional films etc. Links to these videos may be promoted on organi-zation’s website, in other social media, pro-motional emails etc. In the era of visual, lively materials that appeal to audience more than text, it is a great tool of communication.

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Fig. 4.: Blog for Quaker Council for European AffairsSource: https://qceablog.wordpress.com

Fig. 5.: Blog for resource efficient businessSource: http://www.rebnews.com/insight/blogs/index.html

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Fig. 6.: Presource NewsletterSource: own sources

Newsletters/Promotional emails:Well-prepared newsletters are a good tool of online promotion. Although in times of omnipresent spam their effectiveness is lower, if they are sent to proper mailing list, containing receivers that are potential-ly interested in the subject of a promotional ema-il, they still may draw interest of many individuals from target groups. There are two ways of gaining access to email addresses of target audience:1. Building own mailing list – by encouraging visi-tors of resource efficiency website to sign in to a newsletter to be up to date with news on the sub-ject 2. Paying for sending a promotional email to en external website’s mailing base. It is offered by the majority of portals, however it is vital to make sure that the portal’s audience would be interested in the topic of e-mail which one intends to send. Promotional email offers various and attractive me-thods of presenting messages – mixing text and

graphical elements, linking to videos and websites containing detailed information on interesting to-pics. However a list of factors must be applied so a promotional email Is successful:

• eye-catching subject – as it usually determi-nes if a receiver will open an email, it should be intriguing or contain a language of bene-fits, call to action

• professional look, well-designed, clear layout, eye-catching top part of email content, pro-fessional pictures, interesting e-banners

• mixing text and graphical elements

• interesting content, well-written texts

• sending email only for a good reason, not spamming receivers – a frequency of sending promotional emails should be well-consi-dered, so the target audience does not feel overwhelmed and tired with the amount of messages received

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Conferences/meetings:Promoting RE during conferences, meetings and workshops still seems to be attractive form of pro-motion. During such events different kind of sta-keholders have chance to meet with one another – representatives of companies, R+D, universities,

• PRESOURCE Conference „Resource Efficiency in Central European SMEs: Opportunity or Challen-ge?” – 12.11.2014

Fig. 7.: XII Bioenergy for the Region Cluster ForumSource: http://www.bioenergiadlaregionu.eu/o-klastrze/spotka-

nia-i-konferencje/

Fig. 8.: Forum Gospodarcze 2013Source: http://www.outsourcingportal.pl/pl/outsourcing/fotorela-

cje/v-europejskie-forum-gospodarcze-w-lodzi.html

• XII Bioenergy for the Region Cluster Forum 2013 • Lodz Economic Forum – 2013

local administration, financing institutions. It is im-portant to hear and understand others view. During such events there is always a chance to show best practice examples within RE to wide range of pu-blicity.

Fig. 9.: Presource Conference - BerlinSource: http://www.presource.eu/calendar/presource-final-conference

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summary

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Industry is a major driver of more responsible re-source management for it not only contains pollu-tion, it also strengthens the competitiveness of the economy and creates jobs. A study by the German Agency for Material Efficiency (demea) has shown that enterprises can save an average of more than €200,000 per year on material costs. Often this requires no large-scale investments, and the costs of measures are generally recouped within a few

years’ time. [6] Major factors to proliferate RE ac-tions within companies should be:

• Increased competitiveness

• Efficiency gains and lower material costs

• Less dependence on volatile raw materials prices

• Access to discounted advice and know-how

[1] European Comission, 2011. [Online]. Available: http://ec.europa.eu/resource-efficient-europe/ pdf/resource_efficient_europe_en.pdf. [Data uzyskania dostępu: 2014].[2] U. N. E. Programme, „UNEP,” [Online]. Available: http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Busi ness/CleanerSaferProduction/ResourceEfficientCleanerProduction/Activities/PromotingResour ceEfficiencyinSMEsPRE-SME/tabid/104523/Default.aspx.[3] M. Fröhling, F. Schwaderer, H. Bartusch i F. Schultmann, „A Material Flow-based Approach to En hance Resource Efficiency in Production and Recycling Networks,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, nr 17, pp. 5-19, 2014. [4] A.N.Sarkar, „Promoting Eco-innovations to Leverage Sustainable Development of Eco-industry and Green Growth,” European Journal of Sustainable Development, pp. 171-224, 2013. [5] „Presource,” 2014, [Online]. Available: www.presource.eu. [Data uzyskania dostępu: 2014].[6] Umweltbundesamt, 2014. [Online]. Available: http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/press/pressin formation/germany-on-course-to-become-the-most-resource. [Data uzyskania dostępu: 2014].

bibliography:

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Contact: Daniel de Graaf Federal Environment Agency (UBA) Wörlitzer Platz 1, 06844 Dessau- Roßlau Tel: +49 (0) 340 2103-3407 Fax: +49 (0) 340 2104-3407 www.presource.eu