There’s no reversing the trend of end-user clients expecting more “retail look and feel” for products and packaging in the promotional products industry. Buyers are consumers themselves, and have the same “fashion forward” expectations that they have when buying for their own family. I am sure you’ve had a recent conversation with a buyer that looks for brand first, then talks about decoration.
That’s why a major initiative announced last month by Target could mean significant changes in our industry. The more “retail” we become, the higher the bar for safer products. There is a good reason why so many chemicals go into many lifestyle, personal care products, and clothing. They make them easier to use, more comfortable, and perhaps even more effective. It’s the chemicals that make lotions feel and smell better, and extend their shelf life. It’s the chemicals in textiles that enable them to retain their colors or make them less flammable.
Arguably, Target’s initiative goes further than any of its competitors towards greener retail. The company admits its goals are ambitious:
• Achieving transparency in all ingredients by 2020, most notably in fragrance, beauty, baby care, personal care, and household cleaning products.
• Removing phthalates, propyl-paraben, butyl-paraben, formaldehyde, formaldehyde-donors, and NPEs from beauty, baby care, personal care, and household cleaning products by 2020.
• Removing flame retardants that are potentially carcinogenic or pose other harm to consumers from textile products by 2022.
• Investing $5 million in green chemistry innovation by 2022.
Announcing the plan, Jennifer Silberman, Target’s chief sustainability officer, said, “Our chemical strategy will be one of the most comprehensive in the U.S. retail industry, including all Target-owned and national brand products and operations, not just formulated products. It’s ambitious, but using our size, scale and expertise, we think we’ll be able to make significant progress.”
For promotional product suppliers, we’ve advocated here strongly about making product safety integrated into the product development process from the executive suite down to the manufacturing floor, then using that commitment to leverage sales opportunities. Suppliers and distributors in our industry have taken steps to translate safety into sales, with The Image Group making product safety page one on the corporate social responsibility report. “At The Image Group, every employee, at every level, shares a commitment to improving our communities,” said Jon Levin, TIG president. “Without question, social responsibility is the cornerstone of our company culture.”
Seventh Generation, a supplier of cleaning, paper, and personal care products, knows that consumers will benefit from Target’s aggressive strategy. “This announcement is a huge win for consumer transparency and we’re thrilled that Target is taking this step. It’s a forward-thinking policy like this that will drive industry change, ensuring that the health of our planet and its people are never compromised for profit,” said Seventh Generation CEO John Replogle. Target plans to report its progress on the green initiative each year in the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
How about you... have you checked your company’s CSR report? What does it say about product safety? More importantly, what does that say about your company?
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for more than 35 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He recently retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. As a recovering end-user client, he can’t help but continue to consult Fortune 500 consumer brands on promo product safety when asked. You can also find him working as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Follow Jeff on Twitter, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.