Show your green side with sustainable marketing

Sustainable marketing is more than merely saying, “Our organization is eco-friendly.” You’ve got to be able to back up this claim. Your customers and partners will want to know what parts of your business are sustainable. They’ll be interested in hearing how you plan to maintain and improve this in the future.

Communicating this message correctly is important. By taking the simple step of swapping plastic promotional pens for plantable Sprout pencils, you’re sending a visible message that having a green mindset is important.

What is sustainable marketing?

Sustainable marketing may seem like a new marketing buzzword, but it’s a practice that has been around for decades. There’s often confusion over what is sustainable marketing. Here’s a good definition: “Sustainable marketing is the process of creating, communicating and delivering value to customers in such a way that both natural and human capital are preserved or enhanced.”

One of the driving forces of sustainable marketing is innovation. Organizations that thrive to innovate in the long run reap extra benefits, like, cutting edge ideas and processes, cost-savings, improved efficiency and increased customer loyalty. They also experience a ‘feel-good’ factor by knowing that the processes and practices they’ve adopted are saving the planet’s resources.

Your customers will be eager to know about what sustainable practices the organization is using and sustainable marketing is the perfect channel to communicate this.

Natural based products will be your new favorite

Your sustainable message can quickly be shattered if you fail to use the right promotional products. A plastic promotional pen that can take up to 1000 years to biodegrade doesn’t exactly show support for sustainability, does it?

So, when you’re reviewing your sustainable marketing strategy, seek out products that use natural-based resources and sustainable processes. Luckily for you, we already do that here at Sprout World!

Sprout World was born back in 2013 when our founder Michael Stausholm came across an invention by three MIT students on the Kickstarter website – a pencil that could be planted. Michael instantly saw the potential in this simple but innovative idea and bought the rights to it. That was the start of the plantable Sprout pencil.

Write a message in support of sustainability with the plantable Sprout pencil…

So far, we’ve sold over 20 million pencils in 80 countries – this shows that people love a pencil that carries a sustainable message.

The plantable Sprout pencil is available as graphite or color. Our Rainbow pencil that contains three colors in one – red, yellow and blue is also extremely popular. All plantable Sprout pencils are made from sustainably harvested wood. This means that when a tree is chopped down to make our pencils, another tree is planted to replace it.

The writing material in the plantable Sprout pencil is a mix of non-toxic graphite and clay and this gives a smooth writing texture, ideal for taking notes, drawing and doodling with. The seed capsule at the end of the pencil is made from a plant-based material that decomposes in soil allowing the non-GMO seeds to germinate and grow into luscious flowers, fresh herbs, tasty vegetables and even spruce trees.

As standard, our plantable Sprout pencils come with the name of the seed and ‘Sprout’ engraved on them. You have the option to customize the pencils with your company logo and message – this could be your web address, tag line or a special sustainable message. For businesses and organizations in the EU, color print is available. Using precision UV printing and safety standard ink that doesn’t smudge, your logo and message can be printed in just about any color. Ideal for organizations who want to replicate their brand colors across their sustainable marketing promotional products.

If you operate in international markets, the seed name can be engraved in a language of your choice. Please note there’s a minimum order of 100 pencils per seed type.

Getting serious about sustainability isn't as hard as it may seem

Since Sprout World was formed back in 2013, we’ve worked with some amazing organizations, large and small that have built sustainability into their business and who want to share this with people through sustainable marketing practices.

Here are examples of how Sprout products have been used as part of sustainable marketing campaigns:

EurElectric

EurElectric, The Union of the Electricity Industry that represents the interests of the industry in Europe chose to giveaway plantable Sprout pencils on single cards at the Eurelectric Power Summit in 2019.

“Sprout pencils are a very good way to promote sustainable living among the guests of our events.” – Marianna Karu, Advisor Events, EurElectric

Arla Foods Ingredients

Arla Foods Ingredients uses customized plantable Sprout pencils to promote its Toddler Programme. The programme focuses on the importance of whey proteins for kids aged 2-5 years old.

Arla Foods Ingredients hand out the pencils at meetings and the feedback they’ve received has been fantastic.

“We sent the pencils out with a letter and a book that explains the program. When the pencils sprout it’s a symbol of a good start in life. This message fits so well with our mission to give kids a good start.” – Mia Vesttergaard Andersen, Arla Foods Ingredients

Netto

Netto, a leading Danish supermarket brand used customized plantable Sprout pencils on single cards to promote its organic product range at the Aarhus Food Festival.

“Sprout fits our values and the Food Festival perfectly.” – Kathrine Werling, Netto, Denmark