Save the date. Note it down somewhere, preferably not on a scrap of paper that will be added to the random pile on the side of your desk. Clarity are making a change for the better and it starts with a few simple actions.
For a start, we’re getting rid of unnecessary brochure printing. With the annual Business Travel Show coming up we would be transporting these expertly designed stacks of paper in boxes down to London in their hundreds, if not thousands.
We would then spend the entirety of the show, handing these off to potential clients who, in turn, put them in a bag that will ultimately never be opened again. It’s the eternal pain of a marketer to spend so much time and effort on a project for it to be cast aside quicker than a Brexit campaign promise.
No more.
Plastic fantastic
For some, the saving grace of an industry expo is the ability to stock up on pens, portable chargers that give you 10 minutes of juice while taking 40 hours to charge themselves, and fidget spinners to give to the kids you neglect while travelling, the reality is that these are the worst kind of cheap ploys.
While many companies focus on reducing single-use plastics (something we began in 2019), at Clarity, we’re going further. Alongside offsetting our carbon for the entirety of the business (15 branches across the UK, Europe, and Ireland made up of around 650 staff), we’re also banning the printing of business cards.
But Business Cards increase business, right?
Yes. And no. The problem is that if you Google that question, you’re bound to get a mixed message. Physical print media will tell you that business cards increase sales, while new age digital marketers tell you that business cards are a product of a dying age. Ok, boomer.
When we made the decision at Clarity to stop producing business cards, the first thing we needed to decide was ‘are we doing this because it’s what we’ve always done?’. In truth, probably. We then thought about what we do with the business cards we receive. They go into a pile, under my screen where they stack until I inevitably bin them. Sorry.
The truth is that people tend to connect via LinkedIn now. Besides the sales professional that sends you a sales message the moment you accept a request (seriously, not even The Flash could type that fast), LinkedIn is a great tool to connect with potential clients, suppliers and industry experts to grow your network. No one is scrolling through their rolodex anymore.
It’s only a difference if you do something different
Sustainability is clearly a hot button topic, and for good reason. While many companies will prepare documents around their approach to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility for those that don’t speak corporatese) the reality is that there is a lot more that can, and should be done. Our commitment to reducing our single use plastics, paper consumption, and carbon waste is a small piece of the puzzle.
Our next step is working with our clients to help them reduce their carbon, and with our suppliers to produce genuine benefits to help facilitate this.
It’s a small step, but at least it’s in the right direction.