Today’s objective
In this session, you will learn how to:
• See sustainability as an income opportunity, not a cost
• Design sustainable experiences
• Communicate persuasively
• Change consumer behaviour
Companies greenhush, to not seem incompetent
70% of your sustainability actions are NOT communicated.
- Font, X., Elgammal, I. and Lamond, I. (2017) Greenhushing: the deliberate under communicating of sustainability practices by tourism businesses, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(7) 1007-1023.
Five benefits of sustainability marketing and communication
- Improve your service
- Improve your customer satisfaction
- Increase your customer expenditure
- Increase loyalty and reduce seasonality
- To attract new customers is more costly and complex
- 1a. Ask nicely
- 1b. Be trustworthy 1c. Be honest
- 1d. Be humorous
- 1e. Be engaging
Take care to design your sustainability communications.
Signage that uses your logo and has been desk top published and then displayed with care produces higher results with your customers
Avoid “be eco-friendly” and “we buy sustainable whenever possible”
Evidence Empathy
Write in first person, include a photo of the owner/manager
Testimonials of food suppliers
Don’t tell me to reuse the towel to save planet earth.
Current message:
Every day, in hotels all over the world, tons of towels are washed and washing powder is used, which contaminates the water.
Please decide!
New best message:
Reuse me tomorrow.
Just like at home.
Large towel Small towel
38% -> 49% 43% ->56%
Test conducted:
English, German and Spanish text 9,790 guests nights
1/09/16 – 23/10/16
TUI Magic Life Fuerteventura.
It is easier to change someone’s behaviour if you share a joke than if you make them feel forced to do it against their will, or if you are all doom and gloom.
Personal and social values
“we share the same values” message
“What I’m finding more and more as I travel and talk to parents, is the overwhelming number of you who are becoming desperate to help their children to engage with the real world and leave behind the screen of a computer, phone, Playstation, X-Box…”
2a. Make them feel good
2b. Use appealing language
2c. Tell customers what’s in it for them 2d. Make it easy
2e. Help them take decisions
Provenance
Menu descriptions, provenance statements
Show you care by cross selling (help them book activities with other providers)
Using Fairtrade sugar and organic coffee
Show and share the pride of the difference you made, together.
Appealing first, factual as backup Storytelling for emotional appeal The bird menu…
Fresh, trustworthy, more enjoyable
Kitchen waste Roof insulation Showers
Air conditioning
If you are asking your customers to change their behaviour, offer them something in return
Put the client at the centre of the experience works for all messages
Take the stress and responsibility out of making choices about sustainability for your customers.
Instead provide the sustainable product as the natural choice, and have evidence available to back up your choices
Make this part of better service
Present information that is useful at that point in time
Make it convenient, easy,the normal choice
- Pre booking/purchase
After booking and confirmation
On arrival/ start of the tour
During the tour/ stay
After the stay/visit
“wow that’s really cool!” is what you are aiming for
3a.Make them feel special
3b. Give them things to do
3c. Improve the experience 3d. Package services
Unique service and sense of exclusivity increase willingness to pay
Offer specific products only for loyal customers
Across the border in East Yorkshire, England, local pubs and cafes are celebrating the birds’ return to form by selling ‘capuffincinos’, frothy coffees with a chocolate puffin sprinkled on top.
Upsell:
Help them spend more (time and money) with you
Increasing the experience increases the willingness to pay Participate, experience Make them the protagonists
(Join the chef in selecting the vegetables and herbs for dinner)
Essential/most known/highest sales products bundled with higher profit margin/ new to the market products
4a. Make them aware
4b. Weather proof your offer 4c. Add a calendar
4d. Give them reasons to recommend or return
Reinforce their perception of having made the right choice by letting them know, post purchase, how their product also helps sustainability as well as being a better quality product.
What to do when:
- There are midges
- It rains
- It’s too hot
What’s best about each month
Birds, flowers, Festivals Seasonal food
What your garden will
look like
Photos
Provide sustainability incentives appropriate to what the customer is worth to you
5a. Understand buyer requirements
5b. Communicate b2b + b2c benefits
What do you see yourself doing differently after today?