Green Core And Red Movement

In May 3, 2008, the brand "Nau", which regards "sustainability" as the commercial innovation chip, had to be closed after 19 months.

"Although the current financial difficulties can not be overcome, it does not mean that this idea is difficult to achieve."

In the long farewell letter posted on the website, Nau said yes.

This is frustrating for "moral consumers", although they are always facing challenges in the business environment.

The so-called "moral consumption" is called "ethicalconsuming" in English.

These moral consumers believe that they should encourage enterprises who are committed to environment and sustainable development through their own choices, and refuse to buy products that are "misbehaving".

In Japan, where the LOHAS magazine is popular, there are a group of more stable "green consumption" groups, who only buy corporate products that are socially responsible.

Although green consumption is still a minority group in China, if the sensitive nerves of some people are touched, the pressure of boycott is obvious: Chinese brand Semir used to advertise "I can't control global warming, but at least I look good".

The Old English people are good at dealing with the two opposites of business and morality, perhaps because they have always had the tradition of "ethical consumption" - fair trade coffee was first launched here.

Two years ago, Britain once compared the "moral character" of international brands. McDonald's became the most unethical brand among British consumers.

The British cooperative bank also publishes an annual ethical consumption report every year. Last year's report showed that the average cost of British households in 2007 was 664 pounds, which was nearly doubled compared with 366 pounds 5 years ago.

It can be foreseen that more and more people are gradually saying goodbye to the self centered moral indifference in the past consumer behavior, and the moral unconsciousness which only takes into account the pleasure of consumption, and begins to focus on the social connotation besides commodity design and quality.

Is your purchase ethical?

How will your consumption affect the whole world?

Such problems are constantly thrown out. The green kernel and red movement are becoming the new moral DNA of the consumer society.

Goodbye, NAU probably not many people know the brand of Nau. In 2006, ChrisVanDyke, 57, went to Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon, to participate in the northwest Venture Capital Conference.

There he is preparing to build a new company, Nau.

The former Nike and Patagonia marketing director, who has launched the fastest sales volume in the short term, such as Aquashoe, has launched the first product in the short term.

Before the meeting, he carefully set up his booth. As a result, a representative of the conference regarded it as a hanger and hung up his clothes.

After all, a clothing company selling "sustainable" concept to wind up at a gathering of high-tech companies was rarely seen at that time.

The name "Nau" comes from Maori. It means "welcome you".

This new and sustainable outdoor clothing company is indeed environmentally friendly in all respects: it set up its headquarters in the building of Gold Award certified by LEED (the pioneer of environmental protection and energy-efficient Architecture), issued by the green environmental protection commission of the United States; all the traditional fabrics and non-toxic dyes are used in the fabric, all of which are 100% certified organic cotton, wool from "happy sheep", recyclable artificial fibers, and recyclable and up-to-date new materials such as PLA. Even shops, offices and foundries must strictly meet the requirements of sustainable development.

This enterprise is fully concerned by the marketing people, because it is a combination of online and offline sales mode.

This saving cost will be used to support a series of social responsibility projects, so it is also sustainable.

Each customer will receive a list of "optional donor" on the paction, asking whether he is willing to donate 5% of his turnover to charity organization.

"Every customer will experience the donation process," explains IanYolles, vice president of marketing at Nau.

Nau's back walls are set up as touchscreens, playing 12 messages of environmental protection and non-profit organizations at the same time. At the same time, these environmental organizations also use letters, activities and other occasions to promote Nau products.

A video of Nau appearing in YahooVideo tells the story of an environmentalist in the mobile solar house. He got 440 thousand hits in 6 hours.

The helmmakers of Nau are not alone in relying on one enthusiasm. Instead, each of them comes from the top companies in the industry -- NIKE, Adidas, and Patagonia, a brand that many people respect.

YvonChouinard, the founder of Patagonia, once said that without the earth, it would be useless to earn more money.

Everything looks optimistic, including this booming market.

In the book "cultural innovation", sociologist Paul Ryan (PaulRay) mentioned that about 50 million people in the United States belong to LOHAS customers who drive environmentally friendly cars, eat natural foods and "consciously consume", which accounts for about 1/6 of the American population.

Americans who are sensitive to business thinking can not be aware of this huge emerging market.

At the beginning of the Nau, many people were optimistic about its green dream. If everything went according to plan, Nau could raise $15 million in the early 2008, and it would open 150th stores in 2010.

But now, all of this is regretfully turning into Utopia.

Nau, who is committed to solving environmental problems and social and cultural problems, can not avoid losing fate.

Some people think that this is the failure of niche products, or the reversion of morality in the face of commercial power.

It is also evaluated that this is a radical test of 19 months.

In a farewell letter issued on the website in May 3rd, Nau attributed all the problems to "failure to deal with a sudden crisis in the capital market" rather than the failure of this idea.

"Although the current financial difficulties can not be overcome, this does not mean that this idea is difficult to achieve.

It is still urgent to build a sustainable future for mankind and the whole planet from commerce.

Red movement and creative capitalism in the late 2006, Bill Gate and Bono (Irish band U2 lead singer) drink and chat in a bar in Davos town.

After a few drinks, Bono suddenly became very excited and talked to Gates about how to make those responsible and public spirited enterprises take part in profits to help change the world.

Bill Gate recalled that night, "he kept calling, woke others up from their sleep, and then gave me the phone to let me know that they were all interested in it.

It took us a lot of time to start the work.

In 2008, also in Davos, Bill Gate told the story of all the business elites in a self proclaimed speech, and he put forward the concept of "creative capitalism".

It sounds a bit risky to conduct a charity mission at a gathering of business forces.

But Bono and Bill Gate have been experimenting with this idea again and again.

Two years ago, after the night that made Bono excited, he soon announced the birth of a new idea. "Red", by creating enterprise support, to create "red products" will contribute to the global AIDS Foundation Project in Africa and jointly fight poverty in Africa.

Bono does not consider the birth of "red products" as a charity activity, but rather a commercial investment. The reason is "charity is like Hippie music, holding hands; Red is more like punk rock, HIP-HOP, which makes people feel that they are actually doing business."

BobbyShriver, the head of the "red product", will also lobby the companies for profit. The company will eventually do business. He knows that no company will abandon its economic interests because of its noble morality.

Too many practices have proved that this "consumer friendly" product can greatly enhance company performance, make money and do good deeds.

Red also has the exclusive right to select only one partner in each industry. The product is labeled with Red, marking the production process to be ethical and sustainable.

"We hope to make it easy for ordinary people to participate."

BobbyShriver says some of the products are priced slightly higher, and some of the profits are allocated to support AIDS in Africa, which is the simplest mode of participation.

On the back of American Express's credit card, it says, "this card is designed to help reduce AIDS in Africa," and 1% of cardholders' consumption will be donated to this fund.

JohnHayes, the marketing director of American Express, once said that the cost of a company's marketing is far greater than that of charity. The traditional charity model can not solve the real problem. This kind of "business of its own" can benefit both shareholders and the public.

Another participant, GAP, has released a series of new T-shirt. Nike's CONVERSE has released "red" sneakers. Since the death of anorexia in 2005, GiorgioArmani is among the first fashion designers to reject skinny models, and the responsible designer has become the fashion partner of the brand.

ARMANI not only plans to start with sunglasses, but also extends to clothing, accessories, watches, perfume and jewelry, and brings this idea to the United States and other countries.

It is said that this good intention didn't win the first prize at the beginning.

People's attitudes towards public stars are always in love and hate: some people think he has done a great job in improving poverty in Africa, while others think he is just a busy rock singer.

Since the declaration of AIDS was issued in Davos, there have been many skeptics around Bono. However, in any case, the "RED" he advocated eventually fulfilled his promise.

For the time being, it is said that --DATA, founded by Bono, has employed more than 100 full-time employees and has launched a series of actions that have had a great impact on some important decision-makers in the world.

The concept of "red" enters a new stage, which depends on Bill Gate's joining.

Because DELL and Microsoft decided to make a donation of $50-80 from each of the DELL computers built in the Microsoft system.

In view of the global influence of DELL and Microsoft, there is no doubt that this project has injected stimulants to give them the potential of wide profits.

Of course, it is too early to judge whether the project is successful or not. The red campaign has a long way to go.

But at least the first four companies have signed a five year contract.

BobbyShriver is also convinced that the enthusiasm of this concept is being ignited, especially for the United States, because it hopes to "compensate for past mistakes by good deeds", which is also the style of the Americans.

No one is the perfect moral guard, but at least when people stop to think, people will feel that they should do something.

In the Western proverb calendar, Youarewhatyoueat, in the commercial society Youarewhatyoubuy, or will become a new identity.