Going Green on Display
More and more companies are discovering that a greener, more sustainable strategy in today's marketplace is not only good for the environment but also for the business. This "Green" movement can be seen throughout many company's supply chains and into their marketing campaigns. Recently Wal-Mart began to implement green initiatives throughout its nearly 4,000 stores Nationwide. When a behemoth like Wal-Mart becomes eco-friendly companies around the World sit up and notice.
Green Exhibits
Companies are developing environmentally friendly and eco-conscious practices at a growing, and faster rate every year. Many of them have long term strategies with a variety of sustainable green goals. So what does this have to do with the exhibit industry? Well in 2007 the industry experienced several eco-friendly firsts of its own:
- The first eco-friendly exhibit system was introduced
- The Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) announced the formation of a green standards development committee for trade show exhibit design and construction.
- The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) announced a Green Committee to address environmental issues in the industry.
- Implementation of industry wide recycling efforts began and over 1 million yards of carpet were recycled.
Growing Demand for Green
According to
An Inconvenient Booth, a recent study conducted by The Exhibitor Magazine Group, there is an untapped market for Green exhibiting options of around $9.24 billion. If you really want to understand this market you have to look at both sides of the industry: the exhibit product suppliers and services and the customers buying them. The exhibit industry can be excited about filling a growing demand for environmental products and services while also reducing the amount of waste that comes from conventions, trade shows, and marketing every year. The trade show industry is the second most wasteful industry behind construction and a big part of this waste is from one time use displays.
Eco-Interest
There is a high interest in green exhibiting options from among both exhibitors and suppliers. This interest has slowly grown and translated into small steps towards adopting green exhibiting options. According to the a Exhibitor Magazine Group study 62% of exhibitors and 78% of suppliers expect their interest in Green exhibiting to increase over the next 12 months. The same percentage of exhibitors says their interest is already very high and 81% of suppliers had a very high interest in green exhibiting options as well. These numbers demonstrate a trend towards the growth of green displays and marketing tools used by exhibitors and produced by the exhibit industry.
There are two main driving forces behind the growing interest: suppliers and especially exhibitors believe that adopting environmentally friendly practices is the right thing to do and individual's personal interest in environmental issues and social causes has increased, which we will take a closer look at later.
The Bottom Line
While being personally interested and believing it is the right thing to do for yourself and the planet is a great, we still have to consider the business side and whether going green can really have a positive effect on the bottom line. According to the
Inconvenient Booth study about half of both exhibitors and suppliers believe that adopting greener practices will enhance their company's brand and image. 25% of new products in the United States have some sort of sustainability claim and most consumers prefer Green Products over others. Why do consumers prefer green products over the "dirtier" ones? We will get to that soon. In the meantime try to come up with creative ways your company can save money while also becoming part of a growing green movement. One of the best ways might be to start with your marketing and using a sustainable, recyclable, green display at your next trade show or convention.
