Page 16 - BOSS Today Issue 43

BOSS Today #43 SPECIAL FEATURE

their biomass. The stock of carbon pick it up, turn it over and see that on Brazil: wouldn’t it be better to be
in forest biomass has increased by the back there’s an endorsement from using something a bit more local?”
around 3 billion tonnes since 1990, Sir David Attenborough confirming it. immediately puts the conversation into
which means that forests absorb If you’ve got the customer that far, the an area that is not focused on price,
around 7% of the annual greenhouse only thing left for them to do is pay!” and if the customer replies. “But it’s
gas emissions from the region. Between cheap!”, the dealer can then say, “If
2005 and 2015, European forests grew Knowing The Benefits you could have a more local paper at
by 44,000 km2: that’s an area bigger This of course could bring us on to the same price, why wouldn’t you?””.
than Switzerland and amounts to over the sensitive issue of price, but if So, how successful have Office Club
1,500 football pitches every day.” asked about whether the Cool Earth dealers been in using the sustainability
product is price competitive, Robins argument to sell the Cool Earth product?
Walking The Talk reiterates: “Price doesn’t matter! Says Robins, “Since we launched it, we
Of course, as Percival points out, That’s the default failing of many haven’t just reversed the 8% decline
“sustainability is not something dealers. There will always be somebody but we have grown 30% year on year
that has recently risen to the top of cheaper. If somebody wants to buy for two years. End-user interest in
the agenda as far as office paper is a socially responsible or sustainable sustainability is growing faster and
concerned. The paper industry has been product, then the discussion should faster. I don’t think there is anywhere
at the forefront of socially responsible be about the sustainable credentials that is not affected by this, and the
solutions a long time before the of the product, not its price.” impetus is coming from everywhere,
relatively recent focus on this topic.” How, then, should dealers successfully including the reaction to last year’s ‘Blue
However, what is especially sell those credentials and that paper? Planet’ TV series. Any company that has
interesting at present is the extent to Again, Robins is clear: “Dealers need to got employees is going to have some
which the sustainability message is be seen as an expert and should know people within the organisation saying,
now being used by the OP industry to more about paper than any end-user “What are we doing about this?””
market cut paper products and – of is likely to. However, since an end-user It is clear also that there is no value in
course – how successful this strategy might know more about sustainability dealers putting their heads in the sand
has been in building sales, share than their dealer, there’s definitely also on this issue because, as Robins says,
and margin against the backdrop of a requirement for dealers to understand “the increasing profile of
falling paper volumes and that value- what the issues are. Going sustainability
shrinking ‘race to the bottom’. into a client meeting in the UK
One example of this is Office Club’s and saying, “I
Cool Earth brand, as Robins explains: can see you
“One of the first things that we did when are using
I arrived at Office Club was to look at our a paper
own brand range of paper, which was from
a premium B grade sheet. Along with
the rest of the cut paper market, sales
of it were in decline, so we questioned
what value the Office Club brand was
providing and saw an opportunity to
source a sustainable premium B grade
paper product and create an affinity
marketing programme for it with
the Cool Earth charity (see box).
It’s not unusual, of course, to see
this kind of charity partnership in
the UK paper market – Premier
Paper have their own programme
with the Woodland Trust (see the
section on Premier Paper below).
For Robins, the marketing message
on the Cool Earth paper is deliberately
direct: “We’ve designed the wrapper of
the paper so that it simply says ‘This
Paper Saves Trees’. It grabs attention
with a bold statement, so customers can

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