GOING GREEN GETTING HOT FOR BUSINESS SAVVY COMPANIES

Retailers are looking at “green” concerns as a way to fuel a tough holiday shopping season, said BDO Seidman, Chicago.

Thirty seven percent of respondents said they were increasing their marketing focus on green products. Barneys New York has dubbed its holiday campaign “Give Good Green.” (It’s a redo of their traditional “Give Good Gift” annual campaign).

Barney’s will offer limited-edition gift cards with slogans like “Green is Groovy” or “Join the Green Revolution,” and store displays feature recycling elves and an aluminum-can constructed “Rudolph the Recycling Reindeer” statue.

More than a quarter of retailers (26%) are plugging charity promotions during the holiday shopping season and half are donating a specific percentage of sales. And 31% are donating the proceeds from a specific product, like those first offered by The Gap under the (Product) RED umbrella last year.

“The retail industry is increasingly sensitive to projecting a positive corporate image to their customers,” said Catherine Fox-Simpson, a partner at BDO Seidman. “The holiday season is the prime opportunity to identify their brand with worthwhile causes, whether linked to charitable work or focused on environmental sustainability.”

By Eric Newman

That is smart thinking now that Al Gore has proved his earthly cause by winning a Nobel Peace Prize.

We just heard that Sportsman Cap Network has a new brand called Econscious, made in 100 percent organic cotton twill. The brand comes in three styles, a visor, a baseball and a corps hat. Each is available in earth tone shades as well as pacific, black, earth, jungle and oyster.