3 Examples of Strong Sustainability Branding at Expo West

Standing out at a conference like Expo West — with over 3,000 brands exhibiting and over 64,000 attendees — is like a microcosm of competing in the consumer market. With so much competition for attention, brands can't afford to be wallflowers. But you also can't take the same promotional approach as everyone else.

For some brands, leaning into a sustainability message helps them stand out from competitors. But generic claims won't cut it. To connect with consumers in a way that actually drives purchases, you need to address their pain points.

Here are three examples of brands that had clear, effective sustainability messages at Expo West:

1) Tru Earth

Cleaning products brand Tru Earth displayed an eye-catching tower of plastic jugs to drive home the benefit of products like Tru Earth's laundry strips. It's one thing to tell consumers that they can reduce plastic waste by switching to alternatives, but for many consumers, it's hard for that to feel like a tangible benefit — unless you're staring at an actual tower of plastic.

Of course, this type of display can't easily be replicated in stores or if you're trying to catch consumers browsing Amazon. However, it speaks to the power of "show don't tell." In spaces that are more visual, like social media, consider focusing more on broadcasting the impact of your brand's sustainability — like with a representation of the water you're saving — rather than using these spaces to just talk about sustainability goals.

Also, being overt with your messaging like this helps overcome the second most common barrier to sustainable purchasing (behind only price) — the issue of consumers not knowing when a product is sustainable, according to Simon-Kucher research.

2) Reel

While the bold visuals from TruEarth are one way to go, you can still let consumers know your products are sustainable through clear, yet subtler language. For example, Reel, a bamboo paper products brand, perhaps best known for its toilet paper, used its backdrop to directly address what many consumers are likely concerned with when they think of bamboo and their toilet paper of choice — is it going to be comfortable?

So, Reel leads with how its product is "Soft on you" before then tying that into environmental benefits, noting that it's "Softer on the planet."

The brand's messaging also states that "you never have to compromise on quality or strength." This speaks to another common barrier to sustainable purchasing, which is that many consumers think there's a performance tradeoff.

And while demonstrating the effectiveness of its products is a little difficult to do outside of the comfort of your own home, the simple inclusion of a Reel box of bamboo tissues that attendees could try out on the spot was a smart choice.

3) HoldOn

Lastly, garbage bag company HoldOn, located right next to Reel's booth, took a similar approach in terms of clearly addressing consumer concerns. Rather than spouting all the technical details of how the bag is formulated, the brand uses its limited real estate to share a message (consistent with what it also puts on the bags themselves) about how the product replaces plastic bags while still being strong.

There may not be much to sample on the spot here, but I liked the inclusion of a garbage bin with a HoldOn bag and the clean aesthetics, even if it was unintentional or coincidental. Considering attendees were constantly walking around with trash from other booths' samples, this could give a quick way to see the performance, and the uncluttered visuals of the booth evoked feelings of cleanliness.

Ultimately, what all three of these brands communicated in just a few words or visuals is that there are better alternatives to the traditional products that are polluting our planet. You don't need to get overly preachy to make this point, but you can still let consumers know that your brand is addressing environmental problems, without asking consumers to compromise on quality.

Disclosure: Carbon Neutral Copy's parent company, JournoContent LLC, has clients involved in sustainability-related areas, among others. The owner of Carbon Neutral Copy, Jacob (Jake) Safane, has investments in sustainability-related companies, among others.

As such, conflicts of interest related to these and other investments/business relationships, even if unintended, may exist at times. Please email info@carbonneutralcopy.com if you'd like further clarification on any issues.