big stuff: method + ecover merger

Holy cleaning crap, Batman! Big news on the method front. They've just completed a merger with eco-cleaning brand, Ecover! method attempted to sell their brand a few years ago, before deciding against it. Looks like they decided to make the jump.

Update + Here's method's official statement pertaining to the merger:

Method and Ecover Join Forces to Create the World’s Largest Green Cleaning Company

Method, leaders in premium planet-friendly and design-driven home, fabric and personal care products, today announced its acquisition by European-based, eco-pioneers Ecover to create the world’s largest green cleaning company.

Joining forces on a mission to rid the world of dirty, the acquisition will see the two companies benefit from combined scale, skills and knowledge and an extended distribution network spanning Europe, US, Asia and Australia. Collectively delivering sales of $200m and employing around 300 staff, Method and Ecover will continue as separate brands with a shared ambition to bring as many new consumers as possible into the green cleaning and personal care market.

Method and Ecover are both deeply rooted in the use of plant-based and sustainable ingredients as well as innovative packaging. The combined product range and global distribution reach, as a result of Ecover’s comprehensive supply chain in Europe which is matched in the US by Method, will ensure that there is a worldwide platform for both brands. There will also be a combined approach towards innovation and research and development, aspects that both companies feel hugely passionate about as they support the foundations of their brands.

“This is a very exciting milestone in Method’s 11-year history, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Ecover to bring even more consumers into the green cleaning market,” said Drew Fraser, Method CEO. “The marriage of our two brands makes perfect sense, as we are both companies rooted in a deep heritage of sustainability, innovation, and making people’s lives healthier and happier. By coming together, our two brands will only serve to strengthen each other by providing complementary capabilities, an unrivalled opportunity for category-changing product development, and a united effort in building on our combined vision.”

Ecover CEO, Philip Malmberg, added: “With the acquisition of Method, we are acquiring much more than just a brand. This is the start of a fantastic, long-term partnership with a company that has a track record for innovation, an unwavering commitment to green products and a professional team with a real passion for what they do.

“The merger of these two businesses provides us with a strategic position in the US market – the largest and fastest growing market in the green cleaning category – and Method with a European partner with an unrivalled heritage, robust environmental credentials and ecological manufacturing facilities.

“I am personally very excited about this acquisition as it will not only create the world’s most dynamic and visionary green cleaning company, but also establish a great platform for growth for both brands. By leveraging each other’s strengths, this partnership will support the elevation of the green cleaning category as a whole.”

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An article from Inc.com gives a bit more information:

Green Merger: method bought by Ecover | Kathleen Kim, Inc.com

The companies say their union creates the world's largest green cleaning company.

Green cleaning company Method has found a new home: European manufacturer Ecover has purchased the home-care products maker for an undisclosed sum from San Francisco Equity Partners. "This transition marks a new chapter in the evolution of our business," said Method co-founder Eric Ryan in a statement released on Tuesday.

The new union would forge the world’s largest green cleaning company, with a combined $200 million annual revenue, reports by The Financial Times. The outlet also reports that while sharing the same green vision, the two companies will continue to run as separate brands.

With the tagline “people against dirty,” Method first made a splash in the green cleaning market in 2000 with its line of nontoxic and biodegradable cleaners. Inc. reported in 2007 that Method’s 2003 revenue of $11.7 million had catapulted to $71 million within three years.

Currently more than 40,000 retailers throughout the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and France carry Method products, which range from disinfecting wipes to laundry detergent.

Ecover operates in the same environmentally friendly vein, with two manufacturing facilities in Belgium and France that churn out renewable plant-based cleaning products. The company sells 35 different products in 40 countries, according to the U.K.'s The Grocer.

“The marriage of our two brands makes perfect sense, as we are both companies rooted in a deep heritage of sustainability, innovation, and making people’s lives healthier and happier," said Method CEO Drew Fraser in a statement.

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Believe it or not, this is the first I'd heard of this as well. I'm letting it sink in as we speak. What do you think? Do you, or have you in the past, purchased Ecover products? Will this help or hurt the method brand? Leave method lust your thoughts in the comments!

method fun!

dumped?

Missing your favorite method product that you once purchased from Target? Wondering why it just suddenly disappeared/got clearanced/went away? How about this REALLY interesting article from CNN about how products are literally being dumped from store shelves!

"Dumped! Brand names fight to stay in stores |
By Parija Kavilanz

Don't be shocked if you can't find your favorite salad dressing or mouthwash on your next trip to Wal-Mart.

Large retailers -- including Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), the world's biggest -- are wrestling with having too many types of brand-name products. At the same time, shoppers are buying less and looking for bargains.

So unless a particular brand is a top seller in its category, it's getting knocked off the shelf -- and sometimes getting replaced by a cheaper store brand.

For example, Wal-Mart recently removed Glad and Hefty-branded storage bags from shelves, replacing them with its own lower-priced Great Value brand, according to the parent companies of both products.

In the case of Hefty, parent Pactiv Corp. (PTV) told CNNMoney.com that Wal-Mart reversed its decision, and will return its products to shelves this spring -- after Pactiv agreed to make the Great Value bags that will sell alongside the competing Hefty product.

"Hefty was off Wal-Mart's shelves, but we are being brought back," said Matt Gonring, spokesman for Pactiv Corp.

Bill Pecoriello, CEO of market research firm ConsumerEdge Research, expects Wal-Mart and other sellers will trim several name-brands across categories in coming months, or negotiate deals to get better pricing.

According to Pecoriello, those categories at greatest risk of losing brands are everyday-type purchases such as household products, toiletries and food staples.

These are also categories in which retailers have aggressively pushed their own house brands.

"If you consider the economics of this, if Wal-Mart can build customer loyalty for its own brand, which is also cheaper-priced and cheaper to stock than name-brands, then it will," he said.

Heavyweight
Moves such as this are significant given Wal-Mart's heavyweight status in the retail industry.

"Any change that Wal-Mart makes with its product assortment has enormous implications for the entire industry," said Ali Dibadj, senior analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Wal-Mart declined comment for this story.

Wal-Mart is not the only one doing this, according to Dibadj. He says leading drug store chains, including CVS and Walgreens, grocers such as Kroger (KR, Fortune 500), and Wal-Mart's rival discounter, Target (TGT, Fortune 500), are also looking to simplify their store shelves.

In good economic times, product variety is a must for retailers. But in down times, when shoppers aren't buying much, variety can be a burden.

"Wal-Mart's a little fed up," said Lora Cecera, retail expert and partner at strategy consulting firm Altimeter Group. "I think the feeling is that as these companies keep extending their [product] lines, it's only causing confusion for shoppers and not really driving them to buy more products."

As a consumer, she asked, "Do I really need to decide between 15 different types of toothpaste when I go to a store?"

Dawn Willoughby, vice president-general manager of Glad brand for the Clorox Co. (CLX, Fortune 500), agreed.

"On an industry level, we've been talking about simplifying product assortment for a long time," said Willoughby. "If you walk into a Wal-Mart or another large retail chain, there are so many products on shelves that it does make it harder to shop."

Let's make a deal
Besides cutting clutter, industry experts say Wal-Mart and other retailers are looking for more lucrative deals from suppliers on both prices and advertising.

In one recent example, according to published reports, Wal-Mart removed Arm & Hammer liquid laundry detergent from most of its stores. But the discounter brought back the product after Arm & Hammer boosted its advertising for the product at Wal-Mart.

Arm & Hammer parent Church & Dwight (CHD) did not return calls for comment. Other consumer product makers -- including Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble -- either declined comment or did not return calls.

Said Dibadj, "Perhaps one consideration in which product to cut is based on which company gives [Wal-Mart] the best deal."

Citing the Hefty example, he said "these threats can become quite aggressive, such as delisting and subsequent relisting after a compromise.

Altimeter Group's Cecera believes consumers stand to win from the retailers' moves.

"In this recession, consumers have certainly become less discriminating with what they buy," said Cecera. "Consumers have rushed to value prices, and they are buying generic brands."

She said retailers' own brands have grown their market share by between 2% to 6%.

This newfound affection for store brands is "sticking," said Dibadj. He cites his firm's recent survey finding that 77% of consumers who traded down to less expensive private label products are happy with their decision."

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Be sure to head on over and read the comments people are leaving. Lots of food for thought!

So what do you think? You know what's crazy is, the more obsessed I've become with method products, the more I've learned about retail practices (I had no idea until a few years ago that brands had to buy and fight for space on shelves!? That's just, well, insane to me! No joke, I don't know how many times I'll walk down the floor cleaning aisle and stand in AWE I tell you, in awe at the fact that Swiffer LITERALLY owns that aisle. The. Entire. Freakin'. aisle. I mean, there are so many Swiffers and Swiffer cloths on those shelves you'd die if they fell on you. You'd die of light as a feather Swiffer cloths falling upon your body because there are so many frickin' packages of them on the shelves! "Man Crushed By Swiffer Cloths! News at eleven!" AND yet, they can't make a tiny teeny little bittle bit of room to fit three method oMops on that shelf. Nope. Nada. None. (Cause three was all they ever carried at a time, anyway.) I mean, WHAT the crap is up with that? Seriously.) It's cause Swiffer has bought up all the shelf space and the oMop went bye bye. (And the oMop is just a tad more expensive then the Swiffer, but I digress...)

Many of us have noticed Target's purging of method products (among many items and brands) from their stores as of late, and the apparently lack of finding said products. I think personally, it's sad when a retail store purges brand name products, so they can make their own cheap versions to sell. Up & Up anyone (Target's new generic brand) or... uh, nothing?

And did you notice how every product Walmart brought back in that article above, had a "you scratch our backs we'll MAYBE scratch yours" attached to it. That's just not right. Thoughts?

Lastly, I just HAD to share this from another blog! It cracked me up, is so totally true, and you'll notice what brand she ends the piece with (and I'm betting is starting to curse as she heads into Target for her latest aircare purchase.)

From Whrool:

"Dear Target
I have a bone to pick with you, Target. First off, I would like you to know that I am a very nice person who enjoys giving the benefit of the doubt. You are a very popular store. I get it.

However, why must it be so difficult for you to keep my meager list of needed items in stock? Will the glorious day ever arrive when I can cross off 100% of the items on my shopping list before exiting your store? For instance, WHY OH GOD WHY is it so hard for you to keep Dove Sensitive Skin Face Cloths on your shelves? You have 3,000 Dove Moisturizing Face Cloths and 14,000 Dove Deep Clean Face Cloths sitting right there in front of my face, mocking me. All I need is ONE BOX of Sensitive Skin Cloths. WHHYYYYYYY?

Funny story, Target. Do you realize that the primary reason I started using Dove Sensitive Skin Face Cloths was because you couldn’t keep the Oil of Olay Sensitive Face Cloths on the shelves? So, after much trial and tribulation, I finally found a new brand that didn’t make my skin weep and always seemed to be in stock? But NOW, the Dove ones are always sold out? Do you know how this makes me feel, Target? It makes me feel very shaky. Isn’t that a funny story, Target? Not so much funny ha-ha, but funny stab stab STAB.

Same with deodorant. (Why is it so difficult for me to spell deodorant without spell check? Am I the only one?) I have long been a user of Secret Powder Fresh or “Protecting Powder” deodorant (p.s. – Secret, please stop changing the names. You are confusing me.), yet it has been virtually impossible to find on your shelves. I have spent many, many cumulative hours searching though the sea of Secret deodorants: Vanilla, Rockstar Rose, Tutti-Frutti, Wild Jasmine, Cherry Mischief (seriously, WHO wants their armpits to smell like fucking fruit?), Truth or Pear, Sparkly Shit, WHATEVER. JUST GIVE ME MY OLD SCHOOL POWDER FRESH, PEEPS.

Yet, no dice. So, once again, I changed my personal preference to ensure an In Stock Status. Secret Unscented seemed to be the wise choice, considering there are usually 325 Unscented ones on your shelves at all times. Also, who knew that I would actually enjoy not making my armpits smell like a fabricated freshly-washed baby’s ass? It’s liberating, I tell you!

I bet you know where this is going, don’t you? Over the past couple of months, I can’t find a Secret Unscented to save my life.

Target, I’m beginning to think you are toying with me, knowing that I must visit you in order to buy all of my Method cleaning products. What’s a girl gotta do to get some health and beauty product love?

Sincerely,

Whoorl"

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and what do you know, a comment from the article: "I feel the same way, but about the Method products we apparently so covet. Target has scaled back on the amount of products they stock. My favorite aroma pill, Pomegranate Tea, is now MIA. SO my backup of Vanilla Apple? POOF! Gone too! Target is SO on notice around here..."

new marketing in action

Those folks over at Zeus Jones have a really cool blog post on new marketing ideas in action, focusing on method! Here goes:

"As you know, we’re big believers in the idea that brands are increasingly defined by a company’s internal culture. The two examples that we use in our presentation to clients to make this point are Zappos and Method. So it was a rare treat for us to be able to get a tour of Method and spend time with Eric, on our recent trip to Planningness.

Apart from some very cool and top secret stuff they are doing on a product front, the stuff that impressed me the most was the amount of energy and creativity that they devote to their culture. It’s no accident that culture is what defines them. One of the things that really stuck with me was something that Eric said offhandedly, “we always try to find ways to help our people feel like they’re working at a place that matters.”

This becomes increasingly more clear and evident as you walk around their space. From their wall of values which every employee has posted a quote onto, to their staircase of employee pictures with their ideas on “how to keep method weird,” to their grass-lined quiet room, every part of their space is a reflection and an embodiment of who they are. It is literally impossible to work there and not understand what they’re about.

Lest you miss it, one of the touches that I really loved was seeing the kit they lay out for people who are just starting to work there.

Of course it contains all the stuff you’d expect but on page two of their orientation binder is this:

A lottery ticket! It’s a really nice little touch and is emblematic of the attention to detail they’ve taken in all things cultural.

We try to make culture a focus here at ZJ, but I walked away realising we don’t spend half the time on it that we should. I also realised that if, as I believe, brand strength is directly correlated to the strength of your culture, there are very few brands out there who can compete with Method at the moment."

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And you're a winner either way! Cause even if you have a losing lottery ticket, you've still won cause you're now working for method! Win, win!

remember when...

Did you know at one time method's all-surface spray cleaner was called Home spray cleaner? Pretty cool, right? And it only came in lavender. You also had Kitchen, in grapefruit mandarin (I still can't figure out why they got rid of this scent, it blows pink grapefruit away!), Shower in the ever fabulous ylang-ylang, Glass in mint, and Bathroom in cucumber. Yeah, most of these scents are still around, but at one time they were all specific to certain areas of the house!

Curious to know if anyone still owns some of these old-skool bottles? Check back this weekend for a post on hoarding (ha ha ha! No but, uh, really, hoarding!) long-gone-so-long method products!

method in a minute

Wow! Ok, while digging around Tom Fishburne's site (see the post below as well), I came upon this GREAT "method in a minute" (well, that's what I'm calling it! Cause it sorta is, method, in a minute!) video! It gives you a lot of insight into method! (Click on the lower right 'full screen' button to get the best view! Then click pause, and scroll through the images one at a time. That'll give you the best chance of taking it all in at your leisure!)

AND, and, I so did not know this until I just watched it this very minute, but method lust is in it! NO way! YES way! Yay! Now you, you, yes you... click play!

the way we live now

Let's start method's 8th year birthday celebration (happening in August) early, what do you say? How about an article from 2004 (via The New York Times!) Here you go!

"The Way We Live Now
By Rob Walker

If you have never given much thought to the aesthetic qualities of your dish soap, you are not alone. What's a little more surprising is that a person who has given a lot of thought to this subject would not be alone, either. Two people in this category are Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry. Three years ago they launched Method, a brand of home-cleaning products -- dish soap, spray cleaners, hand wash and so on -- in one shop in San Francisco. Today Method is available in thousands of stores from coast to coast, including the chains Target and Linens 'n Things. The most noticeable thing about Method products, and their chief selling point, is that they look really cool.

Who cares, right? It's dish soap, for crying out loud -- it gets stuffed under the sink between the rusty Brillo pads and the boric acid.

That defeatist attitude is exactly what Ryan and Lowry set out to change. Ryan, who is 31 and a former marketer who had done work for the Gap, Saturn and other brands, was appalled at the mundane state of home-care products in general. We obviously take a great interest in the places we live, he says, and yet, "When you walk down the aisle dedicated to products to take care of your home, it's one of the most low-interest categories in the world."

True enough, and perhaps a powerful cue to toss a Palmolive in the shopping cart and get on with your life, but Ryan saw an opportunity. What if you could do something different with home-care products? Soon he was working with his friend Lowry, 29, a chemical engineer, creating sprays and soaps that were environmentally safe, smelled good and -- crucially -- came in packaging that looked so striking it practically demanded to be left out in the open. Before making the leap to national stores, they brought in the celebrated designer Karim Rashid, who among other things had created a hit trash can sold at Target. Rashid came up with a design for a dish-soap container that squirts from the bottom through a clever nonleaking spout. Clear, filled with different, colorful soaps and shaped like an hourglass, the bottle looks like a sculpture and won a design-distinction award from the magazine I.D. It also looks disconcertingly large, underscoring its status as a proud object to be admired, not shamefully hidden away.

Form preceded function. "Design is a fast way to make these products more high interest," Ryan says, to the target audience of "progressive domestics." Environmental safety was "a goal," one that he still sounds almost surprised to have achieved. But form is what really sells some $10 million of the stuff annually. Much of the feedback from enthusiastic customers boils down to: "I kind of thought it wouldn't work, but at least I'll have this cool container left over. Then I got it home and used it, and I'm shocked at how well it actually works."

One reaction to this is to wonder why somebody would buy a cleaning product that they were frankly skeptical about simply because of its container. Perhaps this is more evidence of the endless craving for status symbols, or of how cunning design seduces and manipulates us. But those explanations seem too easy. Virginia Postrel, an economics writer, does not address Method specifically in her recent book "The Substance of Style," but her thesis provides useful context. Praising aesthetic pleasure as a legitimate value, she observes that the more we see style, the more we recognize it and want it in our lives. Ugliness stands out, she writes, so "we demand better design." Later she asserts, "Aesthetic proliferation gives us more choices, opportunities and responsibility than ever before."

It's the responsibility bit that gives you pause. Method products raise the possibility that, stylistically speaking, your dish liquid is not measuring up. Which is, frankly, annoying: must even the most mundane household object rise up and join the tyranny of Good Design? Ryan seems puzzled by this line of questioning. "It just makes you get enjoyment out of an object that you never expected to get enjoyment from, because it makes you smile when you look at it, or it's fun to touch," he says politely. "So it's not that it just looks beautiful, but when you actually interact with it, it makes a chore a little less of a chore. Who wouldn't want that?"

making product shelves more appealing

Brand Critical has this to say about our favorite brand!

"I have to admit, shopping for household cleaners isn't one of the most exciting experiences a consumer will have. Visiting any discount retailer or grocery store, consumers will find the household cleaning goods category is littered with endless options, un-original products, boring packaging, and harsh chemical contents. Since there are so many products available and a high level of competition, brands struggle to differentiate themselves from competitors. And surprisingly, the industry and its products haven’t changed much since the 1950’s. The small changes brands have relied on to set themselves apart include different scents, lower price points and unique characteristics that enhance cleaning power (orange oil, oxygen bubbles, etc.). Unfortunately these changes don’t prevent retailer shelves from being cluttered and boring and products from appearing to be all the same. Customers wanting to purchase a household cleaner may tend just to grab the cheapest or most colorful product to avoid sorting through the disorder. They are probably thinking “the bottles look the same, so the products must be equivalent.”

But in the late '90's the household cleaning products category began to see some evolution. Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry, realizing the stagnancy of the category, decided to create their own brand of cleaning products in 1999. Their brand – method - emerged as a clean and fresh alternative to regular household cleaners. Method attempted to change customer’s perceptions by having unique, stylish packaging, smelling pleasant, and being environmentally friendly. Looking at a shelf containing method products versus the competition, the consumer’s eye is instantly drawn to the freshly designed containers. The company’s strategy for disruptive packaging appears to be working since customers are snatching up their products and method was recently listed as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. And I am a big fan.

So how does method communicate it's brand image? Method’s key tag line is “people against dirty.” In other words, the brand wants customers to believe the current chemicals they use in their homes, might get rid of bacteria and dust, but leave behind toxic chemical residues. One of method’s print ads even reads “does my home have chemical dependency?” In this ad, a common spray bottle (i.e. common household cleanser) is cleverly shown in a brown paper bag with the top folded over like a bottle of booze. Comparing this image to the unsoiled, transparent method bottle makes the customer wonder how many toxins co currently reside in their home.

Method’s product packaging meets brand expectations through portraying an image of clean simplicity. Each Karim Rashid-styled bottle is organically shaped, completely transparent, contains bright fluids and has a simple label with crisp fonts. The rounded, slowly tapering curves of every bottle introduce a human element to the unfriendly designs of products past. Additionally, method’s color palette for each of its products complements its various scent offerings like pink grapefruit, almond, cucumber, lavender, and eucalyptus mint. Due to their packaging, method products convey thoughts of purity, safety, and freshness. The brand’s form language is consistent, and is carried across to their many products - laundry, specialty surface, dish, all-purpose, and hand and body. Although method’s products can be found in many of the same places as “ordinary” household cleaners (Target, Office Depot, CVS, Lowes, etc.), they are displayed on an entirely different shelf than their stagnant and conventional competitors. This display strategy further helps method stand out from the clutter.

So method's packaging strategy and brand image are "clearly" a winner...so how else could they innovate their packaging or product line-up? Regarding unique packaging, method’s overall strategy is effective and pleasing to the eye. However, they have not yet taken on the challenge of redesigning the sprayer/ nozzle head to further set themselves apart. My recommendation would be to carry their clean, minimalist theme on to the sprayer. An inspiration for this design could be the type of sprayer you would typically find at a modern kitchen sink. The shorter, more compact nose on the sprayer, slender neck, and reverse positioning of the pumping mechanism further drives the point that method products are uniquely different. Regarding product line-up, they are definitely headed in the right direction. They've moved from solely home cleaning products to skin care products as well as moving into Glade/Febreeze territory with their scented sprays, candles, oils, etc. They've also changed the packaging on their refills to become pouches that use "83% less plastic than a rigid PET bottle...(and) take less energy to produce." Way to go method. So...now I have to ask those of you reading this blog...are you converts? Are you "methodic" about your cleaning habits yet?"

the clean team

The Independent (over in the UK) has a nice write up on method.

Clean team: the young entrepreneurs set to mop up the eco-market
By Josh Sims

That Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan should receive a Valentine's Day card is not surprising. Both in their thirties, they are brainy, clean-cut, all-American business types. That the card should be made of cut-up packaging is unusual. But that it should express love for their range of household cleaning products is plain off the wall. And yet this is not unusual: Method, Lowry and Ryan's eco-friendly brand of floor polishes, disinfectants, leather cloths and other friendly cleaners, which is now being rolled out across Britain seems to attract fanatical followers.

Indeed, in taking a stance in an industry that has done its best to ignore the need for green alternatives to the toxic chemicals with which we routinely douse our homes, Lowry and Ryan have made products associated with chores hip and desirable. Their safe liquids, sprays and gels come in the kind of sculptural, minimalist packaging that appeals to the iPod generation. And they are as new wave in their business practices – using solar energy, supporting workers' rights and fair wages – as their products. They are the Ben and Jerry of the toilet bowl – with a loo cleaner made from lactic acid, wipes made from sustainable bamboo and packaged in the world's first fully recyclable film pouch, and a mop made from recyclable, plastic they were told was impossible to manufacture.

"A lot of customers buy our products because they look cool. But the reason why most of them stay loyal is because they're green," reckons Ryan, a former advertising executive who speaks of Method being "an organisation of fun", whose employees gather for a "Monday huddle" to crack jokes and talk business.

Their beliefs are not, however, something the duo have been keen to bludgeon customers with. The greenness of the products is only passingly mentioned on their packaging, though it is explained on their website. Rather, touches of humour aim to provoke thought: "Does your home have a chemical dependency?" asks one tag-line; "You may not know what your bathroom tiles taste like, but your kid does," states another.

In many ways, their range's designer aesthetic is a cynical one, an admission that few people are likely to be converted to using green cleaning products on eco-credentials alone: stylish design is a Trojan horse to get into the homes of people more concerned that detergents and cleansers should smell nice or match the cupboards. But the strategy is working. In 2005, Method recorded sales of $15m (£7.7m). Last year they were nearly $100m. "When you're David against Goliath, the likes of giant companies such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble with endless dollars to spend, you're never going to win playing their game," says Lowry, a former chemical engineer and climate scientist who worked on the Kyoto Protocol and whose business title is now chief greenskeeper (Ryan's is ripplemaker). "You have to redefine the game."

That said, their beliefs have had to be strong even to get their brand this far. First, there were factories to persuade. "Normally, they solicit a brand for business, but we had to make the sales pitch to them: I'd walk in, tell them we had no money to buy shelf space in stores, show them a rendering of a funky bottle that's hard to make and tell them we wanted to fill it with a substance others were convinced could not be made. Oh, and that we didn't expect to sell much," says Lowry.

Resistance from manufacturers was followed by doubt from retailers. According to Lowry, with sales of household cleaning products in decline, the market offering nothing distinctive and the major manufacturers squeezing retail profit, interest in anything new, green or not, has been at an all-time low.

John Lewis was the first UK retailer to take on Method, and it's now sold in Waitrose, Boots, some Sainsbury's, Co-op and Tesco stores, as well as many independent shops. Finally, consumers have had to be lured into a new way of thinking. "There is still this misconception that "green isn't clean", that such products don't work," explains Ryan. "A lot of that comes from the big companies who are constantly drumming on about 'new and improved', that they deliver superior cleaning power," he says. "And we grew up with a lot of these old brands, so we don't look at that as evil, as they potentially are – there are chemicals in those products that really shouldn't be there. Ours is a simple mission: a happy, healthy home."

Thanks to their success in the US, they may not be alone on that mission for long. Lowry and Ryan suggest that it is, in part, convention that has stopped major players from tackling the green market. But there are also, they add, philosophical barriers. "There has been apathy, a lot of saying 'green cleaning products can't be made' or sitting on the sidelines asking, 'is this green thing going away, or is it going to stick around?'," says Lowry. "It shows these companies have no spine in having a clear point of view people can buy into. We don't want to wait to see if green thinking becomes the norm – we want to make it happen. Now those giant companies are realising there is a market for green products, they're going to try to out-Method Method."

That, potentially, is good for the planet. It proves a big problem for Method. But the duo draw a parallel between their company and Apple, which keeps being imitated but is always innovating to stay ahead. Method has new products in the pipeline, among them a concentrated laundry detergent it promises will be revolutionary, as well as moves into personal care, including new baby and kids' lines – all while pioneering new and, of course, chic bio-packaging. There's also a book, Squeaky Clean, a guide to detoxing your home.

"They're a way to bring delight into drudgery," says Lowry of their products. "And they're green. But all cleaning products should be."

you know you're doing something right...

...when the Big Guys start copying you! From the similar writing style (though they don't quite get it down.) to the English/French translations! Too crazy!

peek inside

Here's a small sneak peek inside the method San Fran offices! Are they not gorgeous! I want to know where they got those hanging lamps, they are to die for! Geesh! The Great Sarah! is promising to send along more inside pics of method! I can't wait to check them all out! So look for more to show up here soon on method lust!



This is the ceiling of method's elevator! How cool!

(Special thanks to Rider Thompson, and aqui-ali!)

Diary of a Conflicted Marketer

Take a look at this very interesting article focusing on method - the company; taken from over on Diary of a Conflicted Marketer:

"Here's what Tom Fishburne from Method Home had to say about the concept of green marketing. It seems to me that Method Home places most emphasis on being stylish, fun and guilt free first - you discover its stance on green issues if you look a bit harder. A brilliant company with brilliant products.

'We like to consider ourselves to be hip and not hippy. Our mission is to inspire a healthy, happy, home revolution. First and foremost we want to be perceived as being a brand that has both style and substance. The old view of green products, particularly in the 1980s and early 1990s was far too much associated with treehuggers but thankfully this has changed. To get people on board today you have to appeal much more in the mainstream. It’s about making progress, not being perfect. It used to be that if you were not perfect (i.e.100% green) then you were bad. But now it is possible to be good before you are considered to be great. Green issues and initiatives simply have to take away the guilt associations and shake off the holier than thou image. Products and services should look nice whilst not sacrificing on their principles.

With some of the more ethical cleaning products of the market you don’t necessarily want to put them out on display in the home environment. The substance is on the inside, but it is not really making a statement. Eric Ryan, one of our founders kept asking: ‘Why do people always hide their household products under the sink?’ But at Method we are shame free, so we use design to take the product out of the cupboard and onto the surfaces – for one think it makes cleaning more convenient. When we started Method Home we wanted to get people to get into green concerns but we didn’t want to shout about it. What they were getting, without knowing it, were highly designed products with ethical substance both inside and out. If we had shouted about the ethical side to the products early on I think that people would have been much more cynical about what we were doing.

Our premium homecare range is highly effective, safe and packages with respect for the environment as well as people’s design sensibilities. The thing is the green and environmental side of things is not always the easiest hook for people to understand. Instead we are trying to be Innocent of the home care market. We are the challenger brand. We are the David in the David versus Goliath situation. Our obsessions are the long-term strategies that deliver a big competitive advantage, and it’s hard for a company such as P+G to do this. We don’t really don’t care if the big companies copy our products, our fragrances, our claims, our advertising, they will never have our culture or be able to react with the speed that we are doing things. We think that rules and conventions are there to be broken to we will always be faster and fresher.

In the past green products were generally deemed ineffective. Thankfully all of that has changed. At Method we call ourselves ‘people against dirty’. But for us being ‘dirty’ does not just mean the stuff that gets in between the tiles on your floor. It means the toxic chemicals that make up many of the household products out there on the market, it means polluting our land with non-recyclable materials, these are things we are completely against. We develop non-toxic, healthy alternative products for use around children, pets and people. This is for people who want to do the right thing but don’t want to have to wear a pair of Birkenstocks to do it. Whereas you might consider crunchy granolas dark green, we are appealing to the mass consumer – the light greens.

But we cant pretend to be perfect, but we are moving in the right direction. Although we are based in the US we are (now manufacturing) in the UK. We are looking at responsible sourcing, using renewable energy, building collaborative partnerships with other companies that are trying to take on the power of the multi-nationals. We also want to become known as one of the leading companies for producing the healthiest products with all ingredients clearly stated. Some companies might think that ammonia or bleach are the smell of clean. We don’t. We think smells like the smell of flowers, of different fruit, herbs such as lavender or Magnolia, are much better. Just because it smells strong, does not mean it will clean any better. Instead it is probably really damaging to the environment.

We are also looking at new solutions for refilling bottles and other improvements to the design process. It is all about looking for opportunities and capitalising on them – particularly as consumers are starting to think about things end to end. We are looking at what the next refill model will be, the future of mix and math fragrances could be, what kinds of triggers could be used on products and how they could be reused on subsequent purchases.

Ultimately we are really inspired by personal care products rather than cleaning products. I really love the product ranges of companies such as Molton Brown. The key is to get the consumers to trade up from the Good (private label small brand), to the Better (more a mass market proposition) to the Best (companies like Green & Blacks).

If products are well designed, fun and guilt free our Method will win over the consumers without having to preach. Nobody wants to feel bad about their product choices regardless of what they are.'

Quite right too."

detox new york pics

Thanks to method's people against dirty blog!
Are you in New York? Go detox!

live out loud

So, what do you think? Would you lust for one of these, stickin' pretty in your back car window right above your Apple logo (cause come on, the fact that Apple gives away free bumper/window stickers with pretty much any Apple purchase just rocks!) How about a method version (purchasable on their site? Or maybe even here on ole' method lust?) Telling it to the world! Would you get one? (Idea brought to mind by Steve Parker!)

it all ads up - more method ads

how we roll!

Look! It's a method truck! Have you ever seen such a thing? This totally rocks! Can I use one more exclamation point in this post?! Yes, I can!

But seriously, this is so cool. AND the truck says on the side "method: biodiesel is how we roll" Really really, just, wow!

secret agents

by Meghann Evershed Dryer + Tracy Pizzo

Why Method products keep their eco-friendliness under very attractive wraps

The Ford Motor Company used Kermit the Frog to promote its hybrid SUV "I guess it is easy being green," states the beloved Muppet. Toyota likewise flaunts its cars' greenness with its "First one to save the planet wins" campaign.

But Method keeps its verdure closer to its vest. The San Francisco-based company sells natural and biodegradable home care products, including dishwashing liquids, laundry detergents, all-purpose cleaners, and "aircare" (scented sprays, candles, and pills). Instead of bragging about what's inside its products, however, the company focuses on their outsides: their packaging, aroma, and ability to clean.

"Green is an incredibly important product feature, but it isn't a marketing position," says Adam Lowry, Method's cofounder. He notes that although Americans increasingly care about the environment, "it still isn't the lead story." What is more important to Americans, he notes, is that their products "deliver high design and great fragrance without sacrificing performance."

Method's quietude about its ecological virtues is making it one of the most effective green revolutionaries in the marketplace today. Rather than hiding out in health food stores, Method products appear in such mass-market venues as Target and grocery store chains, where people buy the cleaning products more for their curvy bottles and fresh scents than for their small ecological footprints. Partly because of its products' mass appeal, the company has grown its revenues at triple-digit rates since its founding in 2000, in a product category whose growth usually hovers around 1 to 5 percent. Indeed, Inc. magazine ranked Method the seventh-fastest growing private company in America, and the fastest-growing private company in California, in 2006.

Designs on Success
Lowry was studying climate change at the Carnegie Institution of Washington at Stanford University when he and his roommate, Eric Ryan, came up with the idea for Method products. "I was frustrated that my only output was scientific in nature," he says. "I was preaching to the converted, and not reaching the people I wanted to change - that is, people who were not already green."

Surveying the green product scene, the co-founders observed that the consumer proposition was one of sacrifice. "The usual strategy was to make something green, put it in awful brown packaging, give it a bad smell, charge more for it, and then warn consumers that it doesn't work as well as conventional products," Lowry says. Because of the negative associations that many consumers had with eco-friendly products, Lowry and Ryan concluded that they would almost have to disguise the products' greenness to move them into mainstream markets. Drawing on Lowry's background in chemical engineering and Ryan's background in marketing, die two set about designing a line of eco-friendly products that looks, smells, and works better than its competitors.

Conventional home care products weren't much of a match, says Lowry: The market before Method was a "sea of sameness." Most of the products on the shelf looked the same and had similar chemical smells. Big players like SC Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever competed on utilitarian benefits. Windex, for example, "owned streak-free glass," he says.

The problem with this approach is that it doesn't connect products to the emotions people have for their homes. Conventional products fulfill customers' needs, but do little for their feelings. And so a customer's connection to, say, Windex is limited to "I need a clean mirror. Windex cleans my mirrors well. I'll think I'll buy Windex."

Rather than claiming a utilitarian benefit - for example, streak-free glass - Method sought to own the emotional experience of caring for one's own home. It did so by creating an umbrella brand of aromatic household cleaners packaged in sleekly designed containers. By creating only one brand, Method could raise customer awareness and loyalty much faster than it would by creating a distinct brand for every function (as has Procter & Gamble with such brands as Tide, Downy, and Febreze). Method could also introduce environmentally sound products throughout the home. "We wanted to own as much of the house as we could in order to have the greatest environmental impact," says Lowry. Of course, claiming as much of houses as possible would also do wonders for the company's financial performance.

Taking It to the People
Funded by their savings accounts, friends, and families, Lowry and Ryan stirred up the first batches of Method products in their kitchen sink. They then loaded up a pickup truck and began knocking on the office doors of grocery store managers in Northern California. A Mollie Stone's Market in Burlingame, Calif., was their first customer.

Skeptics urged Method to think about niche markets like Whole Foods Market. How could a small company outsell giants like Procter & Gamble? Lowry acknowledged their concerns. "We were never going to come up with a better mousetrap than someone like Procter & Gamble," he says. "We had to think about where we had an advantage, and that was in speed, nimbleness, and short product design cycles."

These advantages allow Method to beat many major players at their own game. Method can respond to consumer feedback almost immediately and can remake its products as its understanding of the market improves. This is almost impossible for larger home product companies, whose immense sizes make quick responses unwieldy. As a result of this approach, Method has increased the overall sales of home care products at most of its retailers. Nearly 80 percent of Method's sales grow the category, rather than stealing share from competitors.

As Method makes its way on to the shelves of Target and other major retailers, its founders still keep their environmental agenda largely under wraps. Instead, they emphasize their products' effectiveness, uniquely shaped containers, and pleasing smells such as lavender, ylang-ylang, cucumber, and sandalwood. Their labels disclose the eco-friendliness of the solutions within but do not draw attention to it. And although Method's slogan, "People Against Dirty," implies purity on all fronts, it still puts the effectiveness of the products first.

Because Method does not limit its marketing language to any one benefit, consumers can access its products in several ways. The aesthetically demanding like them because the bottles are attractive. Smell lovers buy them because they enjoy having clean scents like lavender, rather than bleach. Germ haters use them for their effectiveness. And increasingly, eco-friendly types purchase them because they are biodegradable.

Utah State University professors Ed Stafford and Cathy Hartman applaud Method's marketing tactics. With more than a decade of experience in green marketing research, the two find that appealing to consumer concerns other than the environment captures more customers.

"I don't want to say that we're tricking people into buying green," says Stafford, "but refraining your green message to capture consumer value is the safest way to market consumer products. I like the Method approach because they have a greener product, but it's almost a humble green."

Coming Clean About Being Green
As consumers wake up to the eco-trend and become more and more "light green," as Stafford calls it, Method is making more noise about its sustainable practices. The company uses no PVC, but instead opts for easily recyclable #1 and #2 plastics. It also uses plastic containers made from PLA, a fully biodegradable cornstarch plastic polymer. Method also trades carbon credits to offset the pollutants that its production introduces. And although much of its packaging is petroleum-based plastic, Method believes the positive impact it is having in the mass-consumer segment outweighs the environmental issues these plastics raise.

Despite these innovations, Method eschews traditional green marketing on its containers. Instead it pushes the effectiveness of its products, the emotional experiences of its customers, and the release of home care products from their prisons under the sinks of America. As for the competition, Method's watching carefully. But Stafford and Hartman say that the company need not worry right now, because the playing field is large and Method has a huge lead.

Lowry admits that he has succumbed to founders' curse: "You can never be satisfied with where you've been. Instead you always focus on where you know you can take the business." Nevertheless, he is satisfied that because of Method "there are thousands of consumers who now think that green doesn't have to suck."

+ Copyright Stanford University, Center for Social Innovation

g'day, method!

Guess who's coming to Australia next month? All you blokes and sheila's got no excuses now! It's time to clean mean, and green! Be a Greenie! Go on, give it a fair go! method's hitting Australia in June! Ace! I'll get ya the drum as it becomes available, ok? I'm gettin' all wobbly now!

method retrospect

vroom brand car care products

I told you I'd get to these someday! I'm just, well, lazy. Yeah, that's it. Why hide it! Ok? Ok. Time for another method retrospect! Where we take a moment to remember those wonderful products that came and went. To method product Heaven is where they went. Oh WOE is me, to method product Heaven! But they shall forever be in our hearts. Our obsessive method product filled hearts. Maybe that's why I have no boyfriend, I have no room left for love. For my heart is all full of method products. Ok, wait, that's just so sad... so very sad. I think we need a moment of silence here.

OK! So today we're featuring the vroom brand car care line! Did you purchase these products when they were released, in 2005? Here's a bit of background:

"Target Corp., Method's largest customer, signaled its belief in the brand when it approached the company to develop a new category; which was the "catalyst" to launch Vroom.

The automotive merchandisers at Target saw that existing products did not engage the store's target customer. Target approached Method to devise something to appeal to soccer moms instead of hardcore car enthusiasts. It took Method three months to go from idea to a packaged product.

"When you have a major retailer give you the support this launch (of Vroom) will have, it gives you confidence to put capital investment into a new brand," said Eric Ryan, co-founder of Method with Adam Lowry. He said Target saw only the Vroom concept and signed on for "endcap displays," the coveted real estate at the end of a shopping aisle. Vroom was fully funded by Method; Target provided no financial support."

The product line included: all purpose cleaner, glass cleaner (which you can see in the photo to the very left; it's all bubbly cause I just dropped it on the floor right before the photo was taken, ha! It doesn't come pre-bubbled like that!), tire shine, protectant (for your car interior), air plug-ins (not pictured), hand wipes (for carrying in your car), interior refreshers (scented sprays for your car interiors; the item I keep mentioning would work great as a Febreze competitor); and a multitude of mitts, cloths, and such.

Most of the cleaners were actually unscented. Which surprised me coming from method (perhaps this was due to them only having three months to create these products?) I expected the glass cleaner to maintain it's method style mint, and so on. But they were all unscented; excluding the air plug-ins (which you snapped onto your car air vent), hand wipes and the interior refreshers. These items came in Sea Flower (an AMAZING scent! I wish method would bring this fragrance to the method line!), Lavender Vanilla, Mandarin Melon, and Basil Verbena (another scent I loved.)

Sadly the line lasted little more than two years (ending around 2007.) I'm not sure why it didn't work, or if method simply didn't want to focus on that area of cleaners long term. I think a lot of the ideas and products could have been brought in under the method brand (as this brand was labeled: vroom brand, a method "people against dirty' product.)

You can actually still find a vroom brand line at Target, though it's only fabric items (cleaning cloths, mitts, sponges and the such); no cleaners. Target somehow retained that name from method (unfortunately I don't know the details) and kept those products around. I've always wondered if that caused any confusion for method.

I loved the line (big surprise there, right?) and HELLO method, (I keep beating this horse dead, but hoping sooner or later they hear me. Hello, hello? Anyone there?) Vroom brand interior refreshers = method Febreze competitor. It's PERFECT!

Did you purchase this line? Lusted after it? Didn't really like it? What were your thoughts? Drop me some comments! Thanks!

method trivia

The reason you might start to notice every time I mention method it's in lower case has nothing to do with my bad grammar (like that long run on sentence?), and everything to do with method's hip way of having themselves branded in all lowercase letters! (Which you may discover is becoming something of a trend!)

So next time you see method, you'll know it's not a typo cause I was just too freakin' lazy to hold down the shift key; but rather it was meant to be!