great smellin' deals!

And off I went to Big Lots today, to of course pick one thing up, and walked out with way more than that! (Isn't this what always happens?!? And you'd think I'd be all frugal today. During an outing with some of my friends last night, I ended up losing $20. from my wallet! I'd just made that at a yard sale a week earlier... sniff. Ok, I don't even want to talk about it. Let's just put a positive spin on things and think that whoever found my lost $20. must have needed it more than me! Wait, where was I besides lamenting about my poorness... Oh, right! method stuff!)

So Big Lots must have gotten a (slight) new shipment of method candles, in the old school ceramic jars, in stock recently! They've carried some of these for a while, but a couple scents that haven't popped up lately make me believe this was a new shipment. And the really great deal at the moment is they're on sale for only $3.00 (normally $3.50. Ok, not a huge sale, but WAY better than the Target price of $7.99, don't you think?) I found all these scents at my local Big Lots:

Grapefruit pear (when is the last time you've seen that method scent?! This was an old aircare line scent that was discontinued ages and ages ago), beach sage, citrus cilantro, lavender + lemongrass, sweet water, eucalyptus mint, vanilla apple, gingerbread + spice, hollyberry, cinnamon bark, peppermint vanilla, and fresh lychee. Run out and pick some up while the sale is happening (not sure when it's over!) and uh, even when the sale isn't happening, cause I bet these will sell out! Mmm, method candles...

now with more foam!

You know, somedays I'm just not sure what Target is up to. In case you haven't been roaming the aisles of your favorite method store (unlike the insane person that is me. Seriously, I should have some special Gold Target card or something, just for the amount of time I spend shopping there. Or or, maybe I could get some free popcorn and a coke at the food counter with each visit! Or well, I don't know, how about a free item with every purchase! Hmm... I'm liking these ideas!)

It seems that Target has done a rather big shake up with their aisles recently. Rearranging all sorts of areas, moving items to new areas, etc! One of the (unfortunate) results to this happens to be quite a few clearanced method products. It would appear they're no longer carrying the method omop, or any of the cleaning cloths; but have retained their floor cleaners. The almond flower creamy body wash and hand wash is gone from Target (while one store has white tea restocked in their new aisle layout; and another one now only carries olive leaf. See, see, weird?!) And quite a few other items seem to have been removed from Target's shelves. The lucky thing is, many of these products can be found at your favorite Lowe's Hardware store! So fear not! (And of course, on methodhome.com!)

However, one good thing that seems to have come out of this shake up is, Target now carries method refresh mint and waterflower in foaming hand wash (previously they only carried the gel)! So if you like these scents, run out and pick yourself up a bottle or two!

method man

Have you read this great Q&A article with Eric Ryan, method's co-founder over on ANA Advertiser magazine? No, well hey, now you can! (See, I knew I was good for something. I just KNEW it!) Enjoy!

"Eric Ryan, who co-founded cleaning products company Method in 2001, has a simple strategy for competing with the likes of Unilever, Procter & Gamble, S.C. Johnson, and Clorox. "Everything we do has to be different," says Ryan, 36, chief brand architect of the San Francisco company, which is among the fastest-growing private companies in America. "Method is a belief brand being built on what money can't buy. We're a challenger brand, taking on 8 Goliaths."

With sales "just north of $100 million" and 106 employees, the company has a long way to go before it can slay even one of the Goliaths in its space, as Ryan readily admits. Meanwhile, he's betting that "our scrappiness can match competitors' scale." And, perhaps more crucial to the company's continued success, he's betting that consumers will embrace the company's environmentally friendly philosophy of producing cleaning products that are effective, safe, and without toxic ingredients. "Historically, consumers were focused on the best products," he told the crowd during his session to kick off Tuesday. "Now, consumers are equally focused on how things are made." Ryan was joined on stage by Scott Potter, founding managing partner of San Francisco Private Equity Partners, a key investor in the company.

Ryan's presentation created quite a buzz among the 300+ attendees, who were fascinated by his entrepreneurial spirit and optimistic outlook. "The difference between successful and unsuccessful companies is that the unsuccessful ones gave up too early," Ryan said as he described the launch of the company in 2001, during an economic downturn. "We constantly push ourselves and remind ourselves that standing still is not an option."

Ryan had much more to say, on a range of topics, when ANA Magazine Editor Bob Barrett sat down with him under the 100-degree Phoenix sun. Here's a transcript of the interview.

Bob Barrett, ANA Advertiser: You've created an instant buzz here and I've seen you shaking a lot of hands since coming off stage. What kind of response have you had to your presentation?

Eric Ryan: Usually, the word I hear most often, which is really cool, is inspiring. That's what I try to do, as far as a lot of people working for really big companies and legacy brands. I feel like the one thing I can do is just help try to inspire them to think a little differently and give them the confidence to do that. So I try to design my talk, as much as possible, to be uplifting, anything's possible, and then here's some real simple ways of how to think about it to try to create change. People want something they can use, versus just talking about it. So I don't want to just talk about what we do. If I talk about something we do, I want to make it easy for someone to take that and run with it.

BB: What role has traditional marketing played in the growth and success of Method, to the extent that anything Method does is traditional? And how close are you to the marketing function?

ER: I'm really close to marketing because I come from a marketing background, and the only asset we own is the brand. So, creating and building the brand is my number one priority. Now, with that, we've got a big team and we've got a head of marketing, a creative director, and other people who that's their daily responsibility. But it's something that I still get my hands quite messy on, so it's still very focused.

BB: As you look forward and you think about the next level of growth for the company, what role will marketing play in allowing you to achieve the success you're targeting?

ER: Well, we're in a great spot, depending on how you look at it — glass half full, glass half empty. Our awareness is high for how new we are as a brand and how little we spend. But, compared to our competitors, our awareness is very, very low. So, the role of marketing, more than anything else, is going to be trying to get our story out there in a broader way and bring more people into the brand. If you look at our growth drivers, our number one growth driver is getting more people into the brand. We have a lot of distribution opportunity, a lot of products opportunity, but what's really going to be our number one focus is just creating more advocates, as we call them.

BB: Today you talked about differentiation and how you really work hard to differentiate Method from the mega-competitors you face. But what have you learned from them? What are some things that maybe you're doing similarly to them, even though they have much bigger scale?

ER: The big thing we're trying to do is use their strengths against them, right. We can't outspend them. We can't outmarket them on claims. So we've got to try to use their legacy against them. So, that's anything from the way we try to reframe products. It's all about shifting the conversation, right. These are brands that have been around for decades and decades, so they own the conversation. If you're Windex, you own the conversation on streak clean. We can't come in and join that conversation and do a better job, so we've got to shift the conversation to a different topic. So, in that case, we shift the conversation to non-toxic and the fragrance and the beauty of it and the overall experience. So, that's the biggest thing we've got to do, is keep trying to figure out what is the conversation that our competitors are talking about and then how do we shift it to something different.

BB: You are ever-mindful of your competition, including the fact that many of them were listening to you today. Given that, how do you approach a presentation like this? Are you cautious about giving away secrets and strategy?

ER: We're cautious about what we share. But, also, anybody can look at what we do and dissect it. It's not rocket science, it's soap. And the things we're sharing we know are difficult for them to do in some cases. In other cases, they're really, really great at it. And I don't think we're giving anything away. But, also, if we really are a challenger brand, we've got to keep innovating and keep challenging. So, our story shouldn't be static. It should be dynamic. And what I shared here this year, by next year, this story should've evolved. So, if they're following what were doing today, that's fine, as long as we're evolving.

BB: How are your competitors reacting to Method's early success and your presence in the market?

ER: Quite aggressively. We're seeing it come from all spaces, but it's coming in a very different way. So, I think CPG really struggles to build tensions into a brand. So, what makes Method unique is the tension of style and the tension of substance. Bringing those together is really challenging because there's constant trade-offs that you've got to work through. Typically within the world of consumer products, brands are built around a single attribute, so there is no tension within it. It's a single plot. The way you're seeing competitors come after us, the way it's manifesting, is they're focusing on green or they're focusing on design. Nobody's focusing on bringing them together. Design's not something you talk about; it's just something you do. It's your tone. It's who you are. It's your personality. And the ones who are focusing on what we call substance, which is the green, they're also doing it in a very single-dimensional way, which is selling green as a product feature. Whereas, to us, it is a product feature, but it's bigger than that. It's the entire philosophy behind the brand..."

Make sure to head on over and read the rest!

what's new, ceo?

Check it, check it!

"Method Products, Inc. Names Drew Fraser President and CEO

Method Products, Inc. announces today that Andrew (Drew) Fraser, former Senior Vice President at Whirlpool Corporation, has joined Method as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Method is the leading innovator in healthy, eco-friendly home care products. Fraser brings to the 9-year-old company 20 years of experience with some of the world’s leading consumer product companies, including Whirlpool, Clorox and Procter & Gamble.

“Drew’s breadth of knowledge and experience leading global brands to success will be a wonderful asset to Method as the company continues its trajectory of growth,” said Tim Koogle, Method’s chairman of the board. “We’re delighted to have Drew join the Method team and help guide the company to the next level.”

Prior to joining Method, Fraser served as a Senior Vice President of North America sales and trade marketing at Whirlpool, where he led the company’s sales for all products, brands and channels. Previous roles at Whirlpool include Vice President and General Manager of the fabric care business, Vice President and General Manager of the U.S. Whirlpool brand, and Vice President and General Manager of Whirlpool Canada. Before joining Whirlpool in 2004, Fraser spent 10 years working at the Clorox Company, where his last position was VP and general manager of Clorox Canada. He spent four years at Procter & Gamble prior to joining Clorox, where he served in a number of sales and marketing leadership positions.

“I am honored and excited to be joining the incredibly talented Method team,” Fraser said. “This is a unique brand with a dynamic company culture. I look forward to building upon the Method success and to helping the company continue its innovation and growth.”

Fraser replaces interim CEO Dan Swander, who serves on Method’s board. Fraser will step into his new role with the company on June 15."

my big method post!

Are you ready for the longest post in the history of method lust?...

The email said "Danny Seo and I will be in Charlotte at the end of next (keep this word in mind, it's slightly important. Well, more so just to show how slow I am sometimes!) week for a media tour we're doing with Lowe's. Wondering what your schedule is like Thursday? But wanted to see if you would be free and would even want to meet us? - Rachel, method PR"

Alright, a couple points to note here. A) Would I want to meet Danny Seo, method's Healthy Home 'co-conspirator' and Rachel Goldberg, method's Squire of Scoop? Nah, not really. I mean, I'm pretty busy and all, and it would just be disruptive to my extremely packed calendar, and it's not like I've lusted meeting folks from method for freakin' ever, so well, uhm... HOLY CRAP YES! Oh my word! Is this a dream?!

Oh and B) See that part of the email that says "would you be available Thursday?" Well, I received this email Wednesday night... at 8 PM. Oh oh, and yes, I somehow MISSED that "next" in the "next week" portion of the email. So my hair stood on end, and I jumped to my feet, still dizzy at the whole prospect of what this email was offering me, and screamed "Tomorrow?!?" So I ran to the phone, trying to get a hold of Rachel, to let her know that HECK yes, it WAS ok to get together, and not miss this amazing opportunity! But she wasn't available! (What in the world? Isn't California like, five hours time difference?! Shouldn't they still be at work?! (Yes, yes. I know. No, Nathan, California is indeed, NOT five hours time difference. Did you actually even pay attention in school? I mean, really, ok? Sigh.) So I left a message... With Rachel, and oh, I think about three other folks at method (all voice mail, cause well, see that whole five hours thing.) And then I sent Rachel an email. And then I sent Rachel a Facebook message. And then I twittered Rachel. And then I launched smoke signals into the air to Rachel. And I hired a sky writer, and... Oh ok, maybe not those last three. But pretty much I gave her just enough ammunition to prove I was, indeed, a method stalker who would stop at nothing to meet them! Ha ha!

Oh oh, and this was during the Lost season finale! Ok, you KNOW what that says? Don't you? Because the quote I give to my friends is "Wednesday night, at 9 pm; if you are not dying, or body parts have not been removed from your person and you're in need of immediate 911 assistance, DO NOT call me. Cause I won't answer. CAUSE, it's LOST!" But for method, I was emailing, calling, and cleaning my house like MAD (What if they came over? What if they wanted to see the house that method cleans?! What in the world would happen if this house wasn't spotless! Clean, AND watch Lost at the same time! See what sacrifices I'll make for method! I just hope they don't need an organ anytime soon.)

Then later that evening I get an email saying "So sorry for the confusion!" (or the fact that I couldn't read her email correctly the first time around should have been what she really said.) But it's NEXT Wednesday. Cue huge sigh of relief. Drop omop to the floor, scream "NO, not Juliette!" and fall into bed. (Lost fans will get that one!)

So the big day arrived this past Thursday! Now, here's another email I received that really made me nervous. The paraphrased version was, I was to meet them at a nearby Lowe's at 5 PM, and they were concocting up a bit of a surprise for me; Oh, and would I be comfortable talking to a reporter? Sure, not a problem! A reporter... what?! A tv reporter? A newspaper reporter? (Believe it or not, I'm rather shy until I get to really know you well. Then, you can't get me to shut up. And you wish I were once more, shy. But alas...) I was really scared about this whole reporter business, as Rachel was determined to keep it a surprise!

So the big day arrived this past Thursday (oh wait, I already said that...) and I showed up at Lowe's; and two of my friends were also there to enjoy the experience, and take lots of great pics of the fun! And there standing in front of MY Lowe's (well, not really MINE, you know, I don't own it or anything. Wow, that would rock. I'd be rich! But you know what I mean.) was none other than Danny Seo and Rachel Goldberg!

Now let's pause here for a moment. We're talking Rachel Goldberg! Straight from San Francisco, and the method offices; plastic bag rehab totes at her side; standing there in all her beauty (seriously, I think it's safe to say that, since it's coming from a gay man! LOL She won't think I'm trying to throw her a pickup line! But she's beautiful! If you don't believe me, you'll see what I'm talking about, a few pics further down!) AND Danny Seo. Ok, uhm, Danny does segments on the Today Show. CBS This Morning. HGTV! He has multiple books discussing his eco way of living; a bedding line at JCPenney's; a Wholearth body care line that is being carried by Anthropologie! Uhm, he's got star power here (I like to think of him as the eco-Martha Stewart. I wonder if he'd find that offensive, or complimentary? Hopefully complimentary!), and they're taking time out to visit with ME? (Who spiked their coffee?! Psst - You did good, the check will be in the mail.)

So here they stand, with a newspaper/online reporter for our local paper the News & Record, Morgan Josey Glover. She writes for their gogreentriad.com (which I didn't even know existed! I've learned something new and great so I can now follow going green in my home town more easily!) Cool!) I felt SO much better now that I knew it wasn't a tv reporter (me and photos/video, GAH! We don't get along well at all. Uhm, you can tell by these photos here! Photogenic, I am not! And you're not even seeing the ones I DIDN'T put up here!) She asked me a multitude of questions pertaining to how method lust got it's start, the first method product I bought, my eco habits, what I was doing to help the environment, if I was clued into the green movement in my hometown (something that honestly, I haven't been following! But will begin doing so now!), and what my next eco-challenge might be? You can read the interview, AND win method goodies too! (The link is further down this post. Hold on, patience is a virtue, my lustful friends!)

Meanwhile, Rachel and Danny had gone into Lowe's to scope out the method section! We actually have a really great set up at our local Lowe's, two end caps (you can only see one in this pic) full of method products! Hmm, what were they up to?

Once the (painless) interview was finished, Rachel and Danny came out to take us inside, and we all stood around the method products! Now, (as far as I know) my local Lowe's had no clue what was going on, so I thought it was rather funny that as more photos got snapped, and method products got grabbed, more employees started roaming around us wondering what was going on!? Oh oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself... (no surprise there!)

So we all stood around the method end caps,and Danny started giving this oh so sweet speech about how he'd suggested at the method office that they go meet their #1 advocate (out of thousands!) and who would that be, and everyone at method yelled "Nathan!" Crazy, seriously! That's so freakin' nice! And because of that, they took a little side trip during their Charlotte Lowe's tour, JUST to meet me, and vice versa. They had no business plans in Greensboro! But drove an hour and a half out of their way for me! I was quite overwhelmed!

He continued "So since you mean a lot to us here at method, we wanted the opportunity to..." and then he stopped, and said "Wait, wait, it sounds like I'm about to give you a brand new car! That's not the case, sorry! This is a recession! No brand new car!" and everyone cracked up laughing! "But we're going to give you a shopping spree! A method shopping spree! No shopping carts, but whatever you can carry on your arms from these shelves, you can keep!" CRAZY! Freakin' crazy! I was so excited! I had no idea (and had literally, just two hours earlier, bought some aroma pill refills at Target. Yeah, I am that obsessed! But it was to make the house smell all pretty in case they stopped by! I knew they probably weren't going to, but you have to be ready for these things! Well, I do, cause, I'm nuts.)

BUT first, before I could start grabbin', just in case my newspaper interview hadn't been stressful enough, Rachel had me do another interview while she recorded it, for the method offices! She tells me it's for internal use only, but I'm not sure I believe her! (Joking!) I could never be a politician or uh, anything dealing with quick reponses to questions, because I'm the worse. I know on more than one question she could probably insert the sounds of crickets chirping to cover up my delaying as I pondered her questions! I'm not good at this stuff! I'm sure what I lacked in answers, I'll more than make up in crazy facial expressions! And then, once the interview was over (which included the question of "what one method product would you like to see them make? ANYTHING!" Whoa, that question is so wide open! I couldn't think, I started sweating, I was feeling light-headed! So I just ended up going with a rather pedestrian (but oh so honest) wider range of body care products! Toothpaste, shaving cream (I'm down to only four bottles! I lust this stuff!), deodorant, all of it!

...And then the grabbing began! Danny told me I needed to start with the big stuff first, and layer! Ha! So I first grabbed two big bottles of laundry detergent (I was going to go for the new squeaky green detergent. But the only big bottles of that which were available were in sweet water. I went "eh, sweet water." and Rachel said "oh, not a fan of sweet water?" and I said "not really, can I say that out loud?" Ha ha! And then, an omop! Come on, you gotta grab one of those!

From there on out, Danny went nuts! (Though he did mention at least once "Don't forget, we're in a recession!") I'd mention like, one bottle of lil' bowl blu, and he'd grab three! it was hard work getting this stuff to stack and stay. A couple items did the jump of death, but luckily they survived their fall!

Danny, what ARE you doing?! In the end, they were putting products on my belt loops, and in my shirt pocket, anywhere they could fit them! It was madness, and I was loving every minute of it! The list of products is insane! Ok, ready?

The final tally would be (if I can actually remember everything!) 1 omop, 3 bottles of lil' bowl blu, 2 large detergent bottles, 2 bottles of le scrub, 2 aroma pills (lavender + lemongrass), 1 lavender + lemongrass aroma stick set, 1 squeaky green free + clear wet dryer sheets (haven't tried the new ones!), 1 pink grapefruit all surface cleaner (haven't tried this scent before, either!), 1 lavender all surface cleaner, 2 daily shower spray refill bottles, 1 wood for good spray cleaner, 1 lavender hand wash refill bag, 1 best in glass spray bottle, 1 all floor one (cute name! I hadn't noticed they named their floor cleaner!) lemon ginger floor cleaner, 1 almond wood for good floor cleaner, 1 floor cleaner cloth, and 1 package of leather wipes! Whew! Oh my word! AND, if that wasn't enough, they brought along two Plastic Rehab Totes for me (and one for the news reporter, which was so sweet!) and my tote had some pink grapefruit dish cubes in the new pouch packaging (oh, and hey, method lust note here; these dish cube pouches are now showing up at your local Target stores!), a Danny Seo Simply Green Parties book, an empty hand wash bottle signed by both co-founders (so cool!), and a t-shirt! Madness!

See that facial expression? Here's where the weight of all those products was starting to take it's toll. Now mind you, I'll usually bend over backwards for anything! So Rachel was asking "Are you alright? Is it too heavy?" and I responded "No, NO. It's FINE." Which, if you knew me as my friends do, my voice had raised pitch to a high soprano, meaning I was totally lying. Darn that body language! But it was all fine, I survived! Danny grabbed around four or so items from the stack (luckily I didn't have to walk to the register carrying all this stuff!) and went "Wow, these are heavy!" and I said "Trust me, my arms agree! I won't be able to pick up my fork for dinner!" Cause not only were they so amazing and did all this wonderful stuff at Lowe's for me, but they took me out to dinner (at a restaurant of my choice), too!

So Danny started piling up the products in the check out lane, the cashier rang them all through, and then EVERYONE, Danny, Rachel, my two friends Crissy and Sam, and the reporter, Morgan, all whipped out their cameras to take a photo of the total on the register! At which time the cashier says "Uhm, so what IS going on here?" and they just simply stated "Oh, we're just letting Nathan buy as many method products as he wants." and she just went "Oh, ok." Ha ha! A hysterical plastic bag incident ensued, which I won't even get into; and off we went!

At that, we said our goodbyes to my two friends, and the wonderful Morgan for being part of the fun! And drove over to Lucky 32, this great local Southern kitchen restaurant here in Greensboro. I didn't want to take them to just some chain restaurant, but rather some place in Greensboro that they couldn't find anywhere else. It was delicious, from the sweet potato hushpuppies (man, they were like dessert!) to the black bean cakes, crab cakes, and potato cakes with smoked salmon. Yes, apparently we liked our fried "cakes"!

Danny mananged to snap this one photo of me inside the restaurant. I had my camera with me, but remember that shy thing, so I should have taken a pic of them, but didn't even think of it! I was too busy chatting them up about method (expect some great things coming this year! But trust me, that's ALL I got out of them! And I tried. I even told them I wouldn't post about whatever insider info. they told me (and therefore wouldn't have been able to share the news with all you lusters, sorry!) but they STILL stayed tighted lipped. Sigh!

Hopefully they had a great time as well! It was a long day for both of them, so again, taking the time out of their schedules to do this was just amazing. And I'll remember it forever! I hope I was witty and chatty enough at dinner, and they weren't bored to death. Ha ha! At the very end, as I gave them hugs goodbye, Rachel told me I definitely had to make a trip to San Francisco (I've never been there!) and if I did, we'd all get together and have dinner with the co-founders (hear that Adam and Eric! Get ready!) I swore to her I'd be seeing her again, and would definitely do that! I'm already saving up my pennies, and dreaming of all the fun we'll have!

+

And now, here's your chance to not only read the interview by Morgan Josey Glover over on gogreentriad.com, BUT win everything I snatched up! How freakin' cool is that! Hurry on over, the contest ends May 28, 2009!

Oh, and this pic? Why does everyone look so unhappy? Did Danny and I get into a yelling argument? Nah! I was just teasing and tormenting you guys! He's the greatest! I actually thought this photo was hysterical when I saw it, because I really don't know what was going on. I think my friend Sam just happened to capture all of us at some crazy moment "inbetween" and I thought all of our facial expressions and body language were too funny! So I just had to share it with you all!

Oh, and PS. Now everyone at method thinks my thing is to place my thumbs into my front pants pockets, cowboy style. For some crazy reason I picked this nervous habit up during this method fun, and in all of the photos, my freakin' thumbs are stuck into my pants pockets! I swear I never did this before, who knows?! Ah, what can you do... (therapy, Nathan, therapy.)

clean sweeps

+ method's new citrus leaf dilutable cleaner is starting to pop up at Target stores! It will be stocked with the floorcare (well, at least at my Target!) With an insanely great price of only $2.99!

+ There are some new polls up! Word, that took forever! This time around it's all scents, scents, scents! (And your favorite method line!) Go at it, vote! It's your democratic duty! (That and, I just don't want to end up with empty polls!)

otters on tour

This has got to be seen to be believed! Head on over to method's official blog, people against dirty, now, and read all about the method otters and their first official tour!

oh.my.word.

Uhm, yeah, ok. So who might be in this photo? Well, could it be none other than 1) Rachel Goldberg, method's Squire of Scoop; 2) sorta like, me, method lust guy; and 3) Danny Seo, method's Healthy Home 'co-conspirator'! Yeah, I've got a BIG blog post coming this weekend, get ready!