End of July I worked a couple of days with the EcoAd team in Pune. EcoAd produces ‘socio-friendly’ paper bags, made from upcycled newspaper. In some of the Indian cities plastic bags are already banned or will be banned in the near future. So these upcycled paper bags can have a great future. The very motivated team of EcoAd is challenging retailers and restaurant owners in Pune who now give plastic bags to their customers. EcoAd wants to have them use upcycled newspaper bags which can be used up to 20 times. And which are, of course, less damaging to the environment.
Ronald van het Hof and Shashank Theotia worked with the Eco Ad team on the business & sales strategy on 21st of July, the day that I few to India. The next day I worked with Shashank on the branding & communications approach. Focusing on their target customers (retailers and restaurants) we worked on aligning all communication materials: consistency in the use of the logo and story to tell, colors, images, etc.. We also discussed a possible (joint) promotions strategy, focused on relevant consumer moments throughout the year.
Two weeks after my visit we already organized a follow-up Skype call in which Rohit, managing founder, and his team members updates us about what had been done in those weeks since the workshop. The workshop was a great start for this team and the energy level of the EcoAd team is amazing. Pune is their main sales location at the moment, but also Bengaluru has already been researched as a good market. In the coming months we will continue to work on the communications calendar and alignment of all materials which should result in an increase in sales.
I had a great time working with the young EcoAd team. It was a great match of hard work combined with humor. They were happy to join in my ‘hoedje van papier’ (a Dutch children’s song about a paper hat) act:-)
Karen de Loos
