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Promote positive alternatives
The marketing beancounters are always watching. They buy lists, launch direct mailings and measure for success -- generally recognized as a 1% response rate. When we respond to a direct mail solicitation, we tell them 'Junk mail works.' On the other hand, when we patronize the mom and pop store down the street or make an online contribution to our favorite non-profit, we send a different message to the beancounters - 'there IS another way - and it works!'
Just as we can drive markets for environmentally preferable products by shifting our purchasing decisions in a green direction, so too can we drive the way goods are marketed by shifting the way we respond to various types of marketing.
When making a purchase, we can avoid the Fingerhut and Victoria Secret catalogs of the world. -- maybe try a local business. And when making charitable donations, we can think twice before stuffing a check in a Business Reply Envelope. We don't have to boycott companies or otherwise-noble charities - we can simply make online transactions or mail checks to our favorite organizations when we hear about them in the news, rather than waiting for the bulk mail to end up in our mailbox. That way, instead of showing the beancounters that their mailer hit the magical 1% success rate and thus merits the launching of a million more pieces of paper, we will demonstrate that Junk mail-free fundraising methods are a financially viable way to go.
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