Mojave: Llamas & Potato Packaging

Here’s the first in a great new series that we’re starting at Kiwano Marketing, Kiwano Business Spotlight. It features companies and organizations that we feel are having a positive impact on the environment through their marketing and/or corporate strategy. These individuals are, in small or large ways, making steps towards a more sustainable business. There are many different routes to green marketing, so I thought it would be useful to provide real examples to demonstrate what we’ve been blogging about.

My first example of a great organization is a local band called Mojave. Formed in 2007 by its two members, Paul and LJ, the acoustic soft rock of Mojave has been a hit both here in Vancouver and all over North America. I recently had the chance to talk to Paul about the band’s green policies. Paul has a graphic design background and created the band’s website all by his talented self. With two well-received CDs under their belt, Stories and Crow’s Funeral, labels have started to take notice of Mojave’s unique acoustic sound. Instead of signing a record deal, however, Mojave formed their own imprint called Black Canvas Records. This, in the band’s own words, was to give “full creative control and take greater advantage of social media, guerilla marketing, promotion, and digital distribution strategies.” We love it!

The more I interviewed Paul, the more I realized just how deeply Mojave’s green commitment reached on a personal and business level. I’m always passionate about discovering like-minded companies and exchanging ideas; here are some major ways that Mojave is doing business with the environment in mind.

Offsetting & Non-Profit Work

At the time of writing, they’re about to take off on their much-anticipated cross-Canada tour. Mojave, however, sets the bar sky high by offsetting all of their tour mileage through Less Emissions Inc. As their website states, “Less.ca is Canada’s only provider of an EcoLogo-certified carbon offset program for businesses and individuals interested in lessening their environmental impact.” What was most important to Paul was to find an offsetter with a diverse portfolio of projects that made good environmental sense, which is why he chose the Less.ca, as they only offer Gold Standard-certified offsets. Mojave also wants to challenge other small Canadian bands on a tight budget to consider offsetting their traveling mileage, and leads by example by showing just how easy and affordable carbon offsets are.

The two members that constitute Mojave are proud to live a vegan and green lifestyle. Beyond this personal commitment, they are also donate a portion of their profits to 1% for the Planet. 1% is an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. Furthermore, Mojave is passionate about animal rights; they fundraise for worthy organizations that take in unwanted animals and have even adopted their own llama.

CD – Green Marketing

One of the most fascinating parts of Mojave’s marketing collateral has to be their newest CD, Crow’s Funeral. Paul prefers that fans buy the album online to save on shipping and material costs, and sells it in electronic format for less than the CD version. He’s learned, however, that a physical CD is useful for fans who still want something in their hands, and for instant sales at their performances. But Mojave didn’t want to go with any standard CD.

Instead, Paul embarked on a full-out mission to find the very best green technologies and suppliers. Much of it is covered by his excellent guest blog post in Granville Magazine, but I’ll outline the basics here to demonstrate just how far this local band incorporates social responsibility into their business. The list includes 100% FSC-certified paper, vegetable-based ink, and a cool biodegradable overwrap which Paul tells me is made out of potatoes – and theoretically edible, although he doesn’t know anyone who’s tried. He admits that the actual CD itself is not sustainable, but as alternatives are not (yet) available, they had to settle for an “as-green-as-possible” option. Still, Mojave’s quest for the most sustainable CD lays out valuable groundwork for future bands thinking of doing the same.

Effective Social Media for Small Budgets

Mojave and I followed each other pretty early on in my twitter ‘career,’ and I can think of no better example of a small business maximizing their social media exposure. Paul manages the band’s twitter feed and reminds his audience about upcoming shows and new songs. What’s more, it’s done in a very casual and personable manner, and Paul also tweets about animal rights and other environmental issues on his mind. Mojave’s twitter feed hits all the right checks of a successful social media campaign on a small business budget.

Besides twitter, Mojave also has their own blog and is active on Facebook, MySpace (still the standard social media tool for bands), and a dozen other platforms. They’re diligent about creating invitations to events and spreading the word about upcoming releases. I asked Paul exactly how much time Mojave spends on social media. He said each member was responsible for certain platforms and spent perhaps 10 hours a week, and more leading up to shows. It all goes to show that social media is a manageable and highly effective tool for small businesses and, with proper use, the return on investment can be great.

I’m excited to see how Mojave continues to grow with a conscious green strategy and social media awareness. And better yet, thanks to great communication using twitter, I’ll know exactly when Mojave will be playing in my area again.