JKR

Method

This week's Champion of Design is Method, the brand renowned for it's ethical approach to cleaning. Silas Amos sums up the brand lesson which we drew beneath...

With sustainability nothing is ever simple – pull one thread and watch the whole plan unravel in the face of pragmatic challenges. Method's great achievement is in joining the dots both effectively and beautifully.

They have grasped that the most effective ethical design works within a kind of triangulation: it’s not enough to be greener, you must also be more desirable and engaging through design. If you can produce it more smartly and charge a premium, so much the better. Being innovative in ways that consider the supply chain, product benefits, ergonomics and suchlike means Method can offer style with a flourish, secure that there is plenty of underpinning substance.

Method, it seems, leapfrogged more ‘worthy’ looking eco-brands, recognising that a certain educated consumer cares about the planet but makes brand choices as a reflection of their good taste and general ‘with-it-ness’.  Their packaging would be wasted stuck beneath the sink.

It’s greatly to Method's credit that they have nailed their colours to the green mast – because for every innovation they make there are a million ‘yes, but…’ headaches to be dealt with.  These are challenging waters to sail in. But if you wait for perfect solutions you will never go anywhere –  leading by example, Method are influencing much mainstream thinking, one pack and one improvement at a time.

By Silas Amos, Creative Director, jkr

For the full article, see this week's Marketing magazine.