Archive for the ‘Green Products’ Category

Research Energises VPhase Product Expansion

Environmental issues have undeniably come to the fore in recent years. Topics such as carbon emissions, waste reduction and energy conservation are now a central part of the political and commercial agenda in every country. Whilst this trend has created its own unique set of financial pressures for businesses and householders alike, it also represents a major opportunity for companies to develop products and services that can help.

VPhase, part of the Energetix Group, has developed an energy-saving device for domestic premises, which uses the concept of voltage optimisation to significantly reduce electricity costs for householders. By “smoothing” fluctuations and lowering output voltage moderately, the VPhase unit delivers typical cost savings of 17% on fridges and freezers, and 15% on lighting. All of this is achieved using a compact device that can be installed at minimal cost and requires no change in consumer behaviour.

Although voltage optimisation has been used in industrial settings for many years, adapting the technology for use in the home is a significant development. VPhase has made significant inroads in bringing the product to market in the UK, and has teamed with British Gas and Scottish and Southern Energy to offer the technology to their customers. Moreover, VPhase has recently begun selling the VPhase unit directly to householders and the trade.

Given the success of the unit in the UK, VPhase naturally wished to explore opportunities for introducing the device to the European market. Business-to-business market research specialist B2B International was commissioned to conduct a Europe-wide market assessment exercise, designed to appraise the size and nature of the opportunity for selling the product more widely. The research used a combination of extensive desk research and in-depth expert interviews with parties responsible for marketing and distributing energy efficiency products right across the continent.

Results found that there was significant groundswell amongst consumers for taking energy efficiency measures in their homes and that the promise of pain-free, consistent savings in both electricity use and CO2 emissions was especially valuable. The research also revealed that Northern European countries, with higher relative electricity costs, greater average consumption of electricity, and supportive governmental incentives for adopting energy efficiency measures, were especially attractive for launching the product.

B2B International’s research manager Oliver Truman, who directed the project, believes that the positive reaction to VPhase is indicative of a wider shift in attitudes towards environmental products: “We found that it wasn’t just publicly-funded energy efficiency bodies that showed enthusiasm for the product. The commercial sector, particularly large utility companies, have embraced the energy efficiency agenda whole-heartedly and were keen to learn more about what the VPhase product could do. So long as the energy-saving benefits of a product like VPhase are proven and well-communicated, consumers can rationally see the virtues of making an investment in energy efficiency”.

Lee Juby, CEO of VPhase, said: “The principles of voltage optimisation have been delivering energy savings to industrial and commercial buildings for many years. VPhase brings these savings to the home. I am looking forward to rolling out VPhase to many millions of customers across Europe”.

Posted in Environment, Europe, Green Products, Product Development, VPhase |
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Sustainable Growth For Sustainable Products

In spite of some predictions that environmentally-friendly products and practices would fall by the wayside during the recession, AdAge.com reported in April that green marketing is showing itself to be somewhat recession-proof.

One study shows that so far in 2009 there have been more than 450 launches of package-goods products claiming to be sustainable, environmentally friendly or "eco-friendly."  If this rate continues for the rest of the year, we can expect to see three times as many ‘green’ launches as last year; 2008 itself witnessed more than double the number from 2007.

Consumers, too, appear to be continuing to buy sustainable lines in spite of the higher costs commonly associated with these products.  Sales of organic food, for example, are still continuing to grow, albeit not at such high rates as in previous years.  Similarly, sales at natural food stores climbed 10.9% last year to $4.2 billion which, despite some slowing in the fourth quarter, was still better than many of the top-performing major grocery retailers.

In a different market, $2 billion-plus global value brand Scott, which reaches one in three U.S. consumers, has a new product offering: toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and wipes made from 40% to 80% recycled content.  The launch of these new eco-friendly lines follows market research showing that its value-minded consumers still want to minimize the environmental impact of their purchase: 86% said they are interested and 41% said they are very interested in products with recycled content.

Similarly, K-C’s Huggies Pure & Natural diapers are currently being launched, and are positioned as having more natural ingredients and post-consumer content than other products.  Pre-launch, online buzz about the new product generated almost 200,000 requests for samples.

Whilst these are just a few of many possible examples which indicate that buyers are still very aware of – and concerned about – environmental issues, they demonstrate the potential of ‘going green’.

Posted in Eco-friendly, Environment, Green Marketing, Green Products |
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