I’ll be honest, I’m no marketer! Well I didn’t study it, I don’t claim to be a marketing “geek” like every second person on the internet, but I do like writing. I just wrote this the other day because I was bored. And yes, this is the type of thing that spews out of my mind when I’m bored! It’s not short, so come back if you don’t have time now. It’s also a little more intelligent than anything I normally write, but what can I say, I’m a prodigy!

I submitted it to Mail and Guardians Thought Leader but they didn’t publish it, instead they seem to have published this article. Ok, well here is mine, dig it.

Could saving Cape Town have marketing benefits?

It’s a tough time for any industry as we see our world constantly changing. Marketing changes by the day with companies working on social media programs, big budget marketing campaigns, trying Twitter, Facebook and any other social websites to gain inroads into the thoughts and trends of their customers. We’re using detailed statistics available from Google and Facebook to target our products and avoid wasted money.

But to get marketing around the world is a different story, with many campaigns often being confined to the borders of the area it targets. However, in the environmental sphere, ideas do spread across the world as everyone is looking for the next big green idea and news sources, ‘green’ blogs and other networks are eager to spread exciting news for free.

If you run something unique and maybe even crazy, you are virtually guaranteed press coverage the world over, especially with the current hype surrounding the environment.

As an example, the City of Cape Town is currently pushing for legislation that will make manufacturers responsible for the safe disposal of these CFL bulbs that contain between 5mg and 30mg per bulb. According to an article in the Cape Times, the cost of collecting and disposing one bulb will be R1.45 and will cost the city some R3 million per year. The cost of collecting and disposing of one bulb in rural areas will shoot up to R9.96 per bulb.

Let’s say, for arguments sake that the cost per bulb, to collect and safely dispose, comes in at R2 and the estimate is that the city will need around R3 million per year for this program. This effectively comes in at 1.5 million bulbs per year, although this is likely to be higher as the bulbs become more popular, and as ones already installed come to the end of their lifespan.

Now let’s say the average bulb contains 5mg, times this by 1.5 million and we have 7.5 kilograms of mercury if my calculations are correct. Now 5 mg is enough to pollute 6000 gallons (22712 litres) beyond a safe drinking level (Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23694819/) . Effectively, one bulb could contaminate 22712 liters of water. Now 1.5 million bulbs could effectively contaminate 34 068 000 000 liters of water.

Using these numbers to ones advantage could be of great marketing effectiveness as nothing convinces people like solid numbers. These numbers are obviously in theory if all these bulbs were to break and seep into underground water sources. But the theory of the numbers is of high importance as it highlights the importance of safe disposal of mercury containing CFL light bulbs.

Now let’s say a major overseas brand or even a local conglomerate is looking for some ad spend and decides to strike a deal whereby they sponsor the entire safe disposal system for a full year in Cape Town. They could spend the R3 million (Around $380000) and basically ensure news coverage across the entire working planet. News sources both locally and internationally would pick this up, green blogs such as Treehugger would pick these stories up and publish them (This is all at no cost), and suddenly R3 million has garnered you worldwide attention and exposure.

This is a vast sum of money, but now imagine splitting these costs up and getting a drive going where some of the top earning companies in South Africa, or the world, contribute to it? Suddenly, all the brands are gaining exposure, news sources will still pick it up and we can go for the angle of a “world first” where companies have sponsored a recycling program for one of the worlds top cities to ensure the environmental protection of that city.

(Travel+Leisure readers recently names Cape Town the worlds 2nd best city, and Table Mountain is currently in the running to become a new wonder of the world)

I’m no marketing “geek” as every second person on the internet claims to be these days, however I do see unique angles in marketing for an idea like this even though I may have produced a simplified version of it. The point is to highlight the issue, and perhaps see if any marketers see potential in a campaign like this?

In times of a recession, the green market continues to grow as people are looking to save the planet, and any company doing any amount of good for the planet is seen in a positive light. And as green blogs and news sources search for the latest news in the environmental sphere, this could be the unique opportunity to gain mass media circulation across the planet.

It’s always something to think about.