What if your employees military background experiences was at the
center of your marketing?
EcoVets is a furniture company that exclusively employees American veterans. They take old tractor trailers that Wal-Mart would discard into landfills and uses all of the valuable materials like oak and maple floors, aluminum siding, and converts it into a sustainable piece of furniture.
The
parent company is called Ecoark. According
to their web site…
Ecoark has centralized an organized, efficient
waste-to-product network of retailers, suppliers, and sustainability service
providers. EcoArk offers fully integrated solutions to a growing portfolio of
innovative companies that are leading the new green generation. EvoVets is a new venture for EcoArk and is based in
Springdale, Arkansas.
Table that Idea
At $15.00 per hour, each vet is provided with training and
support that is difficult to find
in most companies today. This is a great way to serve several needs; EcoVet
is trying to furnish opportunities to men and woman who served in the military
who have many of the basic skills needed – they just can’t find an opportunity. And Wal-Mart has thousands of trailers they need to be discarded each year.
The furniture ranges in price from $500 to many thousands of
dollars depending on the project. And from the early signs of success, they are
expanding into places where there are excess trailers and military. North
Carolina, my home state is a logical place to expand with a heritage of furniture
building and substantial military presence. There are also excess trailers from places like Food Lion and Home Depot.
The Intersection of Two Needs
Marketing is often about seeing two ideas intersecting in a
unexpected place. Our military is having difficulty find jobs and using their
skills learned in oversea combat. We have many things used in commerce that get
discarded and sent to landfills. How can those two ideas be brought together.
Are you in a business that is struggling to find a point of
difference that someone really cares about? Could you find a trend, a need or a
workforce that could bring a fresh and innovative dimension to the story you
tell. Maybe your story could start with who works for you.
Time to get off your recliner and get to work.
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Labels: EcoArk, EcoVets, Marketing Moments, sustainability, Wal-Mart