Their Weibo account has accumulated a similar degree of attention as that of The Bulk House with over 2000 fans, and around 500 reads each article. The company undoubtedly constitutes an achievement in innovative and creative efforts in educating and promoting recycling. With their micro-blog featuring humorous videos of performers singing uk phone number database and dancing while recycling, it gives its marketing strategy a clever and eye-catching edge to engaging the next generation of Chinese in sustainable living. Such strategies have been welcomed by fans commenting that the company provided ‘minute hardcore teaching garbage classification’ via their micro-blog. Other remarks indicate a growing sense of camaraderie among followers with promises to ‘live a green life one hundred percent’.
Yellow Dog’s account on WeChat introduces its waste collection services, offers rewards for waste recycling, and educates readers on environment protection.
MARKETING FOR THE FUTURE: COULD GREEN BECOME CHINA’S NEW RED?
Both companies, The Bulk House and Little Yellow Dog, prove that advancements in technology combined with a sense of ‘community spirit’ dedicated to actively combatting waste, is driven by social media marketing campaigns. In both cases, sustainability is a core issue with these companies adapting business models around greener and more efficient design strategies to satisfy younger consumers, dubbed as ‘Generation Z’ who will inherit the role as “Caretakers of the planet”.
China’s largest online store, Taobao, displays a vast range of recycled toys for children. Among the products include, Green science DIY experiment projects, which are not only made from recycled materials but teach children about the reasons why caring for the environment is so important. Such examples demonstrate that there is an eagerness to learn more about the implications of the recycling process, regarding the destination of the waste.
Though, with the help of Jack Ma, other digital efforts have received even greater support. My own hyper-connected millennial Chinese friends introduced me to Alipay’s lifestyle app known as ‘Ant Forest’ which rewards users with ‘green energy’ points in return for making environmentally friendly decisions in their daily lives. Indeed, I joined over 500 million users of the program which-to date has been responsible for planting 100 million trees, covering 933 square kilometers. Businessmen and celebrity influencers clearly play an important role in importing the concept of leading a sustainable life with the likes of even Xi Jinping urging citizens to sort their waste as part of a ‘fashionable new lifestyle’, according to the South China Morning Post.
While countries in Europe have experienced a rise of activists speaking up about environmental concerns, Chinese people rely heavily on the government to handle garbage sorting with as much convenience as possible. Thus, there is a demand for Western businesses to import green habits into Chinese culture.
Popular culture in the West is making a green life a good life as a reflection of a kind and compassionate person. It is only a matter of time when Chinese nationals will catch on to the trend and that sharing pictures of Starbucks and milk tea cups paper-to-go cups on Weibo profiles will become a thing of the past and replaced with images of being green.