Karma is a funny thing.
With the 'brimming with vindication' consumer market research burning a hole in my filing cabinet, yesterday was supposed to be the day of a big meeting with a PR whiz to get the media, at least (hopefully followed by consumers, groups and government) to sit up and take note of RE:tie as a green, disability PR, CSR and sales dream come true.
Sadly, snow stopped (well, postponed, possibly until next year) play.
Suitably snookered, I was licking my wounds when I happened across this:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100008829/grey-pounds-100bn-christmas-warning-to-retailers/
Bearing in mind that equal to RE:tie's 'green' cred is its contribution to enablement, this was not unfortuitous.
Of course I have weighed in:
'Retailers risk repelling some of their wealthiest customers with excessive and poorly-designed packaging which older people find difficult to open or use...
+
...Nearly half of more than 2,000 people questioned said they are sometimes unable to take lids or caps off products such as plastic milk bottles or jars because of the packaging
As one with more than a passing interest in PR & marketing, what surprises me is how resistant many brands are to initiatives designed not only to boost their CSR, but which may also confer more than a slight USP/sales advantage too, which one has to presume is the holy grail.
With luck it is but a matter of time before design initiatives such as http://www.retie.co.uk/ or http://www.squeezeopen.com/ get noticed, embraced and appreciated as much by those marketing whizzes (and their bosses forever on the TV claiming to be in support of 'innovation') as much as they may be by consumers.
I have also contacted the professional bodies cited, and downloaded a useful research aid:
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/
http://www.ilcuk.org.uk/
http://www.ilcuk.org.uk/record.jsp?type=publication&ID=80
http://www.ilcuk.org.uk/files/pdf_pdf_155.pdf
