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Message The EQ Tool Sappi Fine Paper North America is a leading producer of premium paper used for magazines, catalogs, books, and advertising. The Boston-based company, a division of global supplier Sappi Ltd., has a reputation for both innovation and quality. Its brand names, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset, and Flo are among the industry’s most recognized brands. The emphasis on Sappi’s products, however, has historically overshadowed the division’s leadership in sustainable manufacturing processes and support for responsible forestry practices, including: Certification by the Forest Stewardship Council, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. In addition, more than 80 percent of the energy used by Sappi’s regional mills comes from renewable resources, giving the operation one of the lowest carbon footprints of any major North American maker of coated paper. The company asked IDEO to help draw attention to its exemplary business practices by communicating a concise message around environmental impact and enabling Sappi to lead more informed conversations with its stakeholders. IDEO and Sappi Fine Paper had previously collaborated to identify the division’s strengths and unmet needs within the printing industry. The partners saw a specific opportunity to build on commonly held mind-sets (such as “reuse, reduce, recycle”) and facilitating better-informed paper sourcing decisions yielding more sophisticated relationships with paper suppliers. The primary challenge for this program involved shifting stakeholders’ level of engagement to find value not only in Sappi’s product quality, but also in its industry-leading approach to sustainable manufacturing. The design team needed to systemically translate the very technical and at times inconsistent language of environmental impact to create a coherent brand story for a divergent industry audience. The project’s key objective was to create an interactive experience that would: • Show the emissions impact of each major step in the process of producing a printed publication • Help users visualize the factors that contribute to paper manufacturing’s carbon footprint • Give users ways to interact with specific aspects of the information The team’s approach was guided by an insight derived from conversations with various stakeholders in the print industry: It is much easier to shift a polemic conversation than to start a new one. Sappi needed to contribute and expand an ongoing conversation to develop more meaningful relationships in the future. To this end, IDEO helped Sappi tell its story of carbon reduction in seven specific statements, from minimizing waste to best use of recycled fiber, which helped address multi-tiered concerns and expose gaps in the predominant dialogue. Each statement required a balance of science based data and understandable visualization to reinforce Sappi’s position. The team focused on communicating actions that measurably impact the carbon footprint of Sappi’s paper manufacturing process and plans for future improvements, rather than debate competitors or adhere to popular mindsets based on dated and inaccurate information that was easy to remember but factually inaccurate. The resulting Web-based eQ Tool, allows stakeholders to track Sappi’s performance improvements and compare results against industry norms. Built-in calculators help users understand and distinguish the positive effects of choosing Sappi. Additionally the eQ Tool allows users to create a personalized certificate that reports carbon emissions reductions based on specific quantities and brands of Sappi paper. “Our newly launched eQ tool is an engaging demonstration of our core commitment to sustainability,” says Jennifer Miller, executive vice president, strategic marketing and chief sustainability officer. “This interactive tool reflects our dedication to transparency, reporting measurable results and stating publicly the goals we have set for future progress. We recognize that the environmental performance of a paper supplier is an increasingly relevant and critical factor in choosing a product brand. The eQ tool responds to that need and allows us to have a meaningful dialog with our customers on a range of issues.” On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Sappi launched the Sappi eQ Tool and received 8,163 unique user visits in the first 6 months after launch. Numerous individuals and corporations including Coca-Cola Enterprises, Quicksiler, and Ann Taylor have downloaded 1,580* certificates to verify and publish their emissions reductions efforts. *First 3 months after launch http://www.ideo.com/work/the-eq-tool-for-sappi-fine-paper