The Age of Cool Biobased Materials: a New Positioning Strategy
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SUSTAINABILITY PHILIPPE WILLEMS*, B. TJEERDSMA *Corresponding author Orineo bvba, Acaciastraat 14, B-3071 Erps-Kwerps, Belgium Philippe Willems The age of cool biobased materials: a new positioning strategy KEYWORDS: Biobased materials, positioning, up cycling, agro side-streams, aesthetic. B ioplastics just celebrated their 25th jubilee. A rather sad celebration, as current market share does only Abstract represent 0,2% of the European thermoplastic and thermosetting market, despite large multinational involvement and consumer support. Own research on the reasons for this limited commercial success concluded on a failing positioning. Most bio-based materials are promoted on their properties, vegetable origin, end-of-life options and benefits for the environment. So far so good, except that suppliers always benchmark against conventional synthetic plastics. And when positioned as such, bio-based materials tend to fall short on price/performance ratio. A new positioning strategy, based on a balanced What could be the reason for such a communication between rational (addressing limited success? Most research on this objective facts), emotional (addressing aesthetic concludes on ‘price’ and ‘performance’. aspects) and intuitive (addressing personal values) Current bioplastics are still 2-3 times more properties offers new opportunities. expensive then conventional plastics and This is illustrated by the recent launch of a new as long as price parity is not obtained, large bio-based material for interior decoration. acceptance of bioplastics is limited (3, 7). Other sources claim a 15% price premium for Bioplastics (8) but even this premium does not INTRODUCTION cover the price gap. The fi rst mention of man-made plastic material goes back Isn’t there some positive perspective for bioplastics? to 1862 (1, 3). A mouldable cellulose nitrate material, called Many studies and articles anticipate double digit growth Parkesine created great interest at the Great International for bioplastics in the coming years (9, 10, 11). Are we Exhibition in London. This was well before the world’s fi rst at the end of the lag-time, to use a biotechnological synthetic plastic, Bakelite, back in 1907, the start of the terminology? First observation is that most anticipated ‘plastic era’(2). Only in 1990, when ICI brought Biopol on the growth goes towards drop-in bio-polyethylene and bio-PET, market, the ‘Bioplastic Revolution’ started (1). supported amongst others by Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle™ and TetraPak’s Tetra Rex® Bio-based packaging (8, 11). 25 years later, with the accumulated knowledge of a century A more positive evolution in this fi eld is the support given by of organic chemistry and progress in biotechnology and Coca-Cola, Danone and ALPLA to polyethylenefuranoate, fermentation processes, bioplastics barely represent 0,2% a fully biobased alternative to PET (12). Secondly, and of the European thermoplastic and thermosetting polymer more worryingly, similar growth rates were forecasted in consumption (4, 5) and 0,5% of plastics consumed in bags and articles back in the 90’s and 00’s (13, 14, 15, 16, 17). And packaging. It is not because of a lack of interest from large these projections felt considerably short. corporation, as most major chemical and agro companies in the world are (or have been) actively involved in developing So, there must be another limiting factor in the emergence biobased plastics and polymers. It is also not because of a of bio-based materials. One such factor could be a failing lack of consumer acceptance. Increasing public concern positioning strategy. about the environment, climate change and long-term limited global fossil fuel resources are indeed important drivers to fi nd The aim of this paper is to present a novel positioning alternatives to petroleum-based plastic materials (6), drivers strategy for biobased materials, a strategy that balances already present at the start of the ‘Bioplastic Revolution’. both objective and subjective aspects. 60 Chimica Oggi - Chemistry Today - vol. 34(4) July/August 2016 CURRENT BIO-BASED MATERIAL POSITIONING Many companies, especially technology-driven companies, are tempted to overstress these rational messages in their How are bio-based materials or bioplastics now positioned? communication. This is definitely a good strategy when We also looked at different actors in the value chain: communicating towards peers, but peers are nor customers polymer suppliers, compounders, end-users and identified or consumers of the product. Customers and consumers are the positioning of their products. Not surprisingly, all bio- not always technically skilled. In their quest for properties and based materials are positioned as ‘the better alternative to functionality they are expecting some reassurance on the the environment’. All actors stress on the same arguments: performance, rather then complicated data sets. That’s why greenhouse gas reduction, carbon mobilisation, end-of-life in the 360° positioning, rational messages are translated in a options (biodegradation, recycling, incineration), no use of simple and clear message to customers and consumers, with genetically modified crops and limited impact of biomaterials the possibility to access to hard scientific data upon request. on land use. There is barely a differentiation between the different biomaterials proposed. Technical arguments Rational messages are essential, but should never be overstressed. and certification also have a determining place in the communication strategies. A third striking element is that all Emotional messages polymer suppliers systematically benchmark their products to In the 360° positioning, emotional messages are those synthetic polymers (18, 19, 20). stimulating the senses. Consumers are buying products they The problem of this communication strategy is that leaves price like. Products that are looking good, feeling good, tasting and performance playing a prominent role in the purchase good, smelling well. Aesthetic and haptic properties of bio- decision-making process: environmental arguments are ‘nice based materials are rarely mentioned in the communication of to have’ but not determining enough to justify a less attractive bio-based material suppliers. Strange. Especially because this price/performance ratio. is the battlefield where you win the hearth of the consumers. What is missing in the communication? Passion for the product, Emotional messages are upgraded from ‘non existent’ to aesthetics, a nice story to tell consumers. Items included in the ‘prominent’ in the 360° positioning strategy. communication made by Veuve Clicquot about their new champagne packaging, Naturally Clicquot (21). Intuitive messages Intuitive messages are sent towards the personal values of the customers and consumers. This is where the environmental 360° POSITIONING benefits of a product will come forward. Where social benefits will be mentioned. Where products are serving the personal A new way to position bio-based materials, called a “360° image of consumers. Where GMO and end-of-life issues are positioning” can be an alternative. This is especially valid for addressed. Where LCA comes in. innovative bio-based materials that should be promoted on their own merits and not in comparison to synthetic polymers. Those intuitive arguments are well described in the bio- It is somewhat less relevant to bio-based drop-in products. based literature, unfortunately highly factual and diluted with rational arguments. A better option is to combine these The 360° positioning is based on a balanced value proposition, intuitive messages into a nice story that customers can further addressing both objective product properties and subjective tell to the consumers. And again, the story needs to be simple arguments. Centrally in all communication stands the consumer and visual for the consumer. benefit, the one stakeholder who finally decides to buy a product, who drives the whole value chain (22, 23). The 360° Balance and honesty positioning principle stresses on simple, clear and balanced The 360° positioning covers the rational, emotional and intuitive messages: rational, emotional and intuitive messages (Figure 1). messages in a balanced way. Customers and consumers first need to want the product (the emotional part), then need to Rational messages be convinced that the product matches their personal set of Each product has objective properties: mechanical properties, values (the intuitive part) and finally need to be reassured that composition, processing the product will deliver conditions, functional according to expectations properties, purity, etc. (the rational part). Only Whatever positioning when the 3 elements strategy a company are well balanced, price chooses, each product becomes less of an issue must perform according in the purchase decision to the expectations and bio-based products of the application. may carry a substantial To substantiate these premium. properties, companies may decide to have their With the easy access to products certified against information nowadays standards by independent through internet, social institute. In certain media, etc., it is essential applications, this is even that the intuitive messages Figure 1. Visualisation of the 360° positioneing. mandatory. are true and honest. Chimica Oggi - Chemistry Today - vol. 34(4) July/August 2016 61 Hiding information for customers and consumers or green- 360° POSITIONING washing your story will inevitably be sanctioned by customers and