I’m very excited to see the latest issue of Seima’s product magazine out in the world. The company thrives on innovation and thinking ‘outside the box’, so they create the magazine each year rather than a standard product catalogue.
What I love about it is they see it as an opportunity to spread the word about businesses they love.
Last year I worked with them to profile emerging creatives across a wide range of industries, and for this issue we’ve looked at businesses that share their desire to make the world a better place.
What impresses me about Seima is their genuine desire to support businesses that share that same passion. Whenever I meet with them to discuss who we could include, the conversation sounds more like a fan convention than a corporate meeting as they effuse about how much they love a product or admire a business for the positive difference it’s making in the world.
Seima designs and manufactures products we use every day – taps, sinks, toilets, baths etc – and they care about not only making great products but making them a pleasure to use.
This issue we’ve focused on businesses that have also taken an everyday product – coffee, laundry detergent, toilet paper – and made it better for the planet. But more than that, the companies involved have made those products a pleasure to use by injecting them with humour. Why? Because guilt or a sense of obligation can turn all but the most committed away. And who doesn’t want a bit of fun added to the more mundane aspects of living? I know that I will choose a product that will make me smile over one that doesn’t.
The businesses we’ve featured each use a subscription model that makes it ‘set and forget’ for consumers, offer affordable products and deliver on quality. Rather than just aiming at the ‘eco-friendly’ market, they appeal to a mass audience so that more people are making a small difference, adding up to big results. You’ve got to love that.
Check them out, below.
Urban Brew
Urban Brew is an Adelaide-based coffee company reducing the impact of coffee pods on the environment. I’ve long been a fan and a subscriber and it was great to get to chat to co-founder Toby Strong about going from idea to reality and how they’re always working to make their products more sustainable.
Who Gives A Crap
Who Gives A Crap has become a huge hit with their sustainably produced toilet paper that directly supports toilets being built in developing countries. The story of how they got their start is as fun as their approach to marketing. Toilet humour for the win!
You can read the stories and see the full magazine via the link below.