I read about Carrotmob in an issue of Time Magazine, and I was instantly hooked. Such a simple concept, with such large repercussions for the environment!
What is Carrotmob? In a nutshell, it’s a network of consumers who band together towards creating bidding competitions among retailers. The deal? Said network of consumers converges in on the winning retailer on a given day at a given time, and then buys goods and/or services from said winning retailer. If the network is large enough,or if the people who attend agree to spending well, it can be lucrative business for the retailer for that particular day. There is also a great public relations opportunity for the retailer; a large crowd in a space is bound to attract an equally huge number of onlookers who may then translate into business as well. (In the Philippines, that’s bound to happen; we’re so usyoso (nosy) when it comes to crowds!
What does winning retailer do? Winning retailer has to agree to a particular exchange goal, which is green in nature. For instance, we might invite five clothing stores in a particular mall, situated near each other, to consider using paper bags instead of plastic bags. Or they might use a percentage of the profits they make off Carrotmob-related purchases to buy more environment-friendly lighting.
I was reminded of Carrotmob when I drove by SM Makati and saw that Fridays Wednesdays are M.O.B. days (My Own Bag); they’re really encouraging folks to bring their own bags to shop. I love it; I totally love it. Good job, SM!
What do you think? If we started a Carrotmob-type activity here among bloggers or environment-minded Filipinos, do you think we could pull it off?
