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Friday, October 31, 2003

Ecofriendly firm gaining attention

Eric Blom, Press Herald

PORTLAND, Maine — When Katie and Mic LeBel started a public relations business in 1999 on a foundation of environmental concern, their company stood well outside the mainstream. But the economic current has shifted, and Planet Friendly Public Relations now finds itself going with the flow.

The country has seen an explosion in natural- and organic-food sales. With it, Planet Friendly has seen an increase in the attention it is getting from editors at mass-media publications, the same people who four years ago had little interest in hearing about recyclable-toothbrush manufacturers or the latest organic-food vendor.

Now, editors are calling them, big corporations like Frito Lay are launching organic products and supermarket chains like Hannaford Bros. are setting aside departments within their stores for eco-friendly products. Natural-foods grocery chains like Wild Oats and restaurants like O’Naturals are popping up across the state and nation.

Planet Friendly, which is headquartered in the couple’s Newcastle home, only accepts clients who are engaged in environmentally sensitive products and services. Mic’s background is in environmental consulting and policy development, while Katie had been working in public relations at a variety of companies, attracting media attention to outdoorsy products.

They formed Planet Friendly primarily for social, rather than business, reasons, Mic said.

“One of the things I saw in 10 years in doing (environmental consulting) was that pollution was coming less and less from major industry and more and more from ordinary people and the consumer choices they make,” he said. “The next round of environmental reform is going to come from consumers.”

Today, Planet Friendly clients include Portland-area firms like Planet Dog, with its ecofriendly pet products and philanthropic arm; EcoDragon, a maker of hemp clothing; and Mad Gab, a producer of lip balm. But the firm’s customer list ranges far beyond Maine, to include firms like Nutiva foods and supplements in California and Maggie’s Organics in Michigan.

Most recently, the firm has taken on an international client in the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, which is trying to change public attitudes and government policies in the United States in favor of the plant.

“We have turned down some significant-sized accounts that would have really put some money in the bank,” Katie said, because their products just weren’t planet friendly enough to fit with their business model.

The kind of environmentally based businesses Planet Friendly works with are seldom cash machines. Most are small companies selling to niche markets. The price Planet Friendly charges “is somewhat based on ability to pay and size of company,” Mic said. “The relationships we have are that as they grow, we’ll grow with them.”

But staying within their niche has proven to be a marketing advantage for Planet Friendly. Potential clients see the firm as having a shared mission with them, and journalists are coming to see them as a resource on stories related to environmental enterprises.

“If we don’t know the answer we know who does,” Mic said. “We have synergies with our clients. Often, we have multiple clients that we can present to them.”

Organic foods — which just recently received a formal labeling system from the federal government — are a fast-growing market, with sales increasing by 20 percent nationally in 2002. Overall, natural and organic products have become a $36 billion annual business in the United States. Planet Friendly is no longer so much on the fringe.

“You asked about whether we feel we are riding the wave of the future,” Mic said. “We’re definitely riding it and hanging ten.”

For more information, contact:

Eric Blom
Tel: 207-791-6460
E-mail: eblom@pressherald.com

Copyright © 2003, Press Herald. All rights reserved.

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