Ryman empowers customers to create a green(er) future

Ryman have teamed up with Grey London to launch a brand new eco-friendly font for customers who (still) use printers. The typeface, Ryman Eco, is not only beautiful and legible, it also uses an average 33% less ink than standard industry fonts including Arial, Times New Roman and Georgia. Over 15,000 people have already downloaded Ryman Eco, which launched this week, and, despite concerns from some observers over licensing of the font, this is a good thing.

What is particularly interesting about the typeface, which was publicized by a YouTube video complete with download link, is that Ryman have tapped into the clicktivism trend can in a way that cannot be misconstrued or obfuscated. In stark contrast with the infamous cancer #Nomakeupselfie nonsense of last month, which started as a vanity-induced, self-serving farce and ended with people accidentally adopting wildlife, Ryman have created a clear call to action and enabled customers to do some good by using their product. This is different from cause-marketing ‘buy our product and we’ll donate $xxx’ campaigns because the social good is instigated by the very use of the product.

Ok, so cutting back on ink usage by 33% doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but actually if everyone adopted Ryman Eco there would be 500 million printer cartridges fewer clogging up landfills each year.

Regardless of licensing concerns and cynicism around just how much Ryman Eco will change the world, this is a cool example of how brands can capitalise on clicktivism and enable their social communities to shape the world in which we live, and increasingly this is how brands are building affinity with their customers.

Disclaimer: the millions of pounds raised by the #Nomakeupselfie craze is fantastic and top work to Cancer Research and other charities for capitalising on the trend. Any criticism is levelled and those misguided individuals involved in the trend for the wrong reasons.