Let’s face it: starting a company is really hard. Even for those of us who haven’t done it, we can appreciate the effort and agony that our friends go through when they dive in. I thought it would be interesting to get insights from Bill Dermody, a former colleague of mine, who isn’t just trying to start a company – he’s trying to start a movement. Perhaps, after reading this, you will have some comments and suggestions for Bill, which you can leave in the comments section or send to Bill directly. With that preamble out of the way, let’s learn more about Bill’s movement and it’s challenges….
What is Retour Tennis?
Retour Tennis advocates for the recycling of tennis balls at tennis courts across America. We understand that courtside recycling bins is the key to tennis ball recycling becoming standard (think bottles and cans). Our vision is that in 5 years it will seem odd to come off a tennis court in America and not have a place to put your unwanted tennis balls. In order to facilitate this vision, we have designed and sell the only courtside hanging collection bin in the country (probably in the world): the AD-IN Bin. It is a quality product, compelling in its look and convenient in its design. We sell this to Park & Recreation departments, schools, and clubs and resorts. It has a design patent pending.
What is your “why”? Why did you begin Retour Tennis?
As owners of a local tennis specialty shop in Madison, Wisconsin, we know and hear from tennis players who wish to contribute their unwanted tennis balls for recycling, but have no easy way to do so. Non-tennis players are often not aware that tennis players open a new can for every match, and that can gets 2, possibly, 3 plays. The result is that more than 99.5% of all tennis balls sold in the US are thrown away and end up in our landfills- that is, over 100 million a year. Sorry, golden retrievers and elderly walkers can only do so much. This, in a society, that is obsessive in some ways about recycling.
In 2014 we partnered with four communities in Wisconsin to trial courtside recycling- to see if our hypothesis that players will contribute used balls, if you made it convenient for them. We contributed four hand-made beta versions of a bin that were hung on public court fences in Waunakee, Fitchburg, Madison, and Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The response was overwhelming and confirming. With no real notice or explanation (one day they appeared), the bins were filled with hundreds, and hundreds of tennis balls. Our community partners collected them for both local reuse and shipment to a company that accepts tennis balls for recycling. With this real-world confirmation, we committed to design, production and sale of the AD-IN Bin. The result is what you see available for sale now on the website.
How have the results been compared with your expectations?
We went live in January of 2015. The product is solid; the marketing challenge immense. When exposed to the story and the product, some communities are buying it; however, awareness is very low. We have sold 44, to communities ranging from Pleasanton, CA to Great Neck, Long Island, from Amherst College to Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head. Nevertheless, 44 is insignificant. Among the issues we can see are:
· We really need to sell the American tennis community on recycling tennis balls first. Our product is simply a tool that facilitates, once you have made that commitment.
· We do not have the marketing $ to create awareness of a brand new product category. More importantly, even if we did have the funds, it’s not clear spending $$$ makes sense for a one-product, niche solution.
What are your “lessons learned” (so far)?
· Everyone gets it, agrees, and loves both the concept and the product.
· The product itself is appreciated for its quality.
· Organizing a mass movement to change behavior is not a trivial task.
· We need a major sponsorship or promotion partner.
Bill ends the interview with this question:
So, Michael, here is the challenge for marketing geniuses: the market likes it, wants it to happen- but, how do you translate that into action? (P.S It’s not just putting up a website.)
I have some thoughts on Bill’s issues, but want to make sure we first congratulate Bill and his wife, Sarah, for diving in and trying to make a positive change in the world. As any of us who have tried to change the status-quo in some way, it is very difficult to get people to alter their behaviors or to even hear our message in the clutter of the digital age.
I also want to have some humility when offering my opinions, which are easy to dish out from those who aren’t on the front lines. Also, I think it’s unlikely that any suggestion I make won’t cause Bill to say “Wow! I never thought of that!”. I suspect he’s covered many of these bases, but lets think about the issue as best we can.
Bill is right on concerning the value of a promotional partner, so we’ll leave that one alone for now. Additionally, my gut tells me…
- Embrace digital marketing on the idea of tennis ball recycling..
- Write compelling content. Create interesting videos. When people land on the content, treat it as a lightweight Call To Action by collecting some basic information. Are they part of a tennis club (where is it located)? A municipal tennis organization? Although the Add-In Bins aren’t sold to individual consumers, there is value in collecting info from those who have qualified their interest by viewing the content.
- Look for ways to cross-pollinate with other tennis digital destinations – provide content for their sites. Keep the promotional aspect low so that the material is viewed as thought leadership rather than marketing.
- Set up a social media calendar so that the content is regularly shared with the right hashtags etc.
- Here’s a great example of one company that did a “passion project” around their shared belief that office coffee is bad. It was fun and got a lot of pick-up in the coffee industry, which in turn drove people to the website of their company, which is a digital marketing firm.
- My sense is that the millennial tennis generation will be more idealistic about the environmental benefit of the recycle bins, and should be leveraged to apply pressure to their schools/clubs. Getting a few to do this, and creating fun videos/articles, loops us back to number one above. What Retour Tennis needs is a tipping point where the message spreads without the effort.
Other comments/ideas? Let’s hear ’em! Use the comments section or contact Bill directly here: info@retourtennis.com.
P.S. For another interview with an entrepreneur, visit my friend James Oliver’s interview with a guy starting a spirits company….