Building their business from the community up

• By
• Hilary Henegar

Image by Jonathan Evans Photography

Green marketing firm celebrates launch with the support of its extended family

Big thanks to the gals at Kiwano Marketing for inviting Granville magazine to their big launch party last week at the Stanley Park Pavilion. It was a fun night with a great group of folks representing a spectrum of industries (most of whom were connected to Kiwano via Twitter).

Kiwano’s co-founders Cecilia Lu and Sofia Ribeiro started the green marketing company earlier this year with the goal of effecting “a mentality shift in the way we do business,” says Cecilia—the self-proclaimed “networking ninja” on the team. “Instead of simply looking at profits for your bottom line, we want to encourage companies to realize that today’s customers are starting to talk back—and that companies need to start listening.”

When the pair first started Kiwano, they realized Vancouver had something of a shortage of marketing firms working directly with small business and entrepreneurs. And understanding that such businesses depend on relationship-building and innovation for survival, they saw an opportunity to provide a service that would launch these businesses into the emerging market of sustainability—itself built on the concepts of collaboration and out-of-the-box thinking—to reach the growing base of socially conscious consumers.

The fact that the company practices this model itself was clearly evident at the launch party, with Kiwano partnering with Lora Danyluk of Urban Eden Design to celebrate their respective small businesses. Urban Eden Design designs and builds organic and sustainable outdoor spaces and gardens.

“We've been able to support each other through many challenges of running our own businesses,” says Cecilia, “so we couldn't think of a better partnership when we were ready to start thinking about our launch.”

They also saw the business advantage: Urban Eden Design's clients were also very interested in sustainable lifestyle practices.

Additionally, Lora has lent her design skills to Kiwano, executing all the graphics for the event invitations, the decor of the room and more. And in exchange, Kiwano advises on marketing and social media tools, like Twitter.

“Mostly,” adds Cecilia, “we partnered with Urban Eden Design and the Stanley Park Ecology Society [who provided the event space] because they were local businesses/organizations that really walked the talk when it came to the environment.”

Kiwano signed an exclusive, long-term partnership with the Stanley Park Ecology Society earlier this fall and now directs their social media in order to raise awareness of the services it provides as well as help raise much needed monies to keep its program’s running.

The event itself was fairly sustainable: prizes were fair-trade; the food was sourced from local, organic farms via Ladybug Organics; the sponsors were green, ethical small businesses; ticketing was paperless; and all carbon emissions were offset by Carbon Fund, supporting a renewable energy project.

Perhaps one of the most endearing moments of the evening was the speech given by Cecilia in which she thanked the community of businesses, friends and family who helped make the night possible: Her brother and mother were both on hand, selling raffle tickets to benefit the Stanley Park Ecology Society and helping organize reception, while Lora’s father poured the wine (provided by Abbotsford’s organic winery Lotusland Vineyards).

Indeed, the community who gathered for the launch party represented Kiwano’s extended family, and Cecilia and Sofia are determined to see that family grow. Their investment in building relationships seems to represent the core of their business strategy—and will likely stand at the heart of this little business’s success.