Panasonic's Eco Ideas & Contest

I haven't blogged tech in a long while (yes, every now and then my inner geek goes on a rampage and takes over the blog).

I attended a press event recently where Panasonic made a declaration to become the no.1 green company by 2018. Ikuo Miyamoto, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, spoke at great length about their "Eco-Ideas". They've already exceeded targets set in 2009.

The focus is on three green areas: products, manufacturing processes and lifestyle habits. Green products were defined as energy and water efficient, as well as long-lasting.

The "long-lasting" bit caught my attention.

Because I'm tired of recent products that seem precision-engineered to break down right after the warranty expires. My oven did that a month ago. And today, to my horror, my DSLR kit lens too, has sputtered and gone kaput. They died 3 and 11 months after their respective warranties expired. Are we in the era of disposable electronics?

But wait, how do you make your green product sales targets if your products last longer and thus require less churn? That was one query posed by a journalist. Panasonic answered that they hoped to win more consumers via innovation. In a way, they are on the right track - consumers need to buy less, but buy something good. If Panasonic successfully makes good (and green) products that last, they can win consumer brand loyalty.

I realized during the conference, that the Panasonic products I own have indeed served me quite a long time. My 15-year old CD stereo refuses to die and let me get something more hip. The Viera plasma TV is still pixel perfect despite being an overused display model we picked up at a sale. And do you remember that simple blue rice cooker that only had two functions - warm and cook? My, how many generations grew up with that?

Well, I have to go shopping for a new lens, although I still have my 50mm as my backup.

Meanwhile, here's a chance for you to win one of three 50-inch eco-friendly TVs worth over S$3,000 each. Just "design" their next Eco-Ad (from templates) with your own message, and you could see it published in KrisWorld. Three ads with the most "likes" on Facebook will win. Good luck!