This post is part of our TAKE THE GREEN MARKETING CHALLENGE series. Here’s how it works: Send us your green message (logo, tag line, graphic, copy), and we’ll evaluate it. That means a green team of three (Art Director, Copywriter and Account Manager) will thoughtfully assess your brand and we’ll post the results here on our Green Marketing Blog. Then you can join in on the conversation too with your comments. Here’s ours…

Let’s start this one off on a good note. We like your name: Aquabarrel. One of our guiding principles is letting the name be the claim and yours certainly does that. It’s clear. It’s short. It says what you are and what you do. Great for SEO too.

Logo

Your logo is clean and descriptive. But it could use a bit more elegance. Remember that gardens are things of beauty. You can achieve a more tasteful look through your choice of typeface. At present, yours is dated.

Nicole: Play around with your color palate. You might want to consider a marine blue combination with aqua blue to achieve more sophistication.     

Branding line

Irv: Your tag line, “Simply the best rain water collection and store device available,” is clear and bold. It’s not an exciting or clever line, but it is straight forward and to the point. You definitely put your stake in the ground when you claim to be the best. Now you have to prove it to me. 

Website

Since your website homepage copy is so crucial, you need to work hard on that. Right now, there is no singular or core message coming through your copy. It’s just chunks of information with no narrative, no storyline. That’s a turn off to readers. Way too dry. Not good for a water device. And it looks so dense it was tough to read. Remember, you never want to stop someone before they even get started.

The first thing you read on your site is a Founder’s quote. That doesn’t carry a lot of validity or weight because it’s you saying it and not me. You have to address and make appealing what’s in it for me. That’s really more important.

Visuals are very important in capturing your audience, especially on your homepage. You need some help with that. Your product shot is a case in point. We believe that one of the barriers to rain barrel purchases is their aesthetics. Your visual confirms that. You have an unattractive barrel up on cinderblocks. Our first reaction was none of us would want that next to our homes. 

It seems to us that the real opportunity might be to design attractive units or to at least show us how to camouflage or decorate them so they are acceptable to people who are driven by natural beauty as well as ecology and conservation. 

Nicole: While we’re on graphic direction, I think your homepage is too cluttered. There is no visual hierarchy and the menu is too long. Use drop down menu options to simplify the look and make it easier to navigate your site. There are definite best practices to make your site function better. Your color choices also make it difficult to read the copy on the homepage. Create a different color than the logo to create ease of reading and visual appeal. You need to up the look and design of your entire site. 

Spring is here and the mailman keeps bringing the latest seed and plant catalogs. They show you how beautiful their plants will make your home and gardens look. You should follow suit. Sell the advantages your barrels bring to lawns and gardens. Water without guilt, achieve gorgeous results, catch the purest water on earth — all of those are the kinds of messages you should be communicating.  One of the first rules of advertising is: Sell the sizzle, not the steak. Sell the results and ease of your barrels. That’s what we want to buy.

Carolyn: If you don’t know how to use social media, find someone who does. Word of mouth, personal recommendations, user praise are invaluable tools. And they mean more than any Founder quote.  What other people say about you is one of the greatest assets you have. Do all you can to get that going.

You probably have a great, functional product. Now make it look as great as it works.

Thanks Barry for taking the Green Marketing Challenge.

So marketers, what do you think?    

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Next up in our Green Marketing Challenge is the Pinehurst Inn. Congratulations, we like what you’re doing a lot.

COMPANY NAME AND LOGO

The name has a charming and evocative ring to it. It’s a refreshing and appealing relief from all the branded cookie cutter hotels and resorts that all look the same and sound the same.

Nicole: Your logo has a great and cozy look. It goes perfectly with the name and the theme of your inn. I like the graphics because it gives you the feeling of an old fashioned stencil but it is nicely updated. A great combination of message and personality. A home run all around.  

WEBSITE

Your web copy is also well done. It brings us back to a kinder, gentler time and makes us all want to go there for a retreat. We also love the phrase eco-elegance. Just like the Terra Source Chocolates line, “responsible decadence”, “eco-elegance” says we don’t have to sacrifice elegance, comfort and luxury to have a green experience.

While we’re on your website, we also want to commend you on the hierarchy of information and your slide show. It makes for an appealing virtual tour which is great. The phrase we all used to discuss your homepage was robust. It contains travelers reviews, the spa and wellness center information and related articles. You’re using your site the way it should be used.

BRANDING LINE

One place you need work, however, is your tag line. “Connecting adventure, environment and personal rejuvenation” isn’t really a tag line. And the notion of adventure seems really out of place here. It feels like you are trying to be everything to everyone and that is a mistake. Capitalize on what you are already saying. Make us yearn for the comfort of your beds, the coziness of your rooms, the quality of your food, the fun of staying in an authentic charming inn — and let our minds whirl around those notions. When we think of the Pinehurst Inn, we’re not thinking of adventure, but escape — of dreamy and relaxed not rugged. 

Irv: Play with the notion of taking me back to a more elegant time and make me relax in the luxury you have to offer. That’s what many of us want some of the time and your inn can offer that all the time — and own it. There’s no better place to be in terms of brand message.  

SOCIAL MEDIA

Carolyn: We didn’t see any social media sharing icons on your homepage. Your inn is a natural for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even some of the niche sites like Merchant Circle. These are perfect vehicles to have the pleasures of Pinehurst spread and talked about. Invite your guests to write about their experience on your Facebook fan page. Give them a complimentary herbal tea and crumpet basket if they do it during their stay or right after. Then tweet those comments out as they come in. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing there is and we have a feeling you could hit another homer here.

Thank you Nancy for stepping up to the Green Marketing Challenge. Who’s next?

Now, how about a tweet for Pinehurst? Just click on our button at the top of the page or on the other social media buttons below. Thanks for the share!

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We’ve just come back from the CORE Sustainability Summit in Denver. It was a great show and like every other good trade show we have even attended or exhibited at, we learned a lot. Listening to the many great presenters and speaking to the hundreds of conference goers we heard one thing over and over again. The world of sustainability is suffering from a serious lack of messaging.

This was the theme of the show for us. And well it should be because that is what we have been blogging about since our blog began. Making your green message relevant, accessible and compelling to the mainstream.

It was great for us to be exhibiting there and have our booth proclaim in big, easily readable type “Effective messaging for the maturing green market.” We could see by the interest everyone showed that we had hit a note that resonated broadly among the audience. It showed that across the board the lack of coherent messaging was high up on everyone’s list of what needed to be improved in the world of green communication.

At MOM, it all comes down to a few important points.

Make your message relevant not only to the needs of the planet but to the needs of all those living on it.

Make your message compelling by thinking of what your audience needs and answer those needs.

Make your message educational, informative and entertaining.

Tell your target what’s in it for them.

That’s why we love trade shows so much. In the world of virtual communication, you get to meet your customer face to face and hear them tell you exactly what you need to do.

What do you need to do?

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Imagine being in a room filled with other green-minded business owners and execs and tapping into their smarts for 3 hours on behalf of your business? That’s what our Green Marketing Labs are all about.  Our first one in Denver is happening in a few weeks. Think of it, you can saturate on Saturday in our lab and ski on Sunday on the slopes. 

Here’s what happening in our first lab. 

Green Marketing Lab 1: Developing Your Marketing GPS (Green Positioning Strategy) on March 27.

With over 1,500+ new products enter the market each year, how will you break through the clutter and position your product or service so it’s not another “me too”? In this green marketing lab, you will:

Obtain a clear understanding of the current green market – its obstacles and opportunities

Identify how meaningfully different you are from your competition

Uncover the advantages that result from using your product or service

Identify your key target audience(s) and the rational and emotional reasons they buy your product or service

Develop a strategy statement to effectively communicate your message to your target audience(s)

These interactive, real-life marketing laboratories will give you the insights and tangible solutions you need to make your marketing meaningful in the maturing green market. So bring your questions. Bring your challenges. Roll your sleeves up and have some fun.

PRICING: $40 per lab or $130 for all 4 labs (discounts available for CORE members).

Saturday March 27, 2010, 9:00am – 12 noon

Location: All 4 labs will be held in the CORE offices at 1801 California Street, Suite 4900, Denver, CO 80202.

Register for all 4 labs or any of them individually at: www.corecolorado.org or call (303) 894 6333

Presenters: Irv Weinberg and Carolyn Parrs of Mind Over Markets, a dedicated green marketing communications company in Santa Fe, NM. To learn more about our work, go to www.mindovermarkets.com.

Hope to see you there! Can you help us spread the word and Retweet this or share this with your community?

Many thanks!

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Next up for our “TAKE THE GREEN MARKETING CHALLENGE” is Organic Bug. Thanks for stepping up, Peggy. You’re doing some great things but you need a little help.

Organic and healthy product websites are no longer unique. There are many of them —  including those endorsed by well known green organizations like the Sierra Club. There’s competition so you need to be competitive. Not in a negative way, but in a “having a unique position” way. Something you do, accomplish or offer – or even the way you do it, that will communicate to your customer why they should choose you. When we Googled “sustainable products”, there were over 14,000,000 hits. You have got to be unique. Don’t worry, we can help. 

BRANDING LINE

Let’s begin with your tag line, “Sustainable Products Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle”. Yes, it describes what you offer but that’s where it ends. Tag lines are not mission statements. They’re compelling statements that position your company, give it personality and a reason to be. It’s saying why you and not someone else.

Irv: Think about what your end benefit is. Are you bringing the green world down to earth for your customer? Are you making it more affordable, more accessible?  Have you sourced through all the green products and found those that offer ecology, efficacy and economy? What is your niche within this niche?  The answers to those questions will lead you to a tag line that says your unique position in a clever, compelling way. 

Let us give you an example. For a client of ours that manufactures zero VOC, non-toxic paints, we created the tag line “Beauty Without the Beast”.  That line acknowledged that people paint their homes first to to beautify them. So we had to tell them we were going to give them the beauty they wanted, without the toxins they didn’t want. See what we mean?

COMPANY NAME AND LOGO

You have a homespun name and logo so why not capitalize on it? But it does have a downside. There are a lot of green lawncare and pest control companies out there now. Organic Bug could be confused with one of them. All the more reason to make your name stand for something. Maybe it’s playing with the “bug” a little and being the site for people who are bugged by green products that cost too much, work too little, etc.?

Carolyn: Maybe there’s a cute “bug” visual that can become the personality of your company? Is the bug smart? Funny? Clever? A wisecracker? You can deliver your message through its “voice” and personality. Now you are starting to create a reason to be.     

WEBSITE

Your web copy is a very important part of your communications. You have to make sure its working as hard as it can. Web visitors move fast. You only have a few seconds to grab their interest. Your products display nicely but they don’t reach out to us. Feature some and tell me their story. Some of your suppliers might want to be part of this.  Remember the web is an experience. Check out what Patagonia is doing with their Footprint Chronicles.  In short, in their mini interactive website, they investigate the footprint of several of their garmets. They put right out there what they are doing right and wrong — and how they are working to make it better. They put their mission where their mouth is by telling on themselves. This builds trust and a deep brand message that people know and love. What is yours?     

Nicole: Regarding the visual look of your homepage, the fonts are clean and legitable. Your white background opens up the space. But your menu drop downs are too long and overwhelming. Create sub menus. There is little  visual hierarchy on your homepage. Other than the big green box that jumps out, where do you want my eyes to go? Back to Patagonia, check out their homepage heirarchy and you’ll see what I mean.   

Bringing the green world to everyone is a great thing to do. The better you do it, the better it gets done.

Thanks Peggy!

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