Renee has some answers. She’s a writer, researcher and communications consultant focusing specifically on the psychological dimensions of sustainability. Her article “The Myth of Apathy” laid out some concrete truths and insights into this dilemma, so I invited her on Women Of Green to share those with me. What I uncovered is a fresh, new perspective on what it means to be green and how to engage the mainstream consumer in really caring about the environment. A very cool interview so listen in!

Listen to interview with Dr. Renee Lertzman here.

About my guest: Dr. Renee Lertzman provides practical and professional guidance on sustainability communications, public engagement, and outreach strategies. Through consultations, presentations, and the development of written materials and online resources, Dr. Lertzman helps companies, organizations, and individuals incorporate psychodynamic and psychosocial dimensions into the planning, design and implementation of communications initiatives.

– Carolyn Parrs

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Here at Mind Over Markets, we’ve been saying for years that green marketing messages have not been communicated correctly and effectively right from the start.

The first task of green marketing, like all other marketing, should be an analysis of benefits. First to the consumer, and then to the planet. Too many opted for the latter, save the planet, as though you could with your cleaners and your pizzas. That never made any sense to me and it never will.

When Nissan Leaf used a polar bear hugging a man in their commercial instead of laying out the many advantages of EV’s to me and my life, when they don’t position their vehicles as personal benefit producers, when they don’t tell me what’s in it for me, then yes, green marketing is over.

When organic food isn’t positioned as better for your health, better tasting, fresher, more local and ultimately more enjoyable, no wonder it’s hard to justify the higher costs. The success of Whole Foods is probably based more on their gourmetness than on their greenness. They have the recipe right and continue to succeed.

The last time I saw a green marketing obituary it was centered on the failure of Organic Ragu Sauce. As though any organicite or foodie was going to buy Organic Ragu or Organic Heinz Ketchup.  That wasn’t a failure of green, but a failure of logic. When the largest manufacturers of caustic and corrosive cleaning solutions suddenly turns green, its no wonder that consumers scratch their heads and wonder if it’s real or just a mask.

When Kimberly Clark tells us they they’ve done “green right” instead of telling us that recycled paper is a better, saner way to make napkins and toilet paper than destroying old growth forests, no wonder we yawn and walk away.

To my mind, it’s not the failure of green marketing, but the failure of green marketers to have thought it out long enough and strategically enough to hire true green marketers and visionaries who actually understand not just the heart of green consumers, but the minds of the greater population.

Instead they wheeled out Kermit the Frog and melting icebergs. They should have been selling their products to me instead of making my purchases seem like a cause, charity, public service or a sacrifice that I have to make. By the way, you can’t actually save the planet all by yourself.

Talk about naive. At a time when people aren’t sure they can save themselves, much less the planet, is it any wonder that kind of thinking or marketing is on the endangered species list?

What’s saddest of all is that all the so called “green experts” failed in their expertness when they didn’t alert marketers that they were on thin ice right from the beginning. When they didn’t understand the balance of message, the need for benefits, and the need to tell consumers that they were not only doing what was right, but what was smart.

It really is a shame that the lemmings will watch the green hearse go by and help drive green even further off the cliff. That others will continue to not only sell, but tell things wrong and then lament the passing of one of the most significant opportunities to actually make things better for all of us.

– Irv Weinberg

Read what Jacqui Ottman says in her post “Green is Alive and Kicking”.

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A new study by the leading sustainability consultancy OglivyEarth “Mainstream Green: Moving sustainability from niche to normal” provides new insight on how to close the Green Gap that persists between what consumers say and what they actually do around sustainable living. The study notes several imperative steps to allow green purchasing practices to enter the mainstream. These are some of the highlights:

Make it Normal: The great Middle Green is not looking to set themselves apart from everyone else. They want to fit in. When it comes to driving mass behavior change, marketers need to restrain the urge to make going green feel cool or different, and instead make it normal.

Eliminate the Sustainability Tax: The high prices of many of the greener products suggest an attempt to limit or discourage more sustainable choices. Eliminating the price barrier eliminates the notion that green products are not for normal citizens.

Make Eco-friendly Male Ego-friendly: Sustainability must strike a chord with male consumers by considering what works in traditional marketing. For example, automotive brands with alternative fuel vehicles are finding success by sticking to what has been shown to work — sleek ads with an emphasis on speed and design.

Lose the Crunch: Just because a product is green doesn’t mean it must be packaged in burlap. For green marketing to succeed, it must be liberated from the traditional stereotypes to emphasize the most compelling personal benefits.

Hedonism over Altruism: The emotional tenor of sustainable marketing to date has been focused on appeals to Americans’ altruistic tendencies, but our research shows that this is to deny human nature. Wise brands are tapping into enjoyment over altruism.

Do you have other ideas about how to use purchasing power for sustainability and the way to take green spending habits mainstream? Please share them below!

Listen to Carolyn’s interview with Simran Sethi on the Psychological Barriers to Going Green. Eye-opening!

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Obviously, these two articles have a lot in common. Green sales historically rise in good economic times and can be one of the first to suffer when money is tight. But I think there is another reason just as fundamental. Most green communications, from products to energy efficiency, have been told as an environmental story and not as an economic or health story.

Many mainstream people still think of green as a sacrifice you have to make to be a better citizen of the earth. They see it much like they see contributing to a charity. Something worthwhile — as long as your have the money.

Think energy efficiency. I hear it spoken about in term of carbon offset and alternative fuels instead of its direct correlation to the bottom line. I even hear people saying, “I know it saves me money in the long run, but I’m running for my life right now.” That’s a message all of us in the green world need to hear and understand.

Since this blog began, we have been preaching a gospel of environmental self interest. Urging marketers to tell their green story in human terms. To stop employing polar bears and icebergs to tell the story, but to simply communicate that better products are better for many reasons.

Just one year after the Gulf Oil Spill, a majority is actually in favor of drilling in the gulf again. It’s soon to be $5.00 gas at the pumps that are driving those decisions. And as soon as Japan fades from our short attention span, nuclear reactors will be on the table again.

What’s really sad is that the decline in mainstream green products and disappointing sales will further deteriorate the green world until it’s back to those Deep Green 19% who always were and always will be. That won’t help change the world or the marketplace.

Too bad something so worthwhile was not given the true intelligence and understanding it needed to succeed. Too bad marketers understood so little about presenting value propositions alongside values propositions. Too bad they didn’t employ green aware people to craft a message that would create sustainable motivation. Maybe then we could have made the green world about making sense, and dollars at the same time.

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Sorry to say that in most green marketing, not much is different. We have our version of weasel words too. The infamous word “natural” is a classic weasel word. It means nothing, yet just stroll down the aisles of your favorite natural foods store and you will see that term used all the time. The truth is 100% natural means 100% nothing because there is nothing needed to back it up. No certifications. No detailed information in-line with the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines. Nothing. No wonder consumers are confused. And marketplace capitalizes on this every day. Not until strict regulations are in place (like “certified organic”) will consumers really begin to trust any claim in green marketing, or any marketing for that matter.

Got a weasel word you’d like to share? Let’s get them out in the light so that consumers can see the light and make better choices.

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Dear Seventh Generation:

We love what you’re moving towards in terms of your new paper bottle packaging. Anything that replaces plastic with its long tail of environmental no-nos is a welcoming development. And it’s one that sure to set you apart on the shelf.

Word of caution: Be brave.

Don’t do what SunChips did and panic and retreat the first time a package compromises itself and falls apart on a consumer’s kitchen floor. Better, safer, more eco-friendly packaging is an important thing to do, and something our planet, now battling nuclear contamination, surely needs. But please remember your package is only part of the package. It’s what’s inside the package, not the package itself, that really counts.

We all know that green, by itself, is just a part of the story. That means you can’t just tell us what you’re not, you need to tell us what you are. A superior detergent that will get my clothes clean, and take out stains as well or better than conventional detergents.

Now that you’ve gone mainstream and sit on Wal-Mart’s shelves, you need to come clean and tell me why I should vote for you with my dollars? Products that go mainstream need a message that deals with mainstream values like economy and efficacy.

And that’s your next big challenge.

When you have a name like Seventh Generation which means thinking about life 140 years in the future and a focus on mainly green issues, I think you need to reassure us all about today. How you serve us right here and right now.

A recent consumer trend study by EcoFocus Worldwide reveals that younger consumers (18-35) believe that most of the efforts they take to be green or eco-friendly probably won’t have an effect in their lifetime. So why not assure them (and all of us as a matter of fact) that “We ARE the seventh generation” and what we do today matters today. The time is now and we CAN have an impact. Then the fact that you have all this cool new packaging will mean even more.

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Fast forward to 2011. According to Ottman, the rules have changed. “’Saving the planet’ is not nearly as effective as ‘saving you money’ or ‘saving your health’ in green marketing,” she says. We couldn’t agree with her more. Our mantra at Mind Over Markets has always been bringing the planetary down to the personal.

So to help you navigate this emerging, ever-changing market, Ottman just released her new book The New Rules of Green Marketing (Berrett-Koehler; February 2011; $21.95) where she provides insight into the changing needs of mainstream consumers, how companies large and small have responded with fresh green marketing strategies, what it takes to succeed, and what the future of marketing will look like.

This comprehensive dive into green marketing is a must if you’re serious about making it here. Ottman goes into depth on subjects such as:

Green consumer motives and buying strategies

Designing green products from life cycle approach

Strategies for eco innovation

Communicating sustainability with impact

Establishing credibility and avoiding greenwashing

Ottman’s new book is chockfull of practical checklists at the end of each chapter, an extensive 25-page green marketing resource guide, and dozens of inspiring case examples of the most successful greener products and companies today.

Whether you are a start-up or C-level executive, you will find Ottman’s book a reliable compass into this fast-growing, and sometimes green grab bag arena. “Meeting today’s consumer needs won’t be easy,” Ottman admits. “Many challenges are associated with sustainable branding and green marketing – and many notable attempts, inadvertent or deliberate, of ‘greenwashing’ abound. But consumers want worthy businesses to succeed.”

How worthy is your business? What are you really contributing?

Listen to “Me First, Planet Later” with Ottman on Women Of Green.

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By that we mean if you increase your energy efficiencies, you use less power. If you use less power, not only does your energy bill decrease but your need for power decreases so less energy has to be generated. If less energy is generated, less fuel is burned to create more power, less money is spent building plants, and less land is cleared to build energy producing plants, and so on and so on. In the end, even one energy-efficient LED bulb is one bright idea because it can produce a lot more savings than just on your energy bill.

But where do you begin? For many companies, greening their business might start with purchasing recycled paper or using soy inks. This is a good beginning. However, greening your business needs to begin with defining what green is in the first place. So it’s not merely a checklist but a “checking out” of your company’s social, environmental and economic beliefs and aligning them with your goals in order to meet the needs of the present without comprising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.

This internal exploration helped our team at Mind Over Markets define what is at the very core of green. We developed several ideas described below.

Green is about first what you believe and second what you buy.

Green is about making decisions, taking the time to decide what you really need, not just what you want. Green people buy from their intellect as well as their values.

Green is about long-term thinking not short-term. It is living as part of something, not apart from everything. It concerns believing in a future for everyone, our kids and their kids.

Green is not about stopping industry or progress. It’s about creating more efficient industry and progress.  It’s about new opportunities and new jobs, new careers and new technology.

Green is education. It is information, making decisions, and knowing that your choices make a difference.  It is about being transparent. Green is not just about the talk, it’s about the walk.

Green is not necessarily about moving off the grid or changing your life. It’s not even about hugging a tree although that would be nice. It’s about trying to walk more softly. It is understanding that we are a species among other species.

It’s about thinking about what you do before you do it. It’s about reusing, recycling, and picking up after yourself, or even after someone else.  It’s about all of us caring about all of us.

Ways to Change

This internal exploration led to an exploration of how we, as a marketing company, can change the way we look at everything in the marketing business and beyond.

Can we host a presentation using Webcams instead of driving to the airport and flying to a meeting?

Can we contribute to the reduction in greenhouse gasses by phone conferencing instead of driving?

Can we send PDF files over the Internet instead of printing brochures?

Can we place our marketing materials and our client’s materials on a flash drive and hand them out at a trade show instead of leaving a paper trail?

Can we allow our employees to telecommute a portion of their workweek?

Can we send our company holiday cards via the Internet instead of using paper and post?

And what about work space health?  Is our flooring off-gassing harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into our workspace air?

Do we use as much natural light as we can?

Do we use nontoxic cleaning products?   All of these things contribute to healthier workspaces, which contribute to greater worker productivity and a better bottom line.

Can we source bleach-free recycled paper and print on both sides?

Can we print on our outgoing e-mails, “Please do not print this e-mail unless you really must?”

Can we encourage our printers to switch to toxic free soy-based inks and recycled paper?

Can we help green industry events by offering organic foods, less paper products, and an acoustic band instead of an electrically powered one?

The answers to these questions for us are yes, and more. Once you start thinking green, green grows all around you. Actually greening our business is an ongoing, highly creative process. It takes a little adjustment to your reflexes to ask yourself questions like, “Do I have to print that e-mail?” What would that little act save when multiplied by 200 e-mails a day, five days a week for a year? A lot of trees and money.

Here’s another good example of green thinking. Simply reducing the margins of our documents to .75” on all sides, results in a total reduction of paper use by 4.75 percent, according to a study by Penn State Green Destiny Conservatree. For one ton of paper, the savings would be 19 reams, which then saves 1.4 trees. Multiplying that by 5.4 million tons of office paper, which is the amount the United States consumed in 2003, saves 6,158,000 trees. Not to mention the energy costs and waste products generated:

1,459,535,366 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to CO2 emissions from 132,528 cars.

584,398,539 pounds of solid waste, equaling 20,871 fully loaded garbage trucks.

4.8 billion gallons of waste water, enough to fill 7,408 Olympic-sized pools.

You see, one margin can go a long way.

Once we recalibrate the decision-making process by thinking of all the ways we can be more efficient and less wasteful, making other adjustments gets easier and easier. Even simple changes like printing our presentation boards on both sides cut our usage in half. It is the domino effect once again. Use less paper, need less paper, need less trees, and less paper manufacturing plants and less energy to run them. By now you get the picture.

How are you greening your business or office? Share it here.

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Yes, of course, we want to save every polar bear we can, but when I’m buying a car, especially something new, experimental and exotic like an EV, there had better be personal benefits to me in their communications, not just planetary ones  — especially when “It’s the economy, stupid”. I’d rather have seen a commercial of that man driving by the gas station laughing because it’s not on his shopping list anymore than of him getting a hug from a bear. As one blogger put it, “It’s not easy being green when customers are blue about being in the red.”

I am tired of green marketing going to the obvious, no matter how cute, and getting the “saving the planet” message repackaged for the hundredth time. I am constantly amazed that smart marketers don’t understand that green is a personal thing. It’s a way of treating your home and family better. That’s how to move the needle.

PS: As far as the comment about green being “defeated at the polls” this November that’s not quite true. People voted for what was important to them and when they didn’t get it one place, they went to the other place. It wasn’t anti-green it was pro-individual needs.

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Our friend Jacqui Ottman just posted an interesting and astute blog about the SunChips noisy bag brouhaha. Consumers, it seemed, complained so loudly about the noise of the compostable packaging that it’s been all but abandoned. Too bad on at least two levels.

They jumped into the green market with something that they called “environmentally preferable” and  then the moment some voices were raised, they overreacted to undo it all.

I agree with Jacqui that maybe they should have tried explaining it all better but there might have been another tack they could have taken. Use that noisy bag as a way to make a little noise about how they were doing something better for the environment. Maybe a commercial not only about biodegradability, but about the pride you will feel making all that noise and being recognized as someone who is doing things better. I don’t think that bag is going to cause terminal deafness especially to a generation that plays their music so loud that the bass speakers in car next to you can cause your car to rock.

They could have said, “Make some noise for the environment!” and asked us all to sign up. The SunChips bag noise could have been a rally call. And for fun, they could have offered Sun Chip earplugs or earmuffs as premiums when the sound of cheering bags gets too loud.

As a creative guy, I can imagine all sorts of over-the-top executives using the bag as New Years Eve noise-makers or teen age alarm clocks or even as a ring tone for your phone. How about a chorus of SunChips bags crackling to the tune of “America the Beautiful”? That has viral written all over it.

First thing I learned about making communications effective was turning any disadvantage into an advantage. Think of it: A snack bag as a badge of honor.  That seems the perfect marriage for a consumer base that would love to live a little greener, if we could only make it easy for them to do it. It’s like having your chips and eating them too.

Thumbs up or thumbs down for SunChips’ decision. We want to know.

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