Jennifer Woofter and Tracy Hanford of Strategic Sustainability Consulting invited me to present our webinar, KERMIT IS DEAD: Effective Messaging in the Maturing Green Market. If you couldn’t make it to my live presentation, thanks to Jennifer and Tracy, here it is to listen to at your leisure. If you are in the green biz or planning on it, you’ll want to download it. Kermit is dying to come clean from “It’s easy being green.”

Here’s what this webinar is all about…

At the beginning of the green revolution, it was often enough just to be green or bring out Kermit the Frog singing “It’s easy being green” to achieve a measure of success. But the green market has matured and grown well past the initial 19% of the population who support green and socially responsible efforts and initiatives no matter what.

As this market broadens, green marketers across the globe have observed that now it’s “Me first, Planet later.” And that shift of emphasis has deep implications for marketers who need to rebalance and recalibrate their messages to include the wider market. The fundamental question now is: How do you create effective marketing messages that motivate, educate and communicate a true promise-of-value and values to the 81% of the population that are interested more and more in earth-friendly products and services? 

In this free webinar, Carolyn Parrs, Principal at Mind Over Markets, a dedicated strategic green marketing communications company, will share insights that will help you refine and target your message, create effective materials and balance your messages’ economic gain and ecological benefits. You’ll learn:

How to bring your marketing message from the planetary to the personal, from cause to because.

The importance of relevancy in your marketing message.

Why education is everything when promoting green products and services.

The relationship building power of social media.  

This presentation includes case studies and examples of successful and unsuccessful green marketing messages.

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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…

Next up in our Green Marketing Challenge is Little Works a greeting card company. And with a little work, they could be doing a lot of good for their company.

We like the name because it is charming and a million miles away from Hallmark and American Greeting Cards — and that’s a good thing. One thing that you should think about is adding a descriptive line to your name so we know what you do. Little works could be anything. Miniature crafts, small collectible items, even baby clothes. You need to tell us right from the beginning that Little Works are beautiful handcrafted cards made by South African women. That can be the differentiator between you and all the other card companies around.

Here’s a tag line you can try on for size: Little Works Mean A Lot. We like this for a couple of reasons. It sounds like “little things mean a lot” which is part of the everyday jargon so it has a familiar and easily memorable quality to it. It also says that not only will your cards mean a lot to those who receive them — but also speaks of the “deep roots” embedded in each and every handcrafted card by the women who make them. It’s a line that has legs — meaning it works for you on a lot of levels.

IRV: Your line now, “Handcrafted cards so beautiful you won’t want to give them away,” actually is in contrast to what you want to achieve. You want people to give them away so why not speak in the positive? Reinforce that they are so beautiful you’ll want to share them and bring beauty to those you know and love.

Visually, please consider rescaling your cards on your product page. They are different sizes and some are hard to see. So much of your message is about beauty. We want you to show us cards that are beautifully presented, not just sitting there. Since they are handcrafted, also consider featuring a profile of the South African artists who make them. Who they are and what they are about is important to building a relationship between your cards, your artists and your purchasers.

NICOLE: Why not build in a bit of craft into your site? Consider the use of handmade paper and some of your images as a motif for the site. And most of all, remember that you are selling beautiful things so the site should reflect beauty in everything…colors, fonts, typefaces and the general layout of the pages.

CAROLYN: I like the simplicity and placement of your social media buttons. And your products are perfect for social media. Tell your purchasers to share the love and tell their friends about your company and your cards. Reward them for doing so. Send one of your cards by snail mail to say thank you. Your social media influencers, those that love your cards dearly and talk about it, can end up being your most successful media so use it well.

These little works to your message and site can bring about great works for all involved. With some tweaks and tweets, you can do it a little better. We wish you continued success with what you are doing.

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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…

Our next challenge taker is the Natural Clothing Company. We’re glad you did because you need our help and it starts right with your name. Natural is a word that we think has completely lost its meaning and become generic.

We Googled “natural clothing” and got 97,000,000 hits. That’s proof that the term has become a bit overused. Now your tag line says “Organic clothes – great for you AND the planet,” so the question is: Are you selling natural or are you selling organic? If your clothes are truly organic, then be that. But you’re going to have to educate us why organic is better than natural. Consumers are still confused. And generally, people don’t know what organic clothing is. Education is everything here.

Tell us that cotton production uses vast amounts of pesticides and chemicals. Then go on to say how those pesticides and chemicals are brushing up against your skin, the largest organ in your body, when you wear conventional cotton clothing. Remind us that what we wear is as important to our health as what we eat. We think that is a story that needs to be told and can never be told enough if you want to change consumption patterns. Now most importantly, entice us with some fabulous organic fashions that we’ll want to eat up!   

NICOLE:  In terms of your visual logo, we were trying to figure out if the leaf (is it a leaf?) with your company name embedded is your logo or just the type treatment of your company name? Why repeat the company name twice? It shows indecisiveness. Pick one. Also, the type that is embedded in your leaf logo is hard to read. Your brand needs to be consistent and clear – and needs to be concept driven. Bottom line: Go back to the drawing board and figure what you are. 

In terms of your website copy, that needs a rewrite. It needs a personality and an ownable point of view. We think there is a lot to talk about. Take the leadership position on why organic fabrics and fibers are so important to the customer as well as the planet. You need to break out of the pack and say something new, exciting and real. What’s your company’s point of view? Here’s an idea for a position: “You are what you wear.” Now build on that.

IRV: Your copy says, “Look fabulous in 2010 and help protect earth with natural, organic clothes,” but you never show me anyone looking fabulous. Fashion (organic, natural or otherwise) is still fashion and people want to look great. Your photos and your models don’t look fabulous. Get a photographer who knows fashion and how to photograph people. What they are wearing will jump off the page. Fashion is always an emotional sell so excite my emotions.

Why not make the experience of shopping on your page fun and exciting? For example, why not be able to change the clothes on the models so you can mix and match? Allow your customers to choose dress pants with blouses. Use a cool display mechanism on your site to show your wares so your shoppers can create their own outfit. This will also showcase your large clothing selection.  Whatever the theme is, make it alive. Highlight your eco-fashion show by putting it up front and ditch the visual of the field. It’s all about the clothes anyway.

CAROLYN: Have your faithful fashion friends join in on the fun. Launch a “You Are What You Wear” contest and have your customers send in photos of themselves wearing your fashions along with a statement on how they are what they wear. Post that on your homepage and FlickR, and give out gift certificates for your new summer fashions as prizes. You bet they will spread the word for you. Word of mouse is the strongest advertising in the world.     

One last note, change your tag line. It’s as old and overused as yesterday’s fashions. People don’t buy clothing to save the planet; they buy it to make themselves feel and look great. Do some drilling down and we’re sure you can come up with a line that makes us all want to dress naturally and look great doing it. If you need some help, you know where to find us. 

Thanks Alina at the Natural Clothing Company for stepping up! 

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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!

If  this blog post was helpful to you, would you retweet it and share it with your friends?

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A couple of weeks ago we challenged you right here on the Green Marketing Blog to TAKE THE GREEN MARKETING CHALLENGE. We’re happy to say we’ve had quite a few takers. Most of them green businesses that are part of the Green America Business Network. A brave bunch. Here’s what we asked:

Send us your green brand message (logo, brand line, graphic, copy), and we’ll evaluate it. That means our Green Team at Mind Over Markets will assess your brand and post the results here on our Green Marketing Blog.  Then we will open it up to you, our readers, to join in and make comments, suggestions, or add your brilliant ideas to the conversation.  Now let’s get going…     

BRANDING LINE

We’re happy to say that Terra Source Chocolates started the challenge off on a happy note. We like your branding line, “Responsibly Decadent” because it says it all and honors the real reason people love chocolate. Because it’s so decadently good. That’s a good start. A good balance of the green message and the chocolate message. So many green brands go to saving the earth as their total message. We’re happy you didn’t. Now hurry up and get your branding line integrated with your graphic and on your website because it is sorely missing there.

COMPANY NAME

Next, your name, Terra Source, does not have the same impact.

Irv (our copywriter and King): Personally, I don’t like generic names. I much prefer a name that is your claim. Terra Source could be anything, and in fact, variations of that are everywhere in the green product world. You name should be as unique as your product.

WEBSITE

Now to your website. Remember it’s going to be your #1 marketing vehicle, so use it well. Make it decadent too. Make healthy, responsible decadence part of your brand personality. Have fun with it. Be wickedly funny and charming in what you show and what you say. Define what decadence is for your customer and involve them in the process. Social media is perfect for this, just like we’re doing here.

Carolyn (social media maniac, project manager and sometimes copywriter): For instance, ask your customers and potential customers “What does decadent mean to you?” Post it right on your site, your blog, your packaging, etc. Have them join in the conversation. Create a decadent Facebook Fan page and give away some chocolate to your new fans who answer that question. Decadent is such a delicious word, you’ll get all sorts of yummy responses.

Back to your website. Right now, your web copy is as generic as your company name. There is so much good stuff to say about chocolate (its health benefits for one), that you are missing a big selling opportunity by not giving your customer permission to indulge. Tell me more about what makes your chocolate responsible. Then I can feel three times as good.  The taste, the benefits, the sustainability of it all. That’s a good story to be telling. Make sure you’re not saying what everyone else is saying.

Entice me. Visually, we all think you are missing it. Show me people eating your chocolate with a twinkle in their eye. Above all make your product photography luscious. Your current photography is a disservice to your product. Simply put, it’s not delicious enough. 

LOGO 

Your logo is another generic element. There are way too many planets in the green business logo universe today. And yours doesn’t even feature the countries that are the source of your chocolate.  If your logo is invisible, why bother? 

Nicole (our graphic artist extraordinaire): Name recognition is key in your branding efforts. Rethink your choice of fonts and typeface. Yours feel dated and hard to read. Why not use fonts that reflect your brand image – back to decadent again. Regarding your color choices on your site, one idea is to use ones that are actually ingredients in your chocolate: raspberry, blueberry, etc. This makes your color palate relevant and it enhances your brand line, “Responsibly Decadent”.

PACKAGING

Your packaging is inconsistent. Again, it needs to reflect your brand. (Are we sounding like a broken record yet?). It might be via color coding, illustration, photography, etc. Whatever you choose, let it be a marriage of elements that work together to strengthen your brand.

Irv: Mary Wells, one of the greats of advertising, once told me that good advertising is a substitute for a free sample. She was right. I want all your branding and your website to give me a taste of what you do and make me order it express shipping because I can’t wait for my first bite.

Ok, what do you think? Join in on the conversation by posting your thoughts below in our comment box.

And thank you Josie for TAKING THE GREEN MARKETING CHALLENGE.  We think you are on your way to fabulous and effective branding.

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