Attention Wind Energy companies. It’s not enough to talk kilowatts, wind speed and show me hunky shots of turbines. Make me fall in love. They say all love affairs begin in the mind first, and they are right.

Carolyn and our Art Director, Nicole, attended the Renewable Energy World Show in Austin recently. They noticed over and over again companies, big and small, basically spoke to the head but not to the heart of the issue. They need to remember that I have to say yes to the concept of wind energy first. I have to be willing to change my lifelong energy consumption patterns before I can say yes to turbines as my source of energy.

Tell me how old the use of wind as energy is. Think the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Tell me how practical it is now. Tell me that wind generation is easy to live with. That it is free energy. Tell me how tax credits and government programs are making it so easily affordable. How it will increase farm profits and decrease commercial and residential energy bills. Help make choosing wind a breeze for your customers. Then tell me why your version is better.

Wind Energy companies, do something that will make news. Challenge a school district to an energy audit. Show them how much they could be saving. But do it now and get your message out. The government is reported to be creating programs promoting green and alternative energy. That will begin to spike consumer interest. Make sure you have a message that will capture that interest. 

The time is now. Don’t blow it.

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Back in the early 60’s, Marshall McLuhan declared that the medium was the message. Today’s it’s spun around. The message is the medium. How else can we explain the polarization of America to the extent that it is taking place today? Whatever happened to the hope that renewable energy offered all of us in terms of saving our economy, new jobs, improved infrastructure, energy independence and clean air and water?  

In a recent survey by Kelton Research, when asked if it’s important for the U.S. to develop and use solar energy, 92 percent of Americans responded “Yes.”  It’s not like we don’t want it. So what’s the problem?

As green marketers, it seems sadly simple to us. We are all suffering from message deprivation. The loudest voices we hear are the ones against whatever is put in front of them. When in reality, the loudest voices should be the ones calling out for something else. We need to help get those messages out. 

So here’s one for the solar industry. A gift from MOM (that is, Mind Over Markets) to you. Use it well.  Pass it on. But most of all, get it out there. 

 We Bring Solar Down to Earth

 For more than six billion years,

solar has been the most reliable heating source on earth. 

In fact, when you think about it, solar isn’t alternative energy,

it’s the original energy.

Totally practical, totally reliable and totally free.

With oil, gas and electric prices rising every day,

it’s good to know that the sun also rises every day,

and once you harness it, it’s free energy from then on.

With current, generous tax incentives and rapid payback,

the solar advantage keeps getting brighter and brighter.

Imagine the thrill of getting a check from the power company

instead of a bill.

Think of the rush you’ll feel producing your own clean,

non-polluting, endless, renewable energy.

 Think of it this way, energy prices rise every day.

So does the sun.

One costs you. One saves you. 

Haven’t you been in the dark about solar long enough?

 (Your Company logo here)

We Bring Solar Down to Earth

Now it’s your turn. We invite all of you to come up with messages that move people toward something the way recent messages have moved people away from things that ultimately do not serve  our best interests.

After 9/11, America came together from all backgrounds, no matter what color your state was. We need that rallying cry again or the American dream will become an America tragedy.

So send out your messages. Trust us, we need you.

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photo credit: rengel134                       

What a difference a word makes. With news out of Washington on the waffling on the Alternative Energy front, it occurred to me how much further this effort might be moving along if we weren’t dealing with the term “alternative” as in just another possible way instead of the most intelligent way to create new and reliable sources to power our future.

 Maybe the new term, which I offer up gratis to all of you, should be Absolutely Necessary Energy, or even Can’t Live Without It Energy. Then maybe a sound energy policy would already be in place and people would understand that we can’t live without it.

 As a marketer, I know how we label something has a profound effect on its acceptance. I find it incredible that with all our brilliant sunshine shining down every day and all our abundant wind blowing freely, instead of being captured and harnessed, we’re still dragging our feet on getting out and demanding a sane, inexhaustible and clean supply to power our nation. The jobs it would create and the national security this would engender, not to mention the cleaning of our air and water supply, would be the greatest gift this or any Administration could give our country and the world. 

 So let’s change the name and change our direction on this or someday the future generations will look back on us and shake their heads in disbelief.  

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The current controversy about Ethanol brings into sharp focus the need for clarity in green marketing.  If you take everything being said and written about Ethanol at face value, it’s easy to blame Ethanol producers for rising food costs, when in truth they are responsible at most for a 2-3% increase in world food prices.  It’s really drought, increasing demand and, most of all, the sharp spike in gas and diesel prices that have driven food prices so high.  

So, why all the finger pointing at Ethanol?  Two reasons.  First, the need to shift blame away from spiraling fuel prices and the weakness of the U.S. dollar, and second, the Ethanol industry’s inability to effectively communicate its own position.

This is yet another reminder of the need to bring green communications down to earth.  We have to illustrate that green products are more than just lofty concepts and ideals. We have to show consumers that our green products have real, practical, and economic value.  If Ethanol has the potential to free us from dependence on foreign oil, outrageous prices, and further degradation of our environment, isn’t it worth trying?  Shouldn’t we be taking a hard look at all alternatives to fossil fuels to meet our energy needs without running us into the ground?  

As green marketers, we need to clearly explain to consumers that purchasing our products will bring them real, practical, and tangible benefits today, rather than lofty, esoteric, and poorly-defined benefits in the future.  Ethanol is a perfect case in point.  It may not be “the solution” to our energy problems, but it may be part of the solution if it isn’t undermined by bad PR and ineffective communications. 

What do you think?

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