Even though the dictionary says there are only two E’s in green, when speaking about green marketing, there are actually three.

The first “E” stands for ecology.  Ecology and planetary concerns.  It’s the initial engine that got the whole movement started in the first place.

The second “E” and equally important is economy.  There isn’t anyone standing with a gas nozzle in their hands that isn’t thinking hybrids and alternative energy sources.  Just the other day, there was a package of $2.99 corn I saw in Trader Joe’s that made me think that the price of corn is spiking as quickly as oil.  Then there’s the unknown effects this year’s weather will have on the fall crop yields that we’ll all be paying for soon.

Take note green marketers, the economic benefits of green products is the great story that needs to be told as bank accounts shrink faster that glaciers.

The last “E” in green is efficacy.  Green doesn’t only have to do good, it has to work good.  Think of the clever naming of the new line from Clorox called ”Green Works”.  That makes sense because many early adapters to green products gave up a lot of performance for their conscience.  But that’s no longer true.

If you want to successfully sell green products in a market governed by today’s realities, you have to get your priorities in order and balance your message accordingly.  Grand-dads in trout streams, Kermit the frog, lofty lyrics and make-believe messages aren’t going to do it.

Tell me how you’re going to respect my needs, my values and my intelligence first.  Then we can talk.   

Irv

No matter what your personal opinion is about climate change, there is no doubt that it is having a profound impact on the marketplace. A huge amount of attention is focused on what companies are doing and whether they are part of the problem or part of the solution.

Today more than 90% of peer-reviewed scientific studies say climate change is real and humans are contributing to it in one form or another.  Images that flash across the Weather Channel compete with the Chiller Channel for sheer horror as tornadoes devastate, rivers rise and flood, heat sears the nation, and cyclones leave thousands homeless or dead.  

All this attention, plus record-breaking energy prices, are motivating consumers across the globe to demand action.  

Billions of dollars are being invested in companies developing alternative energy and other sustainable technologies. Customers, shareholders and employees are pressing companies to reduce their carbon footprints and adopt other sustainability initiatives.  

The risk of inaction overwhelms the benefits of taking action to protect your hard-earned reputation and standing. We live at a time when opinion-driven news and commentary spreads like a virus. What does it say about your company if you don’t say or do something positive and proactive?  Can you afford to sit in silence on the sidelines?  The answer I think is a resounding no.

It is incumbent on every organization to state its actions and intentions. Not with platitudes and hot air, but with substance.  You have to say what you are doing and what you intend to do and state it clearly, precisely and without grandiosity.

Energy company commercials with central casting Granddads teaching their cherubic Grandsons how to fly fish are not going to do it.  We need to hear how much they are investing in alternative sources of energy that will get us off our addiction to foreign oil.  They need to show us that they are not just sucking money out of our pockets, but rather investing profits in a more sustainable future.  We have reached the point where it’s not just polar bears that are endangered, it’s us.

Once again it comes back to our basic premise that meaningful change is beginning to take place because the issue has become personal, not just planetary. With the East Coast boiling, the Mid-West flooding, and the West Coast burning, climate change is no longer something we can just talk about; it’s something we all have to do something about. Buying green, thinking green, talking green and insisting on green may not be the entire answer, but it is a start.

Developing, implementing, and effectively communicating a coherent sustainability strategy will cost real money, but failure to act will cost a lot more. Are there steps you can take now to protect and enhance your reputation?  What actions can you take to enhance your competitive position? Can you grow your business by developing green products that educated consumers will want to buy?  Those are just a few of the questions every business leader has to answer — not someday, but now.

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?

In the green world, miscommunication is often worse than no communication at all.   If you’re going to communicate with this demographic, here are five “no-no’s” no green communicator should ever commit.  

1. Underestimating the intelligence of the audience.  

According to the New York Times, the green consumer is more inquisitive, less trusting, more experimental and better informed than any group of consumers have ever been before.  They think about their values every time they make a purchase.  Make sure you appeal to their head as well as their heart if you want your message to appeal to them.

2. Making and disseminating vague or misleading environmental statements. 

When Ford launched its “Kermit the Frog” advertising campaign a couple of years ago for their Ford Escape Hybrid, they tried to convince the public of their commitment to the environment.  One print ad read, “Green vehicles.  Cleaner factories.  It’s the right road for our company, and we’re well underway.” 

Meanwhile back at the plant, Ford only planned on producing 20,000 of its Hybrid SUV’s per year, while continuing to produce almost 80,000 of their gas guzzling F-series trucks per month.  That campaign backfired and the term “Greenwashing” became synonymous with their name.   Greenwashing is a term describing misleading instances of environmental advertising.   A definite “no no”.

3. Relying on sweeping generalities about the green consumer.  

The green demographic is not one thing.  It ranges from deep greens (19% who are totally committed) to medium greens (33% who are open and willing) to light greens (16% who will buy green only when it makes economic as well as ecologic sense).  Make sure you know who you are talking to before you start talking.

4. Committing sins of omission.  

Transparency is everything in this market.  When Horizon Organic Dairy advertised happy cows, the green consumer found out they weren’t so happy and they organized a protest against them.   All the great PR in the world won’t undo that.

5. Underestimating the power of the Internet. 

News spreads like a virus on the internet.   In a nano-second, millions of consumers can reach each other.  Be sure what you say (and don’t say) you want everyone to know because with the click of a mouse, they will.

The green market is estimated to reach $1 trillion in the next five years.  If you want to be part of that growth, you have to be as smart, as aware and as authentic as the consumers you want to reach.  Not being is the greatest flaw of all.

The green world isn’t just about things that are green.  It’s about the values that come along with caring like social justice; and people and planetary safety around the globe.  All of these are green thinking.  What better way is there to reach your market than by reaching out?

An integral part of green marketing should be an alliance with a worthy cause.   Advocate for one you believe in and if possible, one with a link to your overall message and positive image.

For instance, Patagonia, the outdoor clothing manufacturer, is all about protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (http://www.patagonia.com/usa/patagonia.go?assetid=1809), Stonyfield Yogurt is for supporting family farms and organic agriculture (http://www.stonyfield.com/EarthActions/) and Timberland, the foot ware company, is about cooling global warming http://www.timberland.com/corp/index.jsp?page=csr_env_stratgic_partnership).

These causes and they way they work with them are displayed as prominently as their products are on their website.   

There is no great shortage of great causes to align with, from the global to the local.  But it has to be authentic or don’t bother.  The green consumer will see right through it.

Now your social responsibility doesn’t end there.   Examine your own practices.  Are you carbon neutral?  Are your facilities toxin-free?   Is there a better way to do what you’re doing?   Are your working conditions safe and fair?   Not only are these worth supporting, the cost of not supporting them in the hearts and minds of the green consumer can be even more costly.  

These are all necessary parts of your green communication but first see what you believe in and what you can do better.   Then communicate it.   Walks gotta go with the talk.

How are you walking the talk?  We’d like to know!

There’s one thing you need to know about the green consumer.  They want to know.

According to the Roper Green Gauge, over 50% reported they would do more if they only knew what and how.  So moving your communications to educate and inform can do a lot to grow your green business.  

While representing an eco-friendly paint company, we raised the issues of indoor air pollution which is caused in part by the out-gassing of toxins in conventional paints, stains and cleaning products.   We built into their quarterly consumer catalog an educational component called “Did You Know?”   Sprinkled throughout the pages were various statistics that enlightened consumers.

For instance, using EPA statistics, we informed them that “indoor air pollution is two to twenty times worse than outdoor air pollution even in a heavily industrialized city.”    A few pages later, a statistic from Scientific American stated, “A baby crawling on a conventional carpet inhales the equivalent of four cigarettes a day.” 

These eye-opening facts broadened their audience considerably, bringing many mainstream people into their consumer base who now understood the close-to-home benefits of their products.  Then we launched the branding line for their non-toxic paints, “Beauty without the Beast.”   We struck the balance between the reasons people buy their products:  To beautify their homes AND avoid unnecessary toxins - the real reason for that “just painted smell.” 

Most of us trust the marketplace to bring us products that are safe, useful and effective.   Consumers have not trained themselves nor felt the need to examine everything that’s out there before they purchase.   But that’s beginning to change.  

The thousands of recalls of everything from children’s toys to chopped meat are beginning to wake up and energize a more informed consumer.   They’re demanding to know more before they buy and that has profound implications for marketers.  

You  can build a viable base by telling an educational story.   By informing how your product or service does the job well and helps the environment at the same time.   That way the message is not just about saving the planet out there but improving their life right here.  

No one, whether they’re an environmentally-conscious consumer or not, wants to bring unnecessary toxins into their homes, or buy unsafe toys, or use potentially harmful products.  They just didn’t  know they were.  

When you educate, you marry emotion to intellect, the heart to the head, the planet to the person.  The more you educate your customer, the more you build trust.  The more you build trust, the more likely you are to win their business.