The green consumer is a thinking consumer.   They think about their values every time they make a purchase.  It’s not just their emotions that drive them; it’s their intelligence as well.   Because of this, it makes sense to tell a thinking consumer something that makes them think and something that makes sense. 

It’s important to educate them with the logical part of being ecological.   Of course, it’s important to appeal to their sense of honor and caring.  But it’s equally important to appeal to their sense of savings. 

You can’t just tell them that you’re saving the planet one light bulb at a time.   They’re too smart for that.   We’ve found that consumers relate best to issues they feel they can actually have an impact on and ones that have an immediate impact on them. 

The rapidly increasing sales of Hybrids in today’s marketplace will increasingly be driven by the prices at the pump, not just the softer footprint on the earth.   A poll by the Associated Press in June 2007 stated 46 % of Americans said soaring gasoline prices would cause them “serious hardship” and 66 % said they planned to reduce driving.  And a whopping 47% said they have plans to buy a new fuel-efficient car.  Economy meets ecology.

It really is a circle of savings that does good for everyone.  The economic saving in the green world can often be as important as the ecological savings.  And that’s a message every shade of green can understand and relate to.   Those of us in the green communications world need to open up our approaches to marketing green products.  The more mainstream we make our messages, the less lofty the promises, the wider the audience there is to listen and respond. 

After all, that’s what we really want to accomplish, isn’t it?  Getting more green goods into the world for the good of all.   And that’s something we can all profit from.

In order to understand what green marketing is and how to get your message to resonate with green-leaning people, first you have to understand what green is.

Green is about what you believe in first and what you buy second. Green is about making decisions, taking the time to ask what you really need, not just what you want.  Green people buy from their values but also buy from their intellect.  Being green asks you to think. 

Green is about economy not just ecology.  Green is a statement about respect for the place we live, the leaders we elect, the truths we tell and are told.    Green is the color of trying to do it better.  Dark green people will sacrifice effectiveness for ethics.  Medium and light greens may not.    For them, it not only has to do good, it has to work good as well. 

Green people like to think deeper and longer.  They want to want to make choices for themselves that says something about them self.  Green is about thinking first and acting second.   Green is not a side stream, it’s the mainstream.  Green is for everyone because no one wants a dirtier planet or a more dangerous place to live.

Green is about faith.  It’s about knowing that spring will come and seeds will bloom.  It’s not liberal or conservative.  It’s non-political and should remain that way.  Green is about how we treat each other and how we care about each other. 

Green is about long term thinking not short term.   It’s living as part of something, not apart from everything.  It’s about believing in a future for everyone, our kids and their kids.  It’s understanding that we are a species among other species. 

Green is education, it’s information, it’s making decisions and knowing your choices  make a difference.  It’s about being transparent.  It’s about telling the truth and knowing the truth.  Thinking green is about thinking about the future.   Talking green is about saying what’s so and acting in accordance with it.   Green is not just about the talk, it’s about the walk. 

Green is not 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 softer.   It’s about thinking about what you do before you do it.   It’s about reusing, recycling, picking up after your self or even after someone else.  It’s about all of us caring about all of us. 

Green is about appealing to the sense not just the senses.   When that hole appeared in the ozone layer it affected all of us.   It was presented as a threat to each living person not just the planet.  And science and government got together to solve it and protect our health.

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.

It’s about fostering new thinking not holding on to old thinking because that’s the way it has always been.  It’s about asking all of us to step up and think beyond ourselves to the real values that made America great.  The spirit of pioneering a new road and a new path to the future.   It’s about our intention to care enough about our self, our children, to choose a better way.

When you know all that, taking your message to the green consumer is not an obstacle.  It’s an opportunity.   The key:  Speak to their head AND to their heart in equal measure.