Internet Marketing Goes Green

While issues like global warming dominate discussions in governments worldwide, internet marketing is also heading to the same direction.

This year, green marketing seems to be the major byword in internet advertising campaigns. As countries, environmentalist groups, and concerned sectors talk about environmental problems, digital media coverage of such issues seem to heighten the need to articulate such views even in ads.

Also called eco-marketing, green marketing is not really something new. One instance of this is GE’s famous Ecomagination effort, Philips “A Simple Switch” campaign and Michelin’s “A Greener World.” Others may follow their trails as well: there is Organic Valley, Method, Seventh Generation, to name a few.

John Rooks, president of Dwell Creative, an agency that specializes in organizing campaigns based on social issues, said online media appeals to their clients are issue-based, the latest being a transition from demographic to psychographic marketing. “If we have a client that is interested in land conservation, we can pinpoint the psychographic that cares about that issue,” he adds.

With a balanced combination of around 30 percent government contracts and 30 percent non-profits add to that profit-driven businesses looking for grassroots-style, cause-oriented marketing strategies, Dwell Creative is beginning to look into the prospects of online advertising campaigns.

As building relationships with clients are crucial for a company’s growth, Dwell looks into creating opportunities for dialogue rather than one-way broadcast ads. Rooks believes that this shall yield great potentials for web user participation seeking a “greener” market media. This would later make way for consolidations in online green market media.

Discovery Communications’ purchase of TreeHugger.com and Gaiam.com’s acquisition of eco-lifestyles media firm Lime Media and Zaadz are tow recent developments in these area. The move for going online by most companies may come from the fact that more media users are online rather than the boob tube. As Rooks puts it, “Online offers that (dialogue opportunities about brands) to a much greater degree than other media.”

With TreeHugger.com having visitors reaching up to 2 million in June of this year, the website provides a great venue for massive internet campaigns.

President of TreeHugger.com, Ken Rother hits the point better when he said, “When a large organization has made a conscious decision to have a greener footprint or greener products, that’s a good way (online) to tell the audience, because the audience may not be available in other media.”

He adds that it takes trusts to establish a sustained dialogue between client and internet user, believing that advertising must have “similar conceptual values to the content.”

The idealizations of the green media movement have also tapped into websites like Yahoo, Newsweek, and the Washington Post. Just recently, Yahoo introduced Yahoo Green, a campaign that carried the message for consumers to change their electric lights to Energy Star CFL Bulbs.
Other environmental-themed ads include Tom’s, a toothpaste manufacturer and Hewlett-Packard, a respected in computer products and essentials. Going beyond selling, Yahoo spokesperson, Dina Freeman said that there is not one person responsible for selling green on the sales team. “The entire sales team is tasked to meet clients’ standards,” she adds.


From:comcorp