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

10 Rules of Effective Green Marketing

Seems like everyone’s going green these days. That’s great, at Green Team, we’ve been banging the environmental drum for 14 years, and we welcome the company. For marketers interested in taking advantage of the environmental revolution, here are a few things we’ve learned over the years.

1. Forget “green.” Okay, you don’t really want to forget it, but you do want to think beyond it. Being environmentally responsible is important, but today’s Awakening Consumers are looking for more. They’re looking at how your brand addresses all three pillars of sustainability: environmental impact, social impact, economic feasibility.

2. Walk before you talk. Don’t make any sustainability claims until you can back them up. Completely. This may seem obvious, but you’d be amazed at how often marketers want to cut corners and make claims they’re not ready to. And that’s a recipe for disaster.

3. Just the facts, ma’am. Don’t tell me what a great corporate citizen you are, tell me what you’re doing, and I’ll make that determination on my own. Simply stating the facts surrounding your sustainability efforts allows you to talk about them without coming across as smug or self-congratulatory. No one likes a show-off.

4. Let someone else tell your story. Nothing is better than a credible third-party endorsement. This is where a partnership with a respected non-profit that shares your values is especially beneficial. Allow your partner to tell the world what you’re doing together.

5. Keep it simple, make it relevant. Your sustainability initiatives should feel like a natural extension of your brand. Several years ago, Green Team did a campaign highlighting Jaguar Car’s partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society to save jaguars in the wild. Jaguar helping jaguars. Its simplicity and relevance made it successful.

6. Look inside. It’s critically important to engage your employees in your sustainability initiatives. With that in mind, look to the people within your own organization for ideas. This is how the partnership between Yoplait yogurt and Susan G. Komen For The Cure came to be. The cause was initially embraced by Yoplait employees on a grass roots level, then ultimately adopted by the brand itself.

7. Money isn’t everything. Sure, financially supporting a sustainability campaign is important, but don’t just write a check and walk away. Look for synergies between your brand and the cause. Involve people on both sides. Involve consumers. Be creative.

8. Tell the truth, the whole truth. Corporate transparency is now the way of the world. Consumers, especially Awakening Consumers, don’t expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be honest. Admit your flaws, and let people know what you’re doing to fix them.

9. Be genuine. Sustainability initiatives and sustainable marketing has to be real and authentic. It needs to be embraced by everyone involved with the brand, from the person who answers the phone to the CEO. It should be part of your brand’s DNA, not some superficial, jumping-on-the-bandwagon gesture. To help avoid this, think long term, and think big.

10. Have fun. We’ve created ads for a global warming campaign that are laugh out loud funny. Humor may not be right for every topic or communication, but how many doom-and-gloom people do you like to hang out with?Hugh Hough is president and founder of Green Team, a New York-based communications/advertising agency. He was recently selected by The Climate Project to be one of 1000 individuals chosen to present a modified version of Al Gore’s global warming presentation chronicled in the film An Inconvenient Truth.

From: mysuccessgateway.com

Who are the green consumers?

Understanding the demographics of green consumerism can help entrepreneurs explore the environmental market, and home in on likely prospects. Research has shown that green consumers:

• are sincere in their intentions, with a growing commitment to greener lifestyles;
• almost always judge their environmental practices as inadequate;
• do not expect companies to be perfect in order to be considered 'green'. Rather, they look for companies that are taking substantive steps and have made a commitment to improve.

However, they also:

• tend to overstate their green behaviour, including the number of green products they actually use;
• want environmental protection to be easy, and not to entail major sacrifices;
• tend to distrust companies' environmental claims, unless they have been independently verified;
• lack knowledge about environmental issues, and tend not to trust themselves to evaluate scientific information about environmental impacts. However, at the same time they are eager to learn, and this means that consumer education is one of the most effective strategies that entrepreneurs can use.

The most responsive age group tends to be young adults, many of whom are influenced by their children. In addition, women are a key target for greener products, and often make purchases on behalf of men.

The best 'green' customers are people with more money to spend. As a result, the most promising products for 'greening' tend to be at the higher end of the market. The most promising outlets for green products are retail stores frequented by better-off shoppers.

In general, green consumers have the education and intellectual orientation to appreciate value; they will understand evidence that is presented in support of environmental claims.
In the US, children and teens are generally more concerned than adults about the environment, and are more knowledgeable about green alternatives. Increasingly, they influence their parents' purchasing decisions. Equally importantly, millions of them will reach adulthood in the next decade, and gain purchasing power of their own.

At the opposite end of the age spectrum, US consumers born before the 1950s are the least 'green'. As their numbers diminish, their share of consumer purchases will dwindle.

In Canada, children and parents alike tend to have strong environmental concerns. Older people, too, tend to be active green purchasers.

From: bsdglobal