Data Capture or Go Green Movement? Depends on the Retailer

Austin, Texas: Retailers, are you looking for an easy way to capture your customers’  email addresses and go green at the same time?

Well, many retailers are now offering to send cash register receipts by email--to prevent receipts from getting lost, and also for capturing customer data.

There can, of course, be hyperlinks to your Facebook page, twitter page, etc.

But please, if you are not a green company, do not use the excuse that you are doing this to “save the trees”.

Not only will customers roll their eyes, but you will only make it harder for legitimate green retailers to promote the green movement.

At the same time, be sure to offer a reusable tote instead of plastic bags.

You don’t want to be  a hypocrite.

Help make every day Earth Day.
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.
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Outreach: The Best Form of Marketing & Branding for a Green Company

Austin, Texas: I was asked at a panel discussion recently what would be the one best way for a green marketer to increase sales.  I immediately responded with OUTREACH.

After some discussion and debate, I came to the conclusion that I had given the right answer.

Sure, everybody wants to increase sales, so they start planning creative strategies.

Focus groups.

Visits with ad agency and or marketing departments.

New product features–gotta have them.

New ad campaign–a must to justify this campaign.

Sleeker packaging–why not?

The list goes on–products, features, benefits, etc.

All these are fine.  But so what?

Why should customers care?

The base for green products is not growing at the same rapid pace it has for the past decade.  The greenies are all on board, as I had mentioned in a previous post.

But what about the rest of the population?

If you are not doing outreach programs to promote green causes and the benefits of going green, you will not expand your market share. In fact, if every company in your field promoted a green product to the same base, your market share will dry up quickly, as competition for that segment will increase.

Set aside a good amount of your green marketing and advertising budget–and spend it on creating awareness for environmental issues:

• recycling
• reuse of products
• carbon footprint
• cap and trade
• sustainability
• alternative energy
• pollution reduction

Your products and services should only be mentioned in passing — or as an afterthought.

Outreach should be done to create passion.

To build the base.

To inspire social change.

Can it be political?  Sure.  Will it create some negative impact among non-greenies? Possibly, so tread carefully.  But if you are truly a green company, the positive will surely outweigh the negative.  And, if you are truly green, those that are most offended are probably not going to be your ultimate target market any way.

At your next show, will you be touting product benefits–or building the base through outreach?

Outreach first.  Sales will follow.

That is the best way to increase green product sales over the next decade–and beyond.

Let’s Make Every Day Earth Day

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Rather than admit to being guilty, SC Johnson settled some lawsuits last week over its green certification claims, according to an article in GreenBiz.com.

This should shed a light on green certification programs.

Recently, many companies seem to be trying to cut corners and budget by testing their own products for lead, and certifying their products as green.  Hand held lead testing equipment prices have been falling, while third party certification still remains relatively high, causing many companies of all sizes to trim costs.

I am one for saving money in certain ares, but third party certification is not one of those.  Neither is product safety.

If you are going to make green claims, then back it up with legitimate claims.

Be sure your claims are transparent.

If you are going to put one of the dozens of green seals of certification on your product or product packaging, be sure it is from a reputable 3rd party testing lab.

Saying you are the greatest or greenest or smartest or best looking, etc. does not make it so.  Having third party certification makes it much more so.

Please learn from the SC Johnson situation.  Don’t be penny wise and dollar foolish when it comes to green certification claims.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.
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Why Has There Been A Sudden Drop In Green Product Development This Past Year?

A new study shows that green product development has been declining over the past two years.

It showed that just 28 percent of companies have maintained investments in green product development, while 48 percent have increased their spend. That last number represents a drop of 7 percentage points compared to earlier this year, when 55 percent of respondents cited increased funding for green products.

Why is there a sudden drop in green product development?

Are consumers and businesses purchasing less green products?

Green marketing expert Jacquie Ottman suggests that ” lack of familiarity with green brands, inability to identify green brands on the shelf, and price premiums for greener brands that don’t have the benefit of economies of scale” are some of the reasons for the decline.

What can we do to encourage greater acceptance of green products, so that “going green” is not just a passing fad?

Government Mandates? I have written that it might be a good idea to have a program that mandates government offices to increase their green purchases over the next ten years, starting at 10% of purchases–and phasing out completely at the end of the decade. This would give manufacturers a chance to increase production, which would led to economies of scale, and lower prices.

Guilt by Association?:  Can we make the buying of non-green products seem “creepy” or “evil” through advertising and social media, such as has been done with cigarette smoking and drinking and driving over the past 10-15 years?  Can non-recyclers, for example, get the cold shoulder from their friends and peers?  It may take time, but many movements start out this way.

Education?: How much more education about the correlation of greenhouse gases to climate change must we have before real change takes place?

Sure, the younger generation has been taught about climate change in a watered down way over the past decade or so, but real change is taking too long to make an impact.

How can we reach out more to seniors? Can we get churches, synagogues and mosques to preach about the moral duty of becoming good stewards of the planet? Although this movement is certainly growing, it is not happening soon enough.

How about teens, some of the biggest polluters around?  Ten hours of climate change, pollution reduction videos before they get their driver’s license? Perhaps.

Increasing Green Product Purchases?: Sure, it may cost a little bit more for a recycled product or organic alternative, but until more people purchase them, prices will not fall quickly enough.

A 10-year tax-break for consumers on green product purchases? Might be hard to implement and administer.

A 10-year tax break for manufacturers of green products? Might be better.

Either way, consumers must shop greener in order to make real change happen. If every consumer switched just 10% of their purchases to green alternatives, imagine the positive impact that would have on the green movement.

The green movement needs participation on all sides to move forward. Green manufacturing without green purchasing equals failure.

Let’s all do our parts to go green.

It needs push, as well as pull.

Have you “purchased green” today?
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.
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I have been exhibiting at a Keep Texas Beautiful convention and the booth next to me is from an organization that is sponsored by the American Chemistry Council.

They are promoting a fun program designed to encourage businesses and cities to recycle plastic bags. The have a cute campaign and do a great deal of social media through their A Bag’s Life campaign.

However, their ultimate goal is to lobby to prevent bag ban legislation from coming to fruition.

Does the good they are doing in promoting the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) outweigh their agenda?

Is it OK to get big business to finance recycling education? This might be akin to the Tobacco Master Settlement money that was taken from the cigarette companies to pay for anti-smoking ad campaigns.

Personally, I see no problem, as free education is better than no education.

What is your take on this? I’d love to hear from you.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link. We’d love to hear your additions to this list.

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In the past few weeks, I have read over a dozen articles and blogs condemning the act of greenwashing.

It seems that “the left” has declared war on the evils of greenwashing– but has forgotten about the virtues of going green itself.

Is greenwashing really a sin?

Can we really even recognize greenwashing?

Is the term “greenwashing” over used and over-hyped?

Sure, there are still too many companies that deliberately exaggerate – or even lie – about the green virtues of their product. They may claim that their product is made from 40% recycled, post-consumer plastic, for example, without using any recycled materials at all.

Greenwashing. No–that would be outright fraud…and should be condemned. This is preying on the unknowing.

I am not advocating greenwashing, at all.  That is certainly not the idea of this blog post.

Instead, I am talking about companies that are actively pursuing policies to “go green” — yet don’t meet the “absolutely green” purity test.

I would argue that there is no product that can be truly green, so people need to expect a little over-exuberance in marketing a legitimately green product.

Most greenwashing claims are from exaggeration, not fraud.

Does that make it right? No. And it should be toned down, and claims should be presented more accurately.

I posed a question on LinkedIn a few weeks asking if a product can be 100% Green–and nobody was able to find one that could be able to be made available for public consumption.

Sure, there were a few answers, such as “getting milk from a cow” or growing your own fruits and vegetables.  However, if you took those products across town in a truck, then it no longer would be considered 100% green.
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Many green companies spend most of their advertising and marketing budgets promoting their brand, but very few of them are spending a proportionate amount of effort on outreach.

With social media being free, are you making the most of this opportunity to promote green values and causes?

Your social media (including Twitter, Facebook,  and possibly LinkedIn) should be focused on promoting green issues that may be of concern to your clients and prospects.

Do not push product in this space.   This will not get Retweeted or Liked and it will annoy your audience.

Instead, this  effort should be geared to expanding your base and making your customers more aware of green topics, websites, causes, etc.

Spend your Social Media efforts promoting :

• Local and National Green Events
• Political and Legislative Issues Facing Voters
• New Proposed Regulations/Policies Affecting the Environment
• Ideas and Tips on Becoming More Green, Reducing One’s Carbon Footprint, etc.
• Trade Shows and Fairs Relating to the Environment
• Earth Day Ideas and Events

Become a resource to your clients and prospects … and your organization’s name will be remembered.

What are you plans to do more green outreach over the next 12 months?

I’d love to hear about it.
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Robert Piller, president of Eco Marketing Solutions, is experienced in green marketing campaigns and recycled promotional products.  He has worked to help plant over 25 million trees through his live tree seedling gift program over the past dozen years.  His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Is This the End of Green Marketing?

I have read several blogs and articles lately saying that “Green Marketing is Dead”.

To paraphrase Mark Twain – Reports of green marketing’s death has been greatly exaggerated.

It is the hope that green marketing will morph into every organization’s marketing mix so the word “green” can be removed–but, unfortunately, that date is far from here.

I would gladly remove the word “Eco” from my company’s name (Eco Marketing Solutions) when that day comes…and would celebrate it.

However, I would argue that now is the time for increased green marketing, not less of it.

It seems that most of the “low hanging fruit” has already been picked–and the die-hard “greenies” have pretty much jumped on the bandwagon. The easy green converts (or pioneers) have all been scooped up.

To them, green marketing serves mostly as a gentle reminder of the companies they will support with their dollars.

The next steps are twofold:

1) First is grabbing a larger slice of the business from the “maybe green” or “sometimes green” set.

These are folks that will buy green products and services–when it is convenient.  They’d like to do more, but are not going out of their way for it.

This segment can be reached through greater green marketing in terms of outreach and education.

Companies that add more recycled content to their production/manufacture, improved corporate social responsibility and better promoting thee green aspects of the product stand the best chances of reaching this target market.

2) Reaching those who feel that Global Warming is an international issue–not necessarily their problem

These people are not hostile to global warming and are not global warming deniers.  They can be  persuaded through marketing campaigns designed to show how greener products can help stop expansion of the problems.

Unfortunately, this is a long-term goal, and can take as long as a generation to change behaviors, but the green marketing campaigns must be steady and consistent.

This should include greater out-reach and education-especially at the K-12 levels, as well as reaching senior citizens, who are most concerned about leaving a clean planet as a legacy to their grandchildren.

As far as the “brownies” or global warming deniers, they will eventually become a small minority if green marketing and outreach are effectively reaching the others.

Green marketing needs to step up in its role to shape public perception and increase demand for products that are truly green.

There are 4 P’s in Marketing:

1) Products: Products need to be manufactured with less energy and with more recycled or renewable ingredients.

2) Place: Green products need to become more widespread on retailers’ shelves.

3) Price: Prices need to come down as demand for green products increase, so the price differential is less noticeable–or disappears entirely.

4) Promotion: Promotion should include standardized international symbols pointing out what makes a particular product green.  There should be a small set of symbols, not the hodgepodge of green symbols that are causing confusion and green washing–both intentionally and unintentionally.

Let’s make green marketing go away.

Unfortunately, it looks like it needs to remain for a long, long time.

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Robert Piller, president of Eco Marketing Solutions, is experienced in green marketing campaigns and recycled promotional products.  He has worked to help plant over 25 million trees through his live tree seedling gift program over the past dozen years.  His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.
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I will be exhibiting at a waste/recycling show next week– and I have been barraged by a steady stream of emails from the organization over the past few weeks–each with a note to print out their emails–as they are making “efforts to be environmentally conscious”.  However they require every exhibitor personnel to print out their form  (4 pages) before they can get their badges.

In fact the exact wording reads: ” This letter serves as your registration confirmation. To expedite on-site processing, please bring this confirmation with you to XYZExpo. Please note that in XYZExpo’s efforts to be environmentally conscious, exhibitor badges and special event tickets WILL NOT BE MAILED. Instead, everything will be available for pick-up on-site. Your Exhibitor badge(s) and special event tickets can be picked up at the “Exhibitor Already Registered” counters. Please note a confirmation has been sent to the email provided for each of your company’s exhibiting booth personnel so they can pick up their individual exhibitor badge. Please be sure to bring your email confirmation and photo ID on-site (just like when you check at the airport). We thank you in advance for your support in our efforts.” Note: In an effort to be reasonable, I protected the organization’s name, substituting XYZ for it’s real name.

If you are going green or acting in an “environmentally conscious” way – then don’t require 2500+ people to needlessly print out four pages of documentation that is poorly formatted.

I have been to some shows where you get a bar code and can scan a single piece of paper or your iPhone screen to get your badges.  This trade show organization had previously sent me an email with a bar code that I had already printed out– so to print out an additional 4 pages does not Read more…

Green marketing messages targeting mainstream American consumers are missing the mark, according to a study released this week by consultant group OgilvyEarth.

The study, “Mainstream Green: Moving Sustainability from Niche to Normal” provides insight on how to close the Green Gap that persists between what consumers say and what they actually do around sustainable living.

One of their findings is that Green feels like niche rather than normal.  Existing green marketing is either irrelevant or even alienating to most Americans, the study asserts.

Half of Americans think green and environmentally friendly products are marketed to “Crunchy Granola Hippies” or “Rich Elitist Snobs” rather than “Everyday Americans.”

What can we, as green marketers do about it?

I think that we have already preached to the choir…and grabbed all the low hanging fruit, no pun intended.  The “greenies” are already aboard They are very committed to environmental issues and they do their best to reduce their carbon footprint.

Now, the next area to target would be the indifferent or occasional greens.  These would be similar to the independent voters,  if this analogy was an election and green was the candidate.

Many of the non-committers want to buy green products, but there are a few too many roadblocks standing in the way, such as:

• price points -which often tend to be higher on green products
• inconvenience – not having a good choice of product available at their favorite retail establishments
• confusion – as far as why a particular product is more environmentally friendly tan an alternative
• awareness – the environment is still not top of mind for many consumers
• indifference – they’ll buy green products on occasions, but it is not their highest priority while shopping

We must not let these five issues get in the way of marketing and promoting your green products or services.

Your marketing should be geared to reinforcing the benefits that your product offers the planet. Do not assume that a little green eco symbol is all that it takes to attract people.

If the benefits are understood and clearly labeled (pictures help–they really are worth a thousand words), green product sales will increase ..and the green elitist connotation will eventually subside.

It takes time — just think how long it took for smoking to become a negative connotation vs. its previous sexy or debonair persona.

Hopeful, instead of greenies being thought of as elitists, people who do not make an effort to reduce their carbon footprint will be thought of in a negative light (like racists, bigots, homophobes, drinking and driving, smokers, etc.)  All those behaviors were accepted at one point in time, but are looked down upon today.

There is only one Planet Earth – we all need to make Going Green the Right Way–not a Niche Way of Thinking.

Here’s to a greener tomorrow, today.

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Robert Piller, president of Eco Marketing Solutions, is experienced in green marketing campaigns and recycled promotional products.  He has worked to help plant over 25 million trees through his live tree seedling gift program over the past dozen years.  His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

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