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Make It Your Own
Look around at the all green campaigns today and you'll see a focus on personal involvement, coupled with a glut of environmental advice such as purchasing CFLs. However, amidst all the clutter, the question arises: How can you differentiate your communications in a marketplace crowded with green advertising? The answer lies not in screaming for more energy efficient products, but by articulating your niche. Consumer empowerment marketing angles have merit, but the most powerful green messaging derives from core business functions. Bland claims of "win-win" situations, of "how to do well by doing good," no longer cut it. Instead, work the environment into your products or services in a way that others do not.
Yahoo's new attempt to brand itself green provides a great example. Its new online education program, Yahoo Green, employs Yahoo's search and public forum functions to create a useful and adaptable site. The website, which is accompanied by corporate climate change commitments, employs the best of Yahoo's tools. Like so many others, Yahoo's site boasts generic environmental advice and calls to action. However, unlike most, the site offers many interactive features rooted in typical Yahoo services.
The site features blogging and open question & answer forums, which allow for grassroots, peer-to-peer information sharing. Yahoo's search capabilities lets it compile and archive the newest environmental articles, while banner ads geared towards green products help the site generate revenue. By integrating green efforts into core services, Yahoo is able to showcase its strengths while boosting its green credibility. With such a context, Yahoo's campaign will likely prove not only successful, but sustainable.
(Hear Erin Carlsen, director of Yahoo Green, speak live at Sustainable Brands '07!)
~Jacquelyn A. Ottman, President, J.Ottman Consulting and SLM Advisor
Featured Article
Tapping the LOHAS Market: An Interview with Food Marketer Steve Bryant
Steve Bryant, president of Publicis Consultants (and speaker at SLM's upcoming Sustainable Brands '07 conference this September), is a prominent food marketer best know for bringing soy from geek to chic. We sat down with Steve for a freewheeling discussion of the growing "lifestyles of health and sustainability" (LOHAS) market, the rise of the veggieburger, and what you can learn from Jared, the weight-watching pitchman for Subway. Read more...
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This Week's Top Branding Stories
Time Out Ranks London's Most Ethical Retailers
The Gap, notorious for its past use of sweatshop labor, ranking highest in the survey, which looked at five categories: ethical trading and employee welfare, Fair Trade-certified products, the use of organic cotton; the use of chemicals, and GHG emissions. (GreenBiz) Read more...
U.K. Launches CO2 Car-Ranking Website
The British government has set up a website designed to lure consumers towards buying the greenest cars available as the EU prepares to set binding caps on the amount of CO2 that new vehicles can emit. (EurActiv) Read more...
Seeds of "Ethical Fashion" Are Being Sown in U.S.
The term "ethical fashion" — which encompasses but goes beyond the more familiar "eco" or "green" fashion catchphrases — may not be household words in the U.S., but judging from its popularity in Europe, the label may soon be on its way to a retail outlet across the country. (MediaPost) Read more...
Avis Launches "Cool Cars" Campaign for New Hybrid Rental Fleet
Avis is greening its rental fleet, announcing that it will add 500 Nissan Altima hybrids to the thousand Toyota Priuses it began offering earlier this summer. Click through for a picture of the new ad campaign. (Green Wombat) Read more...
We want to hear from you! Email Jacquie your comments or questions regarding sustainability issues of the day, and we'll feature the best of them here.
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Learn from the Leaders!
We're pleased to introduce the latest confirmed speakers for Sustainable Brands '07...
* Ann Hand, SVP, Global Brands, BP
* Rand Waddoups, Senior Director, Corporate Sustainability and Strategy, Wal-Mart
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Find Peers and Partners
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The Gallery of Green Spin
Forbes's diverting slideshow of consumer-friendly ads features small children and pretty animals, with nary a nuclear reactor in sight (ok, maybe one or two).
Solution Providers
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Sustainable Life Media is home for business professionals looking to build new value and competitive advantage by innovating more sustainable processes, practices and products. We bring you top stories related to the what, who and how of environmental and social innovation, and help you connect with thought leaders, peers, partners and solutions providers that can help you quickly reach your goals.
This work is licensed under a CreativeCommons License. Copyright Sustainable Life Media Inc. 2007
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