Jacquie Ottman's
Green marketing Blog
Book Review: The Method Method
Posted on December 12, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
In their new book The Method Method: 7 Obsessions that Helped Our Scrappy Start-up Turn an Industry Upside Down, Method cofounders Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry with co-author Lucas Conley take the occasion of their unconventional company’s tenth anniversary to step back, and offer readers the opportunity to peek inside their business, learning from their mistakes and acquiring the secrets to their success.
The Method Method offers a refreshingly honest look at how to create and maintain a successful business in a changing market where consumers …Read more...
Ideals on Wheels
Posted on September 28, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
In many cities bicyclists battle it out with taxis for a share of the road. But all Parisians seem to agree that bicycles are a convenient, cheap, trendy, and emission-free way for locals and tourists to get around town. Representing the biking equivalent of car sharing, in 2007 the city of Paris launched Vélib, a pay-as-you-go bicycle rental program.
Bikes can be rented for pre-paid amounts of time ranging from 30 minutes to one week, and then dropped off at any kiosk. In the first year alone, more than …Read more...
Running On Human Power
Posted on July 11, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
While researchers are 
looking to the sun, the wind and even ocean tides to source renewable energy, some have found an answer much closer to home: the gym. This notion dawned on the owner of a string of gyms in Hong Kong, who rigged cycling and cross-training machines to power a gym’s lights and store extra energy in batteries for later use.
The Human Power Trainer, made by Windstream Power LLC of North Ferrisburg, Vermont, works on the same concept. It mounts a bicycle on a frame. The rear tire turns a turbine …Read more...
Green Marketing 3.0 Can Re-ignite Interest in Green
Posted on November 15, 2010 by guest blogger, Jeff Dubin
Rumors of green’s demise are being greatly exaggerated. In this year of fiery political passions, the word “revolt” is in the air. However, I think Ad Age inhaled a whiff of the zeitgeist and incorrectly applied the term to consumers supposedly cooling in their ardor for green products. “Has Green Stopped Giving? Seeds of Consumers Revolt Sprouting Against Some Environmentally Friendly Product Lines” trumpets the headline of a recent Ad Age article. The author quotes Timothy Kenyon, director of GfK Roper’s Green Gauge study who more judiciously describes the current situation as “green fatigue.” This may be closer to …Read more...
Pizza by Cer té: Greener By the Slice
Posted on July 29, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
This is a guest blog post by Jean-Claude Darne
New York’s first green pizzeria has opened it doors. Responsible consumers and pizza lovers, you can now enjoy a slice that’s made with the environment at heart. Cer té, a popular café in Midtown East opened ‘Pizza by Cer té’ on Earth Day, April 22nd 2010. To encourage us to help us spread the word they sent us a couple of pies to sample. We took it upon ourselves to put their pizza to the ‘green test,’ scrutinizing every element of …Read more...
Plastiki Trash Expedition Meets Goal—Who’s Next?
Posted on July 27, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
New York Times recently reported that the Plastiki has docked after a four-month voyage from San Francisco to Sydney. The brainchild of British environmental advocate, David de Rothschild, the 60-foot “Plastiki” is a sailboat pieced together from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles and powered by solar panels and windmills. His mission: raise awareness about the amount and effects of plastic waste affecting our oceans.
David was on to something when he built his environmentally responsible craft and sailed it across the Pacific. He brought attention to an important issue and exposed it in …Read more...
Defining Biobased
Posted on February 18, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Biobased products are getting a lot of attention lately. Who doesn’t like the idea of making products out of corn, soy and other agricultural ingredients? We are proud to be working with the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) BioPreferred program. It’s a USDA-led initiative designed to increase the purchase, use, and evaluation of biobased products, including biopolymers.
USDA defines biobased products as those composed in whole or in significant part of biological ingredients; forestry or renewable agricultural materials - including plant, animal, or marine (e.g. algae) ingredients. USDA identifies more than 4,500 biobased products (products must meet/exceed minimum biobased content) …Read more...
When it Comes to Marketing Green Appliances, Silence is Golden
Posted on January 11, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Ads for Bosch’s super quiet, high performance appliances make a point about doing green marketing right loud and clear: focus on the benefits most relevant to consumers.
As I discuss at more length in my soon-to-be-published book, “Consumers buy products to meet basic needs, not (primarily) to save the planet.” Said another way, consumers walk into the store with their, well, consumer caps on, not citizen ones.
Commercials for Bosch’s super-energy efficient appliances focus on how quiet they are, with secondary emphasis on their environmentally preferable attributes. In one ad that I discussed in the book, a gentle deer walking …Read more...
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