Jacquie Ottman's
Green marketing Blog
Outlook for Reforming Greenwashers in 2011: Expect Support from Private Sector Only
Posted on January 01, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
In response to a recent query from a European colleague, look for any impetus to reform U.S. greenwashers — inadvertent and intentional, during 2011 to come from the private, not government sector.
The revised FTC green guides are not expected before Spring 2012 (It will likely take that long for them to absorb comments gathered through 12/10/10.) Given the time and resources needed to review the comments and develop revised, final Green Guides, I don’t think FTC will take aim at any save the most flagrant greenwashers in the meantime.
And given recent criticisms to Terrachoice’s “Sins of …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...
A Better Approach to Tackling Greenwashing Than Pointing Fingers
Posted on November 14, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
I have been doing a lot of finger-pointing of late in response to Terrachoice’s latest 2010 Sins of Greenwashing “Home and Family Edition”. Two wrongs don’t make a right. So, let me clarify my position—and in keeping with my normal positive self, offer some concrete suggestions for moving the industry forward.
Rather than analyzing green marketing claims as they appear on the shelf and concluding there’s either something ill-intended about the marketers’ making them (however, clumsily tongue in cheek), or that greenwashing is nearly impossible to avoid, let’s start by facing the fact that determining what exactly can be claimed …Read more...
Terrachoice’s Sins of Greenwashing Report—Time for Industry Self-Regulation?
Posted on November 08, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Most of you are familiar with Terrachoice’s “Seven Sins of Greenwashing” report. On a webinar aired in late October, CEO Scott McDougall admitted that his firm never intended to be malicious in their use of the term, “sins”. He believes that most of the “sins” of greenwashing being committed today are really not sins at all, but rather, inadvertent missteps.
Call me literal, or not a fan of hyperbole, but I believe that calling, in effect, otherwise well-intended marketers “sinners”, and setting the bar too high …Read more...
Green Marketing Myopia and the SunChips “Snacklash”
Posted on October 27, 2010 by Jacquie Ottman & Mark Eisen
Many marketing experts have weighed in on what they believe to be the reasons for the current backlash against SunChips’s new compostable chip package: excess noise. If you somehow missed it, consumers complained so loudly about the snack food’s new environmentally preferable but noisy corn-based bag that the brand reverted to the old packaging for most of its line. Before we blame consumers once again for not sacrificing a little inconvenience for the sake of the planet, let’s take a step back and understand what really is to …Read more...
EPA’s Role in Advancing Sustainable Products—and You
Posted on September 23, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
According to a new entry in the Federal Register, EPA is now soliciting individual stakeholder input regarding the Agency’s role in the “green” or sustainable products movement. The Agency will consider the information gathered from the Federal Register notice as well as from other sources as it works to define its role and develop a strategy that identifies how EPA can make a meaningful contribution to the development, manufacture, designation, and use of sustainable products.
This represents an important opportunity for those of us in the green marketing world to move …Read more...
Two Birds, One Switch? Brightening The Future With A Dark Idea
Posted on September 10, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
This is a guest blog post by Catie Carter.
For two months this fall, many of the cities largest buildings, including the Chrysler building, and Rockefeller Center, are turning their lights off. New York City Audubon has organized the fifth annual “Lights Out New York” in an effort to help migratory birds. Buildings participating in “Lights out New York” have agreed to turn their lights off from midnight to dawn from September 1st to November 1st.
Since 1993 other cities throughout North America have also …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...
Creating the Virtuous Cycle: Integrating Online and Offline Green Marketing
Posted on July 20, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
This is a guest blog post by Paul Hannam.
Conscious consumers are shifting to the web even more rapidly than many other market segments. According to a report in early 2010 from Burst Media, the internet is the number one source of product information for green consumers. Almost 40% of this group prefers the web in contrast to the TV, in second place, at only 18%. All businesses and organizations that want to engage with these consumers need to …Read more...
Stand By Your Cause: What Marketers Can Learn From Dawn’s Involvement In The Gulf Oil Spill
Posted on July 12, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Long marketed by Procter & Gamble as an “effective yet gentle” way to keep dishes free from even the greasiest of grease, Dawn dishwashing liquid was widely publicized during the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in 1989 as an ideal way to remove residue from afflicted bird and mammal species.
Fast forward to mid-April 2010, just days before the 40th anniversary celebration of Earth Day. P&G decided to create awareness for its 30-year long support of bird rescue groups by launching a new installment to a campaign begun last …Read more...
A Creative Way to Handle Prescription Drug Disposal
Posted on July 10, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
As someone quite involved in issues of product takeback and disposal in general, I became quite alarmed to discover how much Percoset and Vicodin, two controlled substances, were left in our medicine cabinet after my late husband’s bout with cancer.
Not wanting to dispose of the drugs in the toilet (for fear they would contaminate local waterways) or in the trash (where the drugs would linger in plastic bags on the sidewalk in front of my Upper East Side NYC coop where they could easily …Read more...
How We Used “Framing” to Sell the Wind
Posted on June 10, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
This is a guest blog post written by Cathy L. Hartman & Edwin R. Stafford.
Introducing “Framing”
By aligning marketing strategies with the core values of your audience, you can successfully craft a message that resonates with a 
targeted public, and increase your campaign’s chances for success. This is called “framing” and it’s well illustrated in the following two case studies.
Case Study: Utah & ‘The Winds of Opportunity’
In 2003, we collaborated with the Utah Wind Working Group to campaign for wind energy opportunities. At that time, …Read more...
Now Even Your Eyeglasses Can be “Green”
Posted on May 27, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Look for ECOs the next time you shop for eyewear. ECO stands for EARTH CONSCIOUS OPTICS, a new line of eyewear from our client MODO. We are proud to be assisting them in their exciting launch.
ECOs come in all kinds of fashion colors (not just green!) and are made from a minimum of 95% recycled stainless steel or 95% recycled plastic. (Another client of ours, ULEnvironment has validated the claims.) Reflecting a life cycle approach to sustainable design, each pair of ECOs comes with a special box …Read more...
Give Your Stuff Away and Unclutter Your Life
Posted on April 12, 2010 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Wouldn’t it be great if in just one weekend, we could get rid of some of the clutter in our lives by making it available to others who need it?
That’s the idea behind Mike Morone’s Give Your Stuff Away Day, happening on May 15, 2010 all across the country.
The deal is pretty simple: Just bring safe, valuable items that you no longer want to your curb (keeping in mind that no trash, recyclables, food, drugs, chemicals, or weapons should be included) and instantly be involved in the country’s largest giveaway effort! Others will …Read more...
