Jacquie Ottman's
Green marketing Blog
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 16.
Posted on March 01, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 16:
Green consumers don’t expect perfection.Just like there’s no more whitest whites, there’s no greenest of the green. Consumers expect that you’ll set high goals (i.e., perform beyond mere compliance), keep improving, and report on progress.
GE’s Ecomagination sustainability marketing campaign averted accusations of greenwash despite a history of environmental transgressions. The company treats the effort as a serious business initiative, complete with detailed metrics on revenues and environmental savings in easily understandable form.
—-Excerpted from The New Rules of Green …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 15.
Posted on February 28, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 15:
Green consumers trust brands that tell all.BP, ExxonMobil, and SIGG learned this lesson the hard way. It’s no longer enough to have a well-known name. Today’s brands become trusted by practicing “radical transparency,” disclosing the good - and the bad.
Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles microsite lets visitors trace the environmental impacts of ten products and it not afraid to critique itself. For example, it is not afraid to reveal that is still uses (only) 36% virgin polyester in its Capilene Midweight …Read more...
Taking the Green Marketplace to the Next Level
Posted on February 25, 2011 by Guest Blogger, Cassidy Hooker
Of all of the amazing examples, facts, figures, and case studies in Jacquie Ottman’s new book, The New Rules of Green Marketing, the one I find most encouraging comes early in the book, on page 12: More than 300,000 applications for green-related brand names, logos, and tag lines were applied for in 2007, and Datamonitor reports a tripling of sustainable product launches. What a tidal wave of innovation! And, just in time! As green mainstreams, and we all adjust to new marketplaces, new consumers, and new economics, breakthrough innovations in …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 14.
Posted on February 25, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 14:
Green consumers are strongly influenced by the recommen-dations of friends and family, and trusted third parties. With rampant cynicism about traditional forms of advertising and a backlash in place against perceived greenwashing, savvy marketers leverage purchase influencers and third parties like NGOs and especially eco-labelers.
But one must choose an ecolabel wisely. According to the Natural Marketing Institute, only a handful of ecolabels have significant levels of consumer awareness—Energy Star (93%), USDA Certified Organic (75%), Fair Trade Certified (44%) and Rainforest …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 13.
Posted on February 24, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 13:
The brands consumers buy and trust engage them in meaningful conversation through a variety of media, especially online.
Talking “at” consumers through traditional media and paid advertising can’t build loyalty among empowered consumers in a connected world.
Method’s “People Against Dirty” campaign has over 5300 “advocates” united in a common passion for Method and its cleaning mission. A blog keeps members updated on issues of concern, and a “humanifesto” that extols values such as “ingredients that come from plants, not …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 12.
Posted on February 23, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 12:
Consumers don’t necessarily need to own products; services can meet their needs, perhaps even better.Consumers historically met their needs by owning products, but concepts like Zipcar and ebooks are starting to prove that utility and service are what really matters.
Take textbooks, a product that students typically “own” for a semester or two. While us grownups are busy reading Steinbeck on our Kindles and Nooks, college students can rent textbooks from Cengage Learning, the textbook publisher. Alternatively, they can also download pdf …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 11.
Posted on February 22, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 11:
The greenest products represent new concepts (and likely, new business models) with significantly less impact.If we simply keep greening up the same old “brown” products we’ve been using forever, we’re never going to get to sustainability. With time running out, we’ve got to “leap” to service replacements for products, and adopt entirely new ways of doing business.
In the process, we just might discover that consumers’ needs are being met better and “eco”-innovative new businesses result. Representing the biking equivalent of car-sharing, …Read more...
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 10.
Posted on February 18, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 10:
Sustainability represents an important consumer need, and is now an integral aspect of product quality. Green is no longer simply a market position. Products need to be green. Brands need to be socially responsible. Period.
Gone are the days when consumers simply chose one brand over another on the basis of cost, convenience or cleaning power. Such new questions are being asked as: What’s in this product? Who makes it? Can I dispose of it safely?
—-Excerpted fromThe New Rules of …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 9.
Posted on February 17, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 9:
Businesses are their philosophies.It used to be that companies were what they made. International Business Machines. General Foods. General Motors. Now, businesses and brands are what they stand for. Method. Starbucks. Timberland.
Is your company among the 1000+ in over 50 industries that have been certified by the nonprofit B Lab to strict sustainable business standards, or benchmarked your performance to B Lab’s free B Impact Rating System?
—-Excerpted fromThe New Rules of Green Marketing, by Jacquie Ottman (Berrett-Koehler …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 8.
Posted on February 16, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 8:
Save me! Scrap the images of planets! Bag the daisies! Nix the babies! Even the greenest consumers no longer buy products just to “save the planet.” Today’s consumers buy sustainable brands to help protect their health, save money, or because they simply work better. That’s why products such as organics, natural personal care and pet care, and energy-efficient products are leading the way in sales.
A central message in the book, shine the spotlight on primary product benefits. That’s why AFM Safecoat …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 7.
Posted on February 15, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 7:
Manufacturer and retailer reputation count now more than ever.In addition to looking for trusted brand names on supermarket shelves, consumers are now flipping over packages, saying, “Who makes this brand? Did they produce this product with high environmental and social standards?”
In a 2008 survey, 57% of respondents said they were likely to trust a company after finding out it was environmentally considerate, and 60% said they were likely to purchase its products (“pro-cott”).
—-Excerpted fromThe New Rules of Green Marketing, …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 6.
Posted on February 14, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 6:
A life-cycle approach is necessary. Single attributes such as recyclable, organic, or energy-efficient matter greatly, but don’t mean a product is green overall. Recycled products still create waste, organic strawberries can travel thousands of miles, and CFLs contain mercury. So a more thorough, life-cycle or carbon-based approach to greening is necessary.
Sometimes a lifecycle approach pays off unexpected dividends. Because it is easy to disassemble, Herman Miller’s MIrra chair is also a cinch to repair.
—-Excerpted fromThe New Rules of Green …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 5
Posted on February 11, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 5:
Values guide consumer purchasing. Historically, consumers bought solely on price, performance, and convenience. But today, how products are sourced, manufactured, packaged, disposed of - and even such social aspects as how factory and farm workers are treated - all matter.
That’s why green consumers like Starbucks Coffee and Farm Equity Practices (C.A.F.E.) developed with Conservation International. They also think it’s cool that Timberland’s employees take “service sabbaticals” to perform community service. And who couldn’t love Method staffers for transforming parking spaces into …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 4.
Posted on February 10, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 4:
Green inspires innovative products and services that can result in better consumer value, enhanced brands, and a stronger company.
Savvy managers no longer consider the environment to be a burden that represents added cost and overhead—but an investment that can pay back handsomely. That’s why Procter & Gamble is counting on $50 billion sales of “sustainable innovation products” by 2012 and why GE “Ecomagination” revenues grew six percent to $18 billion in 2009 despite tough times.
Two of my favorite more entreprenuerial …Read more...
20 New Rules. 20 Free Books. 20 Chances to Win: New Rule of Green Marketing Number 3.
Posted on February 09, 2011 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Jacquie Ottman’s New Rule of Green Marketing Number 3:
Greener products work equally well or better than conventional alternatives—and are often worth a premium price.
Thanks to advances in technology, we’ve come a long way since the days when greener products gathered dust on the bottom shelves of health food stores because they didn’t work as well and were not a good value. Organics, hybrid cars and safer cleaning products now command a price premium.
These are also the reasons why so many mainstream consumer products marketers are getting in the …Read more...
