Customer Retention: What Customers Want

Marketing strategist and author Steven Howard, in his keynote speech at the DIMENSIONS Marketing & Sales Conference in Melbourne, Australia, explains what customers value and want before they will reward organizations with customer loyalty.

Green Marketing Tips For Eco-Friendly Businesses

Green businesses are especially challenged when it comes to marketing their products and services. You want to reach out to your target audience with a little green marketing but so much of the advertising avenues today are not environmentally-friendly. It feels almost contradictory to promote an eco product through a channel known for producing a lot of waste.

But it is possible to launch a marketing campaign that is easy on the environment. Below are a few green marketing tips for eco-friendly businesses.

Approach Green Websites
The perfect place to start your green marketing campaign is to get your product and service advertised on websites dedicated to talking about eco issues. From green parenting to running an eco conscious business there are websites dedicated to every area of life that can be improved by going green.
There are a variety of ad options available including banner ads and pay per click. However, because green products are still struggling with the stigma of not being as effective as their mainstream counterparts, a particularly effective green marketing move would be to send website owners a free sample of your product. You can then ask for an honest review of the product. A personal recommendation trumps all other forms of marketing.

Give Green Promo Items
If you are going to trade shows and conferences as part of your green marketing campaign, then you will probably want to give away free gifts with your business logo on them to keep your name at the top of minds of customers. While a good idea, you have to be careful because this is an area that produces a lot of waste.
Many businesses purchase cheap trinkets that customers glance at for a second before throwing away in the trash. Instead of adding to the rubble, stand out from the crowd by offering green promo items such as reusable shopping bags. At the very least give away items that will actually be used by recipient such as pens. You'll help reduce waste and reinforce your green marketing message of eco responsibility.

Green the Conventional
If you must advertise in mainstream media, look for ways to do so in a green way. Advertise in newspapers that use recyclable materials. Instead of leaving flyers at organic food stores, see if they are willing to let you print your green marketing message on the back of their receipt paper. If you want to do television, try to hire a production company that has green processes in place that keeps waste to a minimum.

The world is in the midst of a major change so it is understandable if you cannot always be eco-friendly in your green marketing campaign. Do the best you can with what you have and take comfort in the knowledge that eventually every facet of life will be eco-friendly.

By Stacy Kinney

Green marketing can help your business sprout

By Tasha Cunningham

Small businesses can gain an edge by promoting environmentally sustainable products and services.

For small-business owners, creating and implementing effective marketing strategies can be an uphill battle. The question always becomes: What kind of strategies should you employ to grow your business and are they going to work?

So when a Miami Herald reader recently asked BizBytes whether green marketing strategies could help grow their small business, I turned to D. Steven White, professor of marketing at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and interim director of its Sustainability Studies Program.

What is green marketing anyway?

According to American Marketing Association, it's defined as ``the marketing and promotion of products and services that are environmentally safe.'' But what does that mean exactly and how does it pertain to your small business?

"Green marketing for small businesses is really about introducing green products and adopting sustainable practices to differentiate yourself from your competitors,'' White said. "Will that lead to more sales for a small business that creates innovative green strategies? Absolutely, it will. It's a wide open, emerging area of marketing that small, nimble businesses can take advantage of much quicker than larger, bureaucracy-heavy corporations can.''

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Marketing firms going green with 'reverse graffiti'

Street artists have been using a technique called “reverse graffiti” for decades, but now green marketing firms are beginning to use it for the purposes of publicity.

Jim Bowes, founder of the Dutch marketing firm GreenGraffiti, told The New York Times: “The city is our canvas. We can tell a story over the course of two blocks if we want to, without paper, without ink. We don’t want to be the bad guys anymore; we want to show the world that the advertising industry is capable of providing alternatives.”

With stencils and high-pressure water sprayers, GreenGraffiti washes down the selected pavement, leaving behind “clean” words and images that are clearly visible through the surrounding grime. GreenGraffiti has licensing agreements in over 10 countries and is among a growing number of environmentally conscious marketing firms that are concerned more about the "sustainability of the medium than that of the message."

Bowes said a 55-inch-square 'reverse graffiti' message takes about four to five gallons of water compared to 30 times more to produce a similar size paper poster. And they even compensate for that by matching every liter they use with a donation of a liter of clean drinking water to a drought-stricken region. They also plan to switch from gasoline as the power source for the pressure hose pumps to renewable fuels.

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Government needs to provide green standards

Businesses everywhere, big and small, are using the title of “going green” as a marketing ploy to charm customers.

But what does it mean to “go green”? Since there are no government credentials needed to carry this label, consumers should be suspicious.

According to the British nonprofit Carbon Trust, 62 percent of consumers said environmental concerns influenced their purchasing decisions, but 59 percent of them are skeptical of some companies’ green claims.

Over the past few years, a growing number of businesses have fabricated clever “going green” slogans to pick up customers. Anybody can claim they are going green, and because it’s such a trendy thing, why wouldn’t a business use this simple and cheap marketing claim?

There needs to be a standard, similar to “USDA approved” meats. Businesses should be required to meet criteria if they want to hold any title associating themselves with being environmentally friendly.

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Green marketing should avoid political and CSR “sideshows”

Brands looking to push their green credentials should not be distracted by political or CSR “sideshows”, according to environmental experts.

Both Labour and the Lib Dems today (April 26) announced their ‘green manifestos’, but businesses were warned not to wait around for government hyperbole to become positive action before pushing their sustainability agenda.

Environmentalists are labelling this “the last parliament that can save the world from dangerous levels of climate change”. A new guide published by PR experts at Ogilvy and Cranfield University calls for similar urgency from UK Plc.

“If a business wishes to portray itself as a responsible citizen, it shouldn’t wait to see what happens when pressure from these three sources comes bearing down at thunderous speed. It should act now, and move ahead of compliance,” says Ogilvy PR London’s senior director Ross Cathcart.

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Execs Share Best Practices in Carbon Management, Green Marketing

The ECO:nomics conference, hosted March 5 by the Wall Street Journal, yielded some best practices for businesses hoping to reduce their energy use and carbon footprint, as well as some tips in green marketing.

Participants broke up into groups to discuss what works and what does not. Here’s a look at the results.

What works

- Companies should focus on improving their own energy efficiency, while emphasizing benefits to local communities. Look for “low-hanging fruit” for quicker ROI.

- Companies should give customers reasons to adopt environmentally responsible behaviors.

- When it comes to “green” marketing, provide information about a product’s environmental benefits close to the point of purchase. Make the message personal by explaining how a consumer’s purchase has direct environmental results.

- When providing information to stakeholders, avoid a “hard sell” on environmental benefits. Instead, engage stakeholders in a dialogue.

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Oscars 2010: Movie Theaters Go Green

Theaters across the nation are making the movie-going experience a great, green adventure.

Coming soon to more movie theaters (and maybe to a theater near you): buttery popcorn in eco-friendly bags, recycled 3-D glasses and buildings topped with solar panels.

Some theaters are making an effort to help viewers go green at the movies, including Georgia-based Carmike Cinemas ( CKEC - news - people ). It built a LEED-certified theater in Chattanooga, Tenn., which opened in November. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a green-building rating standard.)

Environmentally conscious theater construction and design are growing trends, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Theatre Owners, which represents more than 29,000 movie screens in the U.S. Some theaters are installing solar panels to save energy--resulting in lower energy bills--and using recycled building materials for new theaters and existing facilities that are under renovation.

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Green Marketing- Is Green the “New Black” for Women Shoppers?

According to a recent study by the marketing consulting firm Frank About Women, one-quarter of all products in a woman’s shopping cart are environmentally friendly. (Note: this is data from the USA, unfortunately our shopping carts here in Australia have no current way of achieving such lofty green levels.)

The study also shows, according to an article in Ad Week, that “women are less likely than men to scoff at ecological concerns.” Most importantly, “if they feel they are getting a comparable product with green benefits, 69% are game to buy it.”

Another study, being released this week at the Good and Green Marketing Conference, will reportedly show that 80% of adult women in the USA believe very strongly that individuals can affect the environment, but that almost 60% believe that they are personally not doing enough to protect it.

Continue Reading Is Green the “New Black” for Women Shoppers?

Green Marketing Starts With These 3 Steps

Step 1 - Admit the Problem.

Green Marketing. Thinking of going green with your Marketing? The First step is to admit the problem. What is the problem? Perhaps we don't quite exactly know what the definition of "green" is. No need to be embarrassed, there's a lot to know and discover; we are still learning too.

All you need to know about eco friendly products can be found in a good Eco Friendly Dictionary or Glossary. How you can contribute to improving your company's carbon footprint? Begin to educate yourself about the different aspects of going green with your company's marketing program.

Step 2 - Go Paperless.

The second step in going green with your marketing is a simple step. Go paperless. If you use catalogs in your business, convert to a paperless, digital, catalog. There are some amazing high tech digital catalog solutions available. If you replace paper or plastic bags, with "eco-usable" canvas bags. This step can save you thousands upon thousands of dollars in printing depending on your reliance of paper. If you need physical brochures, there are options for alternative "papers." Recycled Elephant Poo is one choice. Another choice is to use some branded flash drives for brochures and business information; and print paper copies. Not only do you save paper, but also your brand will get seen over and over again by those who use the flash drive to save their important files.

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Green Marketing - Fundamentals of a Successful Direct Marketing Campaign

There are three elements to a successful green marketing campaign: being credibly green, addressing a need, and communicating in an environmentally friendly way. We will explore each in more detail.

First: Credibility. This requirement is somewhat unique in the realm of marketing. Consider the scenario where Harley-Davidson had to certify that all employees ride motorcycles or Whole Foods had to attest to the good eating habits of its employees. Neither do, of course.

If you are going to make green marketing claims, however, the first place your customers will look in assessing those claims is at you. Have you determined your environmental impact and are you taking steps to mitigate it. You need not have eliminated all environmentally unfriendly practices, but you should disclose them along with your plan to address them (sooner or later).

As part of establishing your green credibility, you should seek to obtain valid third-party certification and you should demonstrate executive level (ideally CEO) commitment to sustainable business practices. The third-party certification can come from any of array of private or non-governmental organizations with business practice evaluation programs. The executive level commitment should be on-going and incorporated into regular business oversight policies and procedures.

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