As Andrew Winston says, “Yes, it’s December again somehow: time to look back on what we’ve learned and oversimplify into a handy list.” In lieu of doing that, I’d like to share Andrew’s, because it’s a darn good list! Thanks, Andrew as always, for distilling the news so well and providing us with so many links within your story that take us interesting places. Here’s is Andrew’s take on the 10 big stories in sustainability and green business this year:
Archive for the ‘green communications’ Category
Reflections on Green Trends
by Nancy Rogers on December 14th, 2011Awareness is expanding. LinkedIn reports a 19% increase in people with “sustainability” as a skill in 2011 over 2010. Consumers and business understand that product choices affect our quality of life and future. Whether it’s the residue from soap or how to dispose of appliances, questions are raised about impacts. As we move into a new year, I hope this foundation continues to evolve into informed action on energy, water, resource management, green building, air quality and all the facets that contribute to a healthy planet.
In my eyes green has become a melting pot of people and organizations around the globe with different priorities purporting to serve planet survival for future generations. Some are authentic; some are inserting “green” into existing sales materials. As communicators and consumers, knowledge brings responsibility to ensure holistic approaches and transparency at all levels.
Each week, I meet green marketers and eco-strategies with newly minted credentials. I do not question their passion. Whether they are checking a box on LinkedIn or calling attention to actual experience, it’s thrilling that we are now explaining “how” more often than “why” green matters.
Green Earth PR consultant Lisa Lilienthal observes, “As consumers become savvier, their expectations are higher in terms of value proposition, and that includes how you source, manufacture, distribute and recycle. Green is becoming shorthand for a more ethical approach to business in general.” She offered the Patagonia Don’t Buy This Jacket ad as an example.
Our colleague Louise Mulherin agrees that Patagonia has been perceptive with its communications strategies and posted on this particular ad. She notes, “The challenge becomes when consumers aren’t savvy and companies talk to them as if they were. Companies need to recognize there is a broad spectrum of understanding. Information should be formatted to suit the audience.”
Companies need to take into account that a green building audience or a facility manager would have different requirements than someone in the food industry.
Companies that are successfully using green marketing are transparent, relevant and clever to grab and hold attention. Patagonia included a call to action and mutual responsibility with a goal of 50,000 signatures to support The Common Threads Initiative. Results are tracked online.
We can follow the results and the example. Please add your thoughts on what you’ve observed and what you expect for green communications in the coming year.
A similar post appears in the Green Communications Blog for Environmental Design + Construction http://www.edcmag.com/blogs/14/post/reflections-on-green-trends and Sustainable Facility http://www.sustainablefacility.com/blogs/14/post/87569-sustainable-facility-blog-2011-12-13-reflections-on-green-trends-.
Don’t Buy This Jacket – Inspiring Black Friday Ad from Patagonia
by Louise Mulherin on November 28th, 2011
In the midst of all the store flyers advertising Black Friday deals, I saw this ad in the New York Times from Patagonia. I loved the message, what a refreshing approach to the mass consumerism of the day.
With the catchy headline, Patagonia aimed to draw attention to the deeper message – the impact that manufacturing has on our environment. But what struck me more was their approach. The ad outlined the harm that the making of just one jacket has, and in specific terms that don’t take an engineering degree to understand. For example, the jacket requires 135 liters of water in the manufacturing process, that’s enough water, in their estimate, for 45 people for one day.
What’s unusual about this approach, in my experience, is the transparency about one specific product and its impact. It seems many more companies communicate their environmental successes by talking about what they have left out of the process, or what was theoretically saved by using less-intrusive raw materials or methods. That approach might give some consumers a false sense of environmental security – this product uses less material or less energy to produce, therefore it’s better. Which may not always be the case.
Some consumers might read the Patagonia ad in a negative way. Sure, there’s a bit of a guilt trip there, especially compared to the feeding-frenzy mentality of Black Friday sales. Full disclosure, my household was not immune to Black Friday either, my husband did take advantage of a one-day sale on my Christmas gift (purchased online). I didn’t go anywhere near a shopping center, not to make a statement, it’s just not my thing to line up with hundreds of other people to save a few bucks.
Patagonia included a call to action in the ad, asking people to take the Common Threads Initiative pledge. The pledge asks for action on both sides, for example they pledge to make useful gear that lasts a long time, and to repair gear or find a new home for it when a consumer no longer needs it. Consumers pledge to only buy what they need, to fix what’s broken, and to keep items out of the landfill. Their goal is to get 50,000 people to sign the pledge, and they are tracking results online. It will be interesting to follow this Initiative to see if it gains traction. Kudos to Patagonia for asking for mutual responsibility in the effort.
In today’s environmental, and economic, climate, I hope their message was as impactful to others as it was to me.
First posted on Nice To Be Seen.
Grammar of Green™ Communications – think before sharing
by Nancy Rogers on August 16th, 2011Think before your speak. This childhood adage serves me well as a communications professional.
In films “Did I say that out loud?” may get a laugh. Not so much in the business world when the words are instantly blared via multiple channels—tweets, emails, images and posts. The consequences can be costly.
Starting smart, rather than losing time and dollars attempting to correct mistakes in the flood of information is worth the effort. Message mapping is a valuable exercise. Take the time to deliberately consider your objectives, audience, and language. What do you want to accomplish?
What are your objectives?
Fuzzy objectives do not lead anywhere useful or build the foundation for a compelling story. Consider the purpose.
Inform the audience?
Launch a new service or product?
Demonstrate thought leadership?
Differentiate your offering from the competition?
Challenge the status quo?
Inspire action?
Increase sales?
Build loyalty?
Recognize achievement?
What do you know about your audience?
The more you understand your audience, the more effective message development and channel selection will be. Professional organizations, third party partnerships, industry events and trade publications are good resources for B2B outreach. Aligning channels and audience ensures that format and language support objectives.
What are credible sources of information on this subject for the target group?
What channels are most effective?
What holds the attention of the audience?
What motivates them to act?
Are the benefits clearly and simply stated?
Is your story relevant?
Do you open a conversation that respects the audience?
Does your language align the objective, audience and selected channels?
Word choice and arrangement form a potent pair. A message developed to build visibility may not generate sales. A pithy tweet may lead to a very technical white paper.
Is the message memorable?
Are the words chosen the best for this story?
Is the language familiar to the audience? Is the syntax correctly applied?
Do the words distinguish the products or services from competitors?
Do the visuals complement the language?
Have you tested the message on impartial ears and eyes?
The fall trade show season and 2012 communications plans are around the corner. To stand out from the crowd, rely on clarity, consistency, and transparency when delivering green messages. Please share examples that work or fail from your reading, online journeys and industry adventures.
Published: http://www.edcmag.com/blogs/14/post/grammar-of-green-communications-think-before-you-speak and http://www.sustainablefacility.com/articles/87443-sustainable-facility-blog-2011-08-15-grammar-of-green-communications-think-before-you-speak
Communicating Green: Trade Show Participation Part I | 2011-06-09 | ED+C Magazine
by l.lilienthal on June 10th, 2011Green Earth PR Network’s own Louise Mulherin has contributed a blog post to ED&C magazine’s site, just in time for summer trade show season and the big daddy of the commercial interiors world, Neocon. Here are her tips for thoughtful trade show participation and attendance:
Communicating Green: Trade Show Participation Part I | 2011-06-09 | ED+C Magazine.
And, don’t forget that Green Earth PR offers CONNECT, a web-based subscription database of the best events in the B2B green/sustainability/corporate social responsibility space!
Grammar of Green Communications: Conversation Tip – Know Your Audience
by Nancy Rogers on May 20th, 2011We take for granted that our modern business world operates 24/7. Personal and work-related calls intersect on cell phones along with texts, tweets, emails and more.
While caller ID can be a life saver, we occasionally ignore technology only to receive a gentle reproach from friends or family expecting a more personal greeting. This predictable exchange is a reminder of a basic tenet of all communications and especially green conversations—know your audience.
Most of you reading this post spend a portion of each day reading updates and exchanging ideas around environmental, social and economic issues. It can be a shock to realize that we have co-workers and neighbors who have never heard the phrase Triple Bottom Line or greenwashing. Seriously, and they are not hermits.
Although it seems elementary, remember talking above or down to your audience will not serve your message or produce the desired call to action. The value of your knowledge and expertise is multiplied when you have the capacity to share information effectively. Even within the green community, designers have concerns that vary from facility managers. A healthcare industry group may offer questions on a different path from hospitality or higher education.
If you want to motivate or educate your readers, listeners, family, friends or followers, here are five tips for green communicators:
- Convey points in a manner that has value for the audience. What do they expect from you?
- Offer facts that they can use in a way that they will remember. When appropriate, use humor and personal experiences. For example, what was the first item you recycled?
- Determine in advance whether the conversation will operate in the same or similar shades of green. Where is your audience on the path to sustainability? The metrics may be determined by passion, experience or shared goals. What is the key take-away and have you presented it effectively?
- Use simple clean language to reduce confusion. We all use jargon. If in doubt, test your draft for a fresh perspective. Recognize that their baseline may be misinformation.
- Be authentic and transparent.
Do you have green communication examples that would end tree planting on the low end or create a forest on the high end? Please share.
First posted on http://www.edcmag.com/blogs/14/post/grammar-of-green-conversation-tip-know-your-audience.
When It Pays to Spend on Trade Shows – BusinessWeek
by l.lilienthal on May 3rd, 2011Networking, product launches, expert positioning, competitive analysis — all are great reasons to think about attending a trade show. But when does it pay to exhibit? Here’s a great piece from BusinessWeek Small Biz. The ideas really apply to any size company.
CONNECT, the event management tool from Green Earth PR Network, provides a great overview of the sustainability and green business space, and is an intuitive and easy-to-use tool that helps you evaluate and develop your trade show/event calendar. We’re offering a one-year subscription for $595. Contact us for an online demo!
From the article, “Although webinars and virtual online trade shows have become popular in recent years, and serve a marketing purpose, they are not replacements for face-to-face events … “
Sales of ‘Green’ Household Products Fall as Consumers Cut Spending – NYTimes.com
by l.lilienthal on May 3rd, 2011This April story from New York Times talks about ‘green fatigue,’ particularly in the relatively higher priced category of household cleaners. The conclusion seems to be that consumer won’t pay more for green products during a recession, but I suspect it is a little more complicated. Speaking purely as a consumer, I’m more brand loyal to companies that have sustainability in their DNA – like Method, Mrs. Meyer’s, and Seventh Generation — to me, those products perform better and are more in line with my family’s lifestyle. What do you think?
Sales of ‘Green’ Household Products Fall as Consumers Cut Spending – NYTimes.com.