green products

A common mantra in green marketing is that if you want the masses to buy your product, focus your messaging on more traditional attributes such as price, quality or service. A product’s “greenness” is likely secondary for many mainstream consumers. For green marketers then, the holy grail may be to offer a product that is competitive on dimensions both traditional and eco-friendly. This would result in the greatest number of products sold and greatest impact on the environment.

No one will disagree that today’s customer is empowered like never before. With social media and other connectivity, they are able to acquire more detailed information about brands, products and services in order to make smarter decisions; everything is just a few clicks away. Any green-washing or eco-washing can last only for a few clicks. Customers can access new knowledge about the behavior of companies and can more readily question and challenge this behavior.

I’m a big fan of analogies; one of my favorites is equating customer relationships with personal, romantic relationships. If you ask a woman about the kind of guy she wants to marry, she might say, “handsome, rich, successful and exciting.” Fast-forward a few years and we see whom she actually marries: maybe a nice, average, middle-class bald guy who happens to be the best listener and makes her feel special. Perhaps these attributes that tipped the scale were ones that she didn’t anticipate or know how to value until she experienced them.

The retail giant that helped bring car stereos, camcorders, and CD players to the masses wants to be homeowners' best friend in the emerging world of smarter, greener technology.

by: John Winsor

Eric Wilson pens a wonderful article in today’s New York Times exploring what it means for a product to be truly green.

Marketing eco-friendly products isn’t as easy as it might seem, particularly if the products involve some kind of sacrifice or behavioral change on the part of the consumer. Take a look at one of the supposed eco-villains, the auto industry. While one can criticize the big US auto firms (not to mention Toyota and Nissan) for continuing to push big trucks and SUVs to consumers who didn’t “need” them, the fact is that all of these firms were supplying what the consumer wanted.

by: David Wigder

With the exception of a few select product categories, growing consumer interest in green has not yet translated into substantive changes in purchase behavior by mainstream consumers. Like many nascent categories, green faces many barriers to widespread adoption.

by: Michael Hoexter

Taking a break from my series on the electron economy, I wanted to share some impressions from the changing market and media landscape.

by: David Wigder

Marketers have historically faced an uphill battle when it comes to marketing eco-friendly goods.  Simply put, it is difficult to influence consumer purchase behavior without first impacting attitudes and values.  These values, however, take a concerted effort over a long period of time to change.

by: Joel Makower

The natural products industry has become a screaming success. That's mostly good news. It also offers some cautionary tales for the sustainable business sector.