Author: Drew Neisser

It’s Friday and frankly a week’s worth of “green” posts has me turning Linda Blair green (for you young folks, Linda Blair was the girl in the original Exorcist movie who became famous for her guacamole-colored projectile “emissions”). Suddenly, the fact that the Organic Trade Association is based in Greenfield, Mass. seems down right funny to me. Discovering that there is such a thing as organic leather from free-range cows strikes me as absolutely hilarious. I’m not making this up. Here’s what the Wall St. Journal reported yesterday:

Q Collection offers a chair made with leather from free-range cattle that is treated with vegetable dyes and isn’t processed with heavy metals. Organic Leather, a new company in Mill Valley, Calif., sells everything from bed headboards to leather bangle bracelets, made from the hides of wild animals or those raised to produce organic meat, says founder Rowan Gabrielle.

Okay, all silliness aside, the reason the WSJ is writing about this is that retailers, big and small, are seeking and finding competitive advantage by promoting products that are “green”, “organic”, “natural” and or “sustainable”. Here’s a bit more from the yesterday’s WSJ:

Consumer sales of organic fiber for things like clothes and linens totaled $160 million in 2005, up 44% from the previous year, according to the Organic Trade Association, an industry group based in Greenfield, Mass. Demand is being driven by retailers all over the country who are introducing or expanding lines of “green” or “eco-friendly” products. Demand is being driven by retailers all over the country who are introducing or expanding lines of “green” or “eco-friendly” products.

Williams-Sonoma Inc.’s Pottery Barn is rolling out a new line of duvets, sheets and towels made with organic cotton this spring. Furniture and textile designer Q Collection will soon introduce a line of organic bedding for children. Retailer Gaiam has even added organic cotton shower curtains to its product line.

And as long as consumer demand remains strong, retailers like William-Sonoma will continue to introduce and promote assorted “green” products. But what happens when demand slows as has already happened with hybrid cars? Will shareholders forgive the CEO’s who are pushing a greener agenda when earnings start to dip? Frankly, I don’t thing so. Maybe a few of the “green” mutual funds like the Green Century Funds, Winslow Green Growth Fund and Sierra Club Funds will cut those CEO’s some slack but don’t count on it. Would you invest in a mutual fund that promised green behavior over greenbacks? Probably not. You want both–green investing AND green returns.

This is the only way Marketing for Good will succeed in the long run. We must embrace the AND. We must find ways to grow the business AND save the planet. That’s one of the reasons I’m a big (RED) fan. Despite the incredibly flawed report on (RED) from AdAge, (RED) is on track to help marketers like Motorola and The Gap sell lots of product AND raise big money ($25 million is hardly chump change) to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. So car makers are free to build more hybrids AND make them more affordable. Clothing makers can choose to make their products from sustainable materials AND price them for maximum ROI.  AND consumers can continue to make choices, electing to support companies that do good or not. AND before I leave green behind for a week or so, I will toast to all your good health tomorrow with some green beer.  Cheers!

I’m fascinated by the Green tsunami and the way it touches just about every corner of marketing. For example, we used to be able to just buy t-shirts, perhaps 3 to a pack without a care in the world other than price. Now we are asked to consider where the cotton was grown and if it is organic, who made the shirt and did they earn a reasonable wage in decent working conditions. Don’t get me wrong, I think all of this is good and affords enlightened marketers an opportunity (however brief) to gain competitive advantage by demonstrating their greenness.

According to the Organic Exchange, organically grown cotton generated close to $600 million in retail sales last year and is expected to hit $2.6 billion in 2008. That’s not chicken scratch. One of the leaders in this area is Gaiam, which makes a point of telling you where their cotton is grown (India) and offers “Thoughtful Tees” complete with green pride messages like ” “The Solution Comes Up Every Day” and “Keep On Growing.” No one will miss where you stand when you buy one of these Tees. Here’s how Gaiam describes its Tees:

Our message tees make a statement about conscious living. Created with Earth-conscious 100% certified organic cotton and a low eco-impact dye-and-wash process, they sport messages in tune with your values…10% of sales benefit the Solar Living Institute and its environmental education programs.

So, if one buys a green tee, drinks green tea and then uses chemical-free solvents to clean both, could “green washing” suddenly be a good thing? Hmmm. Clearly, I need to give all of this a lot more thought.

With Saint Paddy’s Day approaching, it seems everyone is turning green, even geeks. Much to my surprise and delight this week’s cover story on Information Week is “Green is Good: Tree huggers, make room for the suits in IT. Yes, there’s a compelling business case for Green Computing.” Here are some highlights from that article:

Green Computing isn’t a save-the-planet-for-our-kids movement. It’s about the other green: cutting operating costs as the demand for computing power soars. It’s a movement grounded in measurable, near-term results. “The top priority at hand is data center efficiency,” says Sabet Elias, CTO of investment bank Lehman Brothers, which last year boosted energy efficiency 25% and set a goal of another 35% by next year.

It’s not just financial services companies, with their huge processing needs, that stand to benefit from green computing. Companies in every industry, from nonprofits to consumer goods, are paying much closer attention to their power bills, as the amount spent on data center power has doubled in the past six years.

IT execs would be wise to keep an eye on more than the economics of energy-efficient computing. Energy consumption has gotten so huge–U.S. data centers consume as much power in a year as is generated by five power plants-

The article goes on to note that the government has stepped in to help set standards for green computing:

…with EPEAT, or the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool. EPEAT was created through an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers council because companies and government agencies wanted to put green criteria in IT requests for proposals.”

Equally important but often overlooked is the environmental impact of computing refuge:

The United Nations estimates that 20 million to 50 million tons of computer gear and cell phones worldwide are dumped into landfills each year, and it’s the fastest growing segment of waste, says Greenpeace legislative director Rick Hind. At most, 12% of PCs and cell phones are recycled, he says, putting chemicals such as mercury and PVC into the environment.

From a Marketing for Good standpoint, the door is wide open for computer companies to build more environmentally friendly computers, ones that use less energy, generate lower emissions and are easier to recycle. At the same time, every company can start monitoring their IT energy use and identify concrete ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Just to make sure we practice what we preach, Renegade has formed a Green Team to help us monitor our consumption (energy, paper, water, etc.) while encouraging ways we to reduce and recycle. Since we are moving to bigger space in the next week or so, the timing is perfect to start such an initiative. What’s particularly great about this project is the enthusiasm expressed by my fellow Renegades to embrace a greener office space. I am optimistic this enthusiasm will translate into the requisite behavioral changes like turning off computers every night, finding the recycle bin for aluminum cans and selecting the printers that reuse paper. With a goal of reducing per capita energy use by 20% this year, we’ll no doubt need to engage more than just our newly glamorous green geeks.

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Lest you think riding the green wave is a sure thing, consider for a moment the challenges being faced by hybrid manufacturers. According to an article in Business Week, “hybrids are losing traction because they cost more than their conventional siblings.” The opening paragraph tells most of the story:

Given all the buzz about hybrids, not to mention the greening of the citizenry, you’d think they would be easy to sell. They’re not. After growing nicely through much of 2006, hybrid sales began to slow early this year. The gasoline-electric vehicles now make up 1.8% of all vehicle sales, says Edmunds.com, down from a peak of 2.1% in October.

This puts car manufacturers in an interesting predicament. The world is saying “be more green” yet American consumers, at least, aren’t willing to pay much of a premium for a greener car. Unless gas prices rise a lot, this behavior isn’t likely to change much. According to Business Week:

The fuel savings are simply too puny to offset the hybrid premium. With gas at $2.50 a gallon, it would take 10 years to recoup the extra $3,000 cost of the Accord hybrid.

Of course, all this could change if suddenly millions of us (instead of thousands) started buying hybrids. Economies of scale would take hold and prices would drop, narrowing or perhaps even overcoming the gap. Until then, Americans are stuck with a nasty OR; greener OR cheaper. Not surprisingly, cheaper is winning and is likely to do so until hybrid prices drop and/or fuel prices rise over $3 per gallon. In this case, Marketing for Good has its limitations and one of those is basic economics–green does not mean gold unless the value proposition is equal or superior to other options. Put another way, product enhancements of any kind, green or otherwise, must create added value for the consumer to care.

The green bandwagon is out in full force and every brand from here to Belgium is free to ride it. New Belgium Brewing has found both the comedy and the inspiration in going green with its new website followyourfolly.com. The site is a little light on content at the moment but the clever design and friendly intent will win you over. I’d order a cold Fat Tire right now if I wasn’t at work –on Monday morning — blogging — so I guess I’ll have to wait for St. Patty’s Day for my green beer.

Here’s what MediaPost said about this campaign last Wednesday:

Save the world. Drink this beer! That’s the word from New Belgium Brewing, an employee-owned brewery that’s environmentally conscious. The company’s first national print campaign features little known eco-activists and various beer offerings such as Fat Tire Amber Ale, Skinny Dip and Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer. Three of seven ads launched in 16 states this month, from Chicago to California and Montana to New Mexico, using the tag line: “Follow Your Folly. Ours is Beer.” Click here, here and here to see the ads.

If you take the time to watch the video entitled “something good” on the homepage you’ll be convinced like I am that this green effort feels both sincere and very much part of their company DNA. Very few companies take green as far as these fine folks. I will certainly toast to their good health next chance I get.

I’m honestly not sure what potato chips have to do with houses and kids with life threatening illnesses but nonetheless I was delighted to read about Lay’s recent Marketing for Good program in PromoXtra:

The flagship Frito-Lay brand cut a deal with Home Team, a syndicated TV program that shows new homeowners being given their first house. Lay’s will feature segments of the show on its new Web site, Lays.com, as part of its new “Share the Joy” marketing campaign.

The show, hosted by former Apprentice star Troy McClain, was recently renewed for its third season. In each episode, the team secretly renovates a house for a family with the help of friends, then surprises the family by giving them the house. Lay’s has been a sponsor of the reveal scene in each episode; now it will take clips from future and past episodes to put online.

Lay’s site serves as the hub for “Share the Joy” events, including a March 14 concert by country star Tim McGraw. That “Share the Joy Live” concert will air exclusively on the site, drawing attention to Lay’s tie-in to the Make a Wish Foundation.

Lay’s invites site visitors to submit their own story of a joyful moment. Each submission triggers a $1 donation from Lay’s to the Make a Wish Foundation. Consumers register to participate (with mailing address, e-mail address and date of birth), then submit a video, photo or essay. The program runs through May with Lay’s donating a minimum of $400,000 (and a maximum of $480,000) to the Make a Wish Foundation.

While the overall strategy may seem a little odd for a potato chip brand, the execution of the program is quite sweet complete with a graphic sunflower that adds a petal each time a web visitor makes a submission. The sunflower provides a not so subtle reminder that Lay’s uses 100% sunflower oil for its chips. Raising at least $400,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation is a good thing–I just hope they sell some chips along the way so other brands will not eschew this approach.