getting Green?

For Immediate Release 1-23-08

Creative Marketing: Green is the Word

By: Kristin Kern

Products and marketing going green a new phenomenon? Think again.

Once considered the preserve of the 1970s long-haired, sandal-wearing Vegans dressed in oversized gauze kimono-style shirts, ethical organic consumerism has entered the world of mainstream marketing. Companies throughout the US and abroad are capitalizing on the eco-friendly conscious consumer’s enthusiasm for healthy living.

Rarely a day goes by without a retailer or brand owner launching a new product initiative with an environmental or ethical dimension factored into the equation. In fact, well-known 70’s era products are making a huge comeback including the infamous Earth® shoe that was re-launched several years ago. Earth, a family-owned, socially and environmentally responsible company, has gone back to a grass-roots strategy and is successfully gaining new market share by tapping into the rising green revolution.

For those businesses involved in creating sales promotions to shift the positioning of products or services, this consumer phenomenon offers fertile ground for marketing creativity. I mean let’s face it – eco-conscious consumers are drawn to promotions too! So before you join the price-slashing promoters, think again! Environmentally conscious consumers perceive green products as a higher quality and expect to pay a higher price so slashing prices may not be the ticket to successful promotion.

So, how does your company tap into this growing consumer trend? It’s no secret, really. You’ll need to build a strategic marketing brand awareness campaign that will position your products and/or services targeted to the ever-expanding green market.

Eco-friendly promotions can be successfully combined with traditional product promotions. Many retailers will display their green products in a side-by-side fashion with conventional products. This type of merchandising presents an opportunity to educate the consumer on the many benefits of going green verses traditional. The educational promotion approach is often the key to swaying consumers toward green products over the cents-off promotional approach. In fact, recent market research studies show that less than 20 percent of consumers prefer promotions involving competitions and prizes to cents-off promotions.

So, whether it’s organic foods, hybrid cars, or simply the recycled papers you choose to use for your printed advertising and marketing collateral, make sure you are promoting your products and/or services in an easy-to-understand, participative, and visually interesting manner that will attract the rising trend of environmentally conscious consumers.

Green...it's big and it's now! Seize this marketing opportunity today.

Kristin Kern is the President & CEO of Kernacopia, Ltd.
Headquarters located at:
103 Professional Parkway, Suite C,
Marysville, OH 43040
Call (937) 644-3016 or visit www.kernacopia.com