• Conduct an audit of your business and pinpoint potential green initiatives
• Seek staff input
• From that audit/input, create a mission statement that will serve as your guiding principles
• Inform key stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders) of your new green mission statement
• Appoint a team or executive leader to oversee the green initiatives
• Update your Web site with the new  mission statement
• Develop internal communications (E-newsletter, E-mail messages, signage, quarterly report) to keep the green movement going
• Write initial press release to local and trade media
• Learn about the rules and regulations that affect your industry, especially land, water and air compliance; recycling; hazardous vs. non-hazardous waste disposal; green building codes.

If you need helping in creating a green marketing message, contact Jim DiFrangia at jimd@spyglassgreenmarketing.com or call at 440-346-6249.

• Conducted company audit for potential green initiatives
• Got employee input
• Surveyed customers
• Developed a mission statement
• Developed green guiding principles
• Obtained buy-in from all company levels
• Implemented timeline for green initiatives
• Allocated budget for specific green actiivities
• Communicated your green initiatives to personnal at all levels.

Need help in developing a corporate green strategy. Send an  email to jimd@spyglassgreenmarketing.com and I will send you a free document that outlines other steps.

The trend toward energy efficiency is creating opportunities for makers of energy efficient products and companies that supply advanced technologies to the automotive and power generation markets. With the help of increased government incentives, consumers will demand more power from advanced energy sources, such as wind farms, solar panels and fuel cells.

Although a substantial amount of these dollars is going toward R&D, the time will come when marketing takes a more center stage role in the advanced energy sector. Communications disciplines like public relations, website development and social media will play an important role in the coming years once advanced energy startups get through the recession.

Dollars well-spent on marketing will pay off in increased brand awareness, greater consumer acceptance and positive growth for any company in advanced energy.

Going green means improving efficiency, enhancing the bottom line, fueling product innovation and incorporating sustainable best practices throughout your organization. That’s why everyone in your company is should embrace an environmentally-friendly mindset that ultimately drives productivity.

Telling your stakeholders about how you have transformed manufacturing operations into sustainable initiatives starts with the basics.  To demonstrate your commitment to helping maintain a better environment, list those initiatives that drive down energy usage, recycle materials and drastically reduce solid landfill waste. Form a manufacturing ‘green’ steering committee and discover how you are doing in these core areas and how to improve.

Describe how your manufacturing operations use a streamlined production process that minimizes equipment downtime, thus creating a more energy efficient workflow. Does your plant use energy-saving florescent lighting, which is 10-20 percent more efficient than standard industrial lighting with equivalent light output?

You can craft around recycling if your plants recycle  materials such as scrap steel, wood, cardboard, aluminum and e-scrap–used computer equipment including terminals and keyboards. A grassroots program like this cuts down on landfill waste and helps preserve our natural resources. Another great message.

Do you use sustainable manufacturing processes that are non-polluting, conserve energy and natural resources…and are economically sound and safe for employees? This makes for an excellent news release. 

Your stakeholders want to be aware of your plans to transform manufacturing into a sustainable operation. So do your customers. Start with simple steps that don’t require a huge investment then develop more long-term goals. 

Will there be a place for traditional channels like printed newsletters, brochures, direct mail, catalogs?  Absolutely, and anyone who is making a living as a copywriter should continue to seek out clients needing those marketing channels.

But in a recent B2B Magazine report, more marketers will adjust budgets and spend dollars on new media in 2009 as business buyers get more savvy using new media.  That means more opportunities for writing e-newsletters, e-mails, website content, online case studies, banner ads, and more.

Marketers of green products/services are even more willing to put dollars behind new media as their customers are more tech conscious. They will rely on copywriters to craft messages that fit within the mainstream of online communications. New rules apply when writing for new media than traditional marketing channels.

I have more clients requesting e-newsletters that can be designed with a simple template and e-mailed to their customer database. The e-newseltter can be tracked with open rate and click-thru rate more so than a printed newsletter. You save money by eliminating printing and postage.

I recommend “Writing for New Media” by Bonime and Pohlman. It’s a bit technical, but provides a good overview of the new marketing channels and the challenges for today’s copywriters.

There are many industries on the cusp, if not already, producing significant inroads in garnering signficant market share in the green economy. You can’t help but notice rising industries like solar and wind power and fuel cells commanding more attention from government and businesses. Mix in semi-established industries like geothermal, environmental agencies, alternative fuels and old-line firms like energy companies and you get the picture of potential compaines needing copywriters.

Some of these industries are still in R&D stages, not ready for prime-time marketing. But 2009 will see more companies go from the lab to launch, thus requiring the services of marketing professionals. Many of these marketing resources, whether at the corporate or agency level, rely on copywriters who understand ‘green’ industries.

You don’t need a lot of technical background to help develop strategies and tactics for the green economy. It is imperative that you can quickly understand an industry and what type of marketing strategies work and adapt your tactics appropriately.  Developing a marketing communications plan for rooftop solar panels for the commercial building market takes a different approach than for a civil engineering firm.

Combining the green economy with new media is also exciting. The ability to craft a marketing message for the Internet, e-mail, podcast, DVD/CD-ROM and other new media channels is also exciting and challenging for us green marketers. 

The green economy is about creating jobs that will sustain the USA in the years ahead. Those marketers who can adapt to the new marketplace will also find new oppportunities for personal and career growth.

Whether you are in product or service marketing, your customers are defining the way your company is positioned in the marketplace. It’s no longer a competitive advantage to focus strictly on price, service, quality, speed of delivery or other factors.

Customers also want to see you as an environmental leader, a company that is sending a message that you have a concern for our limited natural resources and is taking positive steps to make a small difference.

How do you get started by developing and executing an environmental marketing strategy? Clients I have developed marketing materials for start with clear-cut reasons for this strategy, then expand. For example:

• Meeting the triple bottom line: environmental, social, financial
• Opportunity to set yourself apart as an environmental leader within your industry
• Immediate and positive on employees, customers, stakeholders
• Demonstrate corporate responsibility in multiple ways
• Greater customer loyalty = increased revene
• Provides outstanding opportunities for significant public relations exposure
• Constant interaction with public, customers, employees, media and community
• Continual promotion of reduce, reuse, recycle.

The above critieria then become a basis for your environmental mission statement, which I will discuss in a future post.

Many utilities are using alternative fuels to generate power, which becomes a good marketing messages in itself.  But I would like to see some cross-promotion to help customers manage their utility bills.  How about a partnership with a larger HVAC company like Carrier or Trane where customers could get discounts on higher SEER-rated A/C or heat pump units, thereby reducing their energy load.

Why not introduce a geothermal campaign where customers can get a rebate off an underground system, sponsored by the electric utility. Albeit, geothermal units are more expensive to install that traditional forced-air units, the energy savings is greater and payback can be less than 5 years.

Some utilities are introducing programs for CF bulbs and one utility I know offered battery-powered lawn mowers from Black & Decker at a discount. There are not profit centers for utilities, but it does help increase customers satisfaction ratings.

It doesn’t take a lot of advertising dollars to create these types of programs, either. Many times, the partnering company will contribute co-op marketing dollars to reach the utilities massive customer base.  A small bill insert or mention in the customer newsletter can generate positive response. 

Many people have the mistaken notion that since utilities have ‘captured’ customers, why bother advertising and marketing, especially if de-regulation has not worked in some parts of the country?  It’s my belief that keeping your customers informed with programs like the ones mentioned above helps in saving energy and decreases the need for the construction of power plants.

Everybody wins in that scenario.

What does this all mean for marketers in this industry?  Positioning your commercial building product as ‘green’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ is no longer a unique selling proposition. It’s become the norm and no longer sets you apart from the competition.

Read any trade publication today dealing with new construction, green building design, facilities management and most advertisers are jumping on the green bandwagon. That worked a few years ago…not heading into 2009. Readers such as architects, civil engineers, property ownwers, developers, remodelers and the like need more convincing.

Focusing a marketing strategy away from ‘green’ and into the core benefits of the product is a starting point. For example, how efficient is a geothermal unit compared to the alternative heating/cooling sources.  How much more energy can a building owner save by installing solar panel roofing membrane?  The more facts and figures you can place in your messages (ads, direct mail, web), the more relevancy you have with your target audience.

Green building products, because of their quasi-complex nature, scream out for follow-up information once inquiries are generated through your marketing effots. A white paper, case study, Q&A, website landing page, etc. are all good sources for follow-up and give your prospects a better understanding of product benefits.

Saying your product is green isn’t enough anymore. Most customers have already accepted that attribute. Take your marketing to the next level with more in-depth product benefits and watch your leads escalate.

In my practice, I see a lot more ‘B2B green’ because industrial and commercial companies have a different need for environmental initiatives than their consumer counterparts.

Businesses that market to other businesses invariably want to be seen as an environmental steward in their market sector, thus earning the respect of their customers and prospects.  This is especially true in the industrial sector where companies that own a market niche do not want to dive on price to thwart the competition. Rather, they ramp up the ‘green’ initiatives for differentiation.

What are some of these green initiatives?  Introducing a product that can save more energy, conserve natural resources, eliminate waste for customers. This could be a second generation of an existing product, a ‘green’ upgrade, which doesn’t entail a totally new manufacturing process.

Another initiative is to internally reduce waste by recycling spent materials (scrap steel, aluminum, copper, cardboard, paper) by getting both plant workers and admin staff to support the cause. The result? Some positive PR in a leading industry trade publication or a talking point for the company’s sales team in a prospect meeting.

Hosting an environmental event at the company’s HQ or satellite division site is a third way to gain leadership status. This could be an educational event mixed in with recycling to gain local publicity and further a grass roots level campaign, especially if the company has a regional footprint.

In my discussion with company executives, there is no right or wrong way to start an environmental initiative.  But it must be sincere, long-lasting and create a positive impression on the intended audience.