Its new campaign suggests that Nissan's marketing team is on a vertical learning curve, and in my estimation, represents some of the sharpest green marketing smarts around today.

Greater effort should be made to place the blame squarely where it belongs: on the lying perpetrators. Unsubstantiated claims, blanket statements about an entirely ethical sector, and claims that consumers are hapless dupes or reactionary divas should be kicked to the curb.

When a story is told with truth, it is shared with confidence and credibility. The positives and negatives, accomplishments and failures provide inspiration to others. Tell the stories behind the most meaningful activities and connect them to the overall green vision and strategy.

If your CEO comes to you and says, "I want to add a green component" to our product or service, run screaming. If s/he wants to change the company to fully embrace a green or social change mission, the sky is the limit.

These kinds of symbols and triggers do exist for every community; we just need to discover them, be open to them and allow our broad-based green marketing programs to incorporate them. It is possible to have a state-wide marketing goal that has unique local characteristics. In fact, these days, it is actually critical.