As more businesses start to market green products to other businesses, the successful will separate from the pack by remembering B2B fundamentals and heeding lessons learned from consumer marketers.

As the largest consumer and supplier in the world, the U.S. populace has the most to gain by rushing headlong into clean branding as a core industry. Reduced waste, emission, and subsequent buttressed credibility are all keys to avoiding a multitrillion-dollar brand bubble while preserving landfills and water tables. Now pass the Sun Chips!

"Crisis Management" has become a discipline all its own, with companies spending millions of dollars on public relations and marketing to manage their way through crisis. However, no crisis occurs in a vacuum. While BP bears the brunt of the Gulf oil spill disaster, the event impacts stakeholders across the spectrum of industry, government and advocacy. In the aftermath of the ongoing disaster, there will be winners and losers.

The leaders do more than market green; they drive the conversation and change.

Give them the foundation and tools but let their passion, optimism and creativity build from there. We know from our recent experiences this open-ended approach will improve the program both in marketing effectiveness and true green contributions.

Consumers will only embrace sustainable solutions that make sense for them based on their specific needs, experiences, and preferences. The litmus test for determining an acceptable eco-solution is that they are practical, inexpensive and transparent.

By running afoul of the FTC, Kmart exposed itself to a double PR hit -- offending the government, as well as consumers -- a lesson for all marketing and communications practitioners.

Next time you unleash a new product -- one that glimmers with eco-friendliness and sustainability -- on the market, ask yourself, "Can the consumer who doesn't unplug appliances before vacations, who throws out moldy plastic containers instead of washing them and who uses paper towels like they're going out of style fit this into his/her lazy green lifestyle?"

Lessons of simplicity, value and doing good for the community always have a place in environmental programs and even more so now with the post-recession consumer.

Without a story, a great innovation can be reduced to a clever invention among a million clever inventions. With a story, it can help educate consumers, drive them to positive behavior change, and perhaps even inspire greater, more fervent climate action. Not bad for a new product or service.