• MARKETING: GREEN
    Going Green From All Angles
    Is it just me, or have natural disasters around the globe been occurring at a faster rate than ever before? Every time I turn on the TV or go online to get updated on current events, I read or see a story about another earthquake, flood, or wildfire wiping out people's houses and destroying parts of cities. According to a survey by the National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change, 62% of Americans feel that climate change is real and occurring right now. That's a 7% increase from the same study conducted last year.
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    Exit Signs
    Hey, marketer? As pop singer Avril Lavigne famous asked, "Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?" Fall is an important period of head scratching and number crunching as corporations and governments plan marketing and communications budgets for the next 12 to 18 months. Typically, stuff gets out of hand when a bunch of well-meaning execs who need to deliver numbers pile into meeting rooms with creative marketing types. It's like seeing how many people can fit in an old VW Beetle. There's a lot of uncomfortable contact.
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    Making Sustainability Pinteresting
    Your company's sustainability commitments can be some of the toughest stories to tell. There's often no "hard news," very few reporters actually cover the topic as a dedicated beat and initiatives often take place thousands of miles away, far from the backyards of the average consumer.
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    Do You Need A Bag With That?
    On a recent trip to Calgary, Canada, I noticed that I was repeatedly being asked the same question every time I went shopping and it wasn't "paper or plastic." I was being asked, "Do you need a bag with that?" I wondered ... are Canadian cashiers better environmental stewards? And then I noticed on my receipts that for every "yes" answer, I was being charged five cents. It was enough to motivate a change in behavior: I began answering that question with a polite "no."
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    The Confusing Case Of Olympic Brand Sustainability
    A study published in the journal Public Understanding of Science in July 2012 found that the rate of green marketing in the marketplace rises and falls consistently with key indicators of economic growth, such as GDP. According to Lee Ahern, assistant professor of Advertising and Public Relations at Penn State's College of Communications and one of the three primary researchers in the study, "marketers have their fingers on the pulse of public sentiment. Using the level of green advertising as a proxy for general environmental concern, we can see that economic trends significantly predict this 'greenness' indicator."
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    When Green Is The Lowest Common Denominator...
    Ten years ago, being green was great for marketing. It was unique, it was innovative, it was thoughtful...it was a real marketplace differentiator. Now it's simply expected.
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    Aware But Unwilling to Change? Green Guilt Not Enough To Change Behavior
    According to the National Geographic Society and the consultancy GlobeScan, Americans lag behind the rest of the world regarding sustainable behavior, but notably don't feel that bad about it.
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    The Evolution Of Green Marketing And The USP
    Four years ago, I saw the CEO of Patagonia, Yvonne Chouinard, tell a crowd that his company and other companies could make more money by going green. He was referring to finding sustainable methods of creating products, but,also, his message related to a company's image. Consumers were making more informed decisions and were evaluating what product was better for the environment, and themselves.
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    Playing FarmVille To Save The World
    Imagine if every time you played FarmVille you also reduced your carbon emissions... or, perhaps more realistically, you gained a point for every time you shopped with a reusable bag, and those points added up for coupons or savings? According to gamification advocates, those incentives might end up changing your behavior.
  • MARKETING: GREEN
    Kites, Camera, Action! Celebrating Global Wind Day
    Here's to hoping that Mother Nature doesn't let the children down on June 15, annual Global Wind Day. Scientists, researchers and sustainability activists can all agree that there is way more to celebrate on this day than just some false promise of flying a kite in a field. Organized by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Global Wind Day aims to celebrate and promote the discovery and possibilities that result from wind power, the least expensive form of alternative energy.
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