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By David Wigder, May 5, 2008
These days, green marketers are challenged to efficiently reach consumers and effectively impact their attitudes and behaviors. There are many reasons for this of course: consumer attitudes are still evolving, familiarity with green products is just emerging and purchase behavior is inconsistent within and across categories. As such, marketers tend to look for targetable demographic groups or behaviors that have a higher propensity for green.
In this political year, it is interesting to examine whether political ideology, and more specifically, party identification as a Democrat or Republican is an indicator of interest in green.
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By David Wigder, April 24, 2008
Last week, I had the opportunity to witness a milestone being reached in the effort to fight global warming: officials from 18 states - representing a majority of the US population - signed an agreement at Yale University that committed their states to action on global warming.
While some states like California and New Jersey have already put formal carbon reduction targets into place, this agreement clearly reflects growing national support for action.
Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey Signing the Governor’s Declaration
Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas Addressing the Conference
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By David Wigder, February 1, 2008
One of the most effective ways to syndicate content is by activating power users on sites such as Digg. Quite simply, "Diggers" uncover and bookmark interesting content - news articles, images and videos - for others to view.
Top Diggers are known for frequently submitting content that is deemed compelling by the Digg community. If others users like the content, they may "digg" it as a way to recommend it to others.
Why should marketers care about whether an article submitted on Digg becomes popular or not? Well, "popular" articles create their own viral effect. Not
only are more people likely to be interested in articles that...
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By David Wigder, January 2, 2008
As
companies plan their green investment strategies for 2008 and beyond,
they should take into account that caps on carbon emissions are all but
inevitable in the future. In fact, it is highly likely that caps will be in place in the US within the next few years. The 187 nations that attended the UN climate conference
last month in Bali (including the US) agreed to negotiate a successor
agreement to Kyoto by the end of 2009. Perhaps more importantly,
Congress already has several climate bills under consideration.
How aggressive will carbon reduction targets be? A recent Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme concluded that developed
nations...
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By David Wigder, December 5, 2007
So far, this holiday season has seen a rather muted push on green by retailers, both in terms of the products they sell and the messages they communicate to consumers. Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst at NPD Group, recently suggested that such lack of enthusiasm by retailers reflects waning interest in green. Cohen stated: "It's basically a card that a lot of people played while it was hot and trend...and it got overplayed."
Indeed, early signs suggest that retailers left their Birkenstocks home for the holidays. While
most retailers are taking steps to green their operations and supply
chains, few have taken steps to green the shopping experience. ...
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By David Wigder, December 1, 2007
Participation
in social networks continues to grow seemingly without bounds as more
people seek to connect, share and collaborate with likeminded
individuals online. Today, hundreds of millions of online
users have already signed up, with an increasing number belonging to
more than one network.
For green marketers, social
networks provide a compelling channel to communicate with consumers
that have an affinity for green or are at least open-minded enough to
listen. Today, those users can be found across a wide
variety of social networks, including both general interest and
vertically focused networks that connect those interested in social
responsibility or, more...
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By David Wigder, November 18, 2007
Today, consumers increasingly associate themselves with social responsibility, particularly on the environment:
BBMG
recently reported that US consumers increasingly say that words like
"socially responsible" (88% say these as words describe them "well",
39% as "very well") and "environmentally friendly" (86% well, 34% very
well) describe them. Moreover,
Edelman
reported that consumers are not just talking, but taking action: 40%
of US consumers are more involved in social causes than they were two
years ago and expect their brands to do the same. The top issue that
consumers care about globally? Protecting the environment (92% of
those surveyed). As such,
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By David Wigder, November 12, 2007
An Interview with Michel Gelobter, Founder and EVP of Cooler
Long-time environmental activist Paul Hawkins once described "green consumerism" as an oxymoron. Indeed, "green consumption" makes Wikipedia's "List of Genuine Oxymora". The
reason: consumption by its very nature has an impact on the environment
- to some degree or another - and therefore, is hard to call truly
green.
Yet,
short of reducing consumption, many consumers, manufacturers and
retailers are focusing on greener consumption - a term which implies
shifting to products and services that have a lower environmental
impact, though in many cases, not specifying by how much.
Today, there are positive signs that...
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By David Wigder, November 10, 2007
"I have never seen anything equal to sustainability as far as attracting, motivating, and bring people together." - Ray C. Anderson, Founder and Chairman of Interface in AmericanWay Magazine, October 1, 2007
As
the baby boomers retire, the US labor market is expected to tighten, as
the new generation of workers is simply much smaller than the one it is
replacing. Indeed, by 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is projecting a shortfall of 10MM workers in the US. In such a tight labor market, employers will have to pull out all stops to continue to attract top talent. One way employers are learning to differentiate is to market their companies to...
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By David Wigder, October 29, 2007
"We will not be measured by our aspirations. We will be measured by our actions"
- Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott in making sustainability part of his core strategy
Great brands today understand
that return on investment (ROI) using hard dollars is not sufficient to
assess the overall impact of environmental initiatives. Today,
social norms regarding the environment are changing and consumers are
increasingly holding brands accountable for what they do (and don't do)
rather than just what they say. As a result, more and
more companies are making investment decisions that incorporate brand
impact and brand risk into their...
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