10 Rules of Effective Green Marketing
While on an Air Tran flight flipping through the airline magazine, Go, I read an interesting article about Hugh Hough. Mr. Hough founded an ad agency to promote companies’ environmental practices.
10 Rules of Effective Green Marketing
Hugh Hough advises clients to maximize their investment in environmentally conscious marketing by following these guidelines:
1. Don’t make claims you can’t back up.
2. Make what you do seem a natural extension of your brand.
3. Engage your employees to help achieve your goals.
4. Think big and long-term.
5. Go beyond green. Consumers are also seeking out brands that are socially responsible (good labor relations, positive overall community impact, etc.)
6. Tell the whole truth. Let customers know your flaws and what you’re doing to fix them.
7. Just tell customers the facts about your efforts - not about how great you are.
8. Get a respected nonprofit partner to help tell people what you’re doing.
9. Don’t just donate money to causes. Instead, find synergies between your brand and the goals of nonprofits.
10. Have fun. Ads don’t have to be humorous, but doing the right thing shouldn’t be boring or doom-and-gloom.
(from February 2009, http://www.airtranmagazine.com/)
