ConsumerReports.org - Organic products, when buying organic pays (and doesn’t): Good to see Consumer Reports weighing in on the organic standards debate. Actually, they’ve been quite good about promoting sustainability, one of their previous sites is about Eco Labels. The one thing I would add to this article is that I do buy sustainable seafood - from family / independent fishing vessels and also am a bit partial to Lush soaps and stuff. Even though they’re not totally organic they are getting close.
Technorati Tags: organic
I used an online service called Ning to make a map of green businesses. You can submit your green business or search for others near you using an easy google-maps interface. My green web hosting customers already know about this new project, but I have been holding off on telling others about it. Growth seems to have reached a plateau around 60 or so sites, so I think it’s time to open it up to a wider audience to test it out. The criteria is pretty loose for listing, I only ask that you get one of the various eco label certifications out there for green business. There’s no approval mechanism yet, so I hope it doesn’t get spammed or Exxon lists itself on it. But there is a rating system built in so that others can rate each green business on a 1-5 star level.
Thanks to Gina and others at Ning for help getting it running. I am very intrigued about the Ning platform. I think a lot of people without programming skills will really like it. However, as a developer/entrepreneur I am not sure about the revenue generating capability of it - because you’re not allowed to run advertisements on the site. The whole site is really in a beta stage, there are some performance slowdowns occationally. However, I am optimistic that Ning will be a really big thing soon. Go check it out - Green Business Map
Technorati Tags: google maps, green business, ning, mapping, sustainability
Gwynne Rogers, Strategic Marketing Consultant, NMI. she has strategic analysis and planning for LOHAS companies. MBA from Duke. 5 years of experience in environmental marketing. Pitney bows and USEPA. Ben&Jerrys, Aveda, EnergyStar, NIH
1 in 4 consumers in the U.S. are in the LOHAS category. Almost half of LOHAS consumers say the products are too expensive. The second biggest barrier (43%) is unavailability of products in their regular stores. For non-LOHAS consumers, education is the second biggest barrier, also behind price.
Good news is LOHAS market segment is growing faster than the marketplace as a whole.
Her slides are available in pdf format.
Technorati Tags: green marketing, sustainability
Upcoming book: The Authenticity Factor
Authenticity - original meaning was being the author of your personal experience. 20th century philosophers talked about it. What brought it to the mainstream was the civil rights movement. 70% of consumers see big business as inauthentic. They are demanding transparency.
“If all you do is talk about your product you are giving away your best advantage over a big company”
- Personalize your company to target cultural creative consumers. Customers want to go to the web to find out all about a product, where it comes from, the process used to make it, and who you are.
- To gain market share you must add extra benefits beyond green: Better performance, health benefits, convenience, style, prestige, and now authenticity.
- This fits right in with my belief that word of mouth marketing is sustainable marketing. Because word of mouth has to be authentic.
- Speech slides are available in pdf format.
Paul Ray’s previous book: “The Cultural Creatives : How 50 Million People Are Changing the World” (Paul H. Phd Ray, Sherry Ruth Anderson)
(Sorry it to so long to post this, have been catching up with blogging over the holiday)
Technorati Tags: cultural creative, green marketing, authenticity
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