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- ‘The Cycle’ at RecycleBankNovember 14 2008
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Over the summer, I decided to move on from Digitas after four and a half rewarding years with the company and made green my full-time job. I now work for a venture-backed company called RecycleBank on their business development team. To say life at an early-stage company has been busy is an understatement, and Marketing Green readers have probably noticed a drop off in my blog entries over these past few months. That is not a coincidence, and rest assured, I expect to be back with more routine entries on green marketing themes shortly.
A few words on RecycleBank by way of introduction. RecycleBank is a socially responsible company that makes money by doing good for the environment and local communities in which we operate. Our core business model is quite simple: we provide incentives for people to recycle more. And at the risk of sounding biased, our model’s pretty darn efficient. Wherever we deploy, we’ve been able to drive recycling rates through the roof.
Now that my current role allows me to practice some of what I’ve preached on this blog, I wanted to highlight a viral campaign we’re launching. In honor of National Recycling Day this Saturday, RecycleBank has launched The Cycle, a compelling video series that focuses on how materials are separated and reprocessed bac
- Driving Adoption of Renewable Energy: Part II – An Energy Marketer’s PerspectiveSeptember 1 2008
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Interview with Adam Capage, Director, Utility Partnerships, 3Degrees
With the #1 renewable energy program in the US, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) must be doing something right. In fact, despite a formidable price hurdle, CPAU has managed to sign up over 20% of Palo Alto residents for clean energy, and is not finished yet.
Notably, when CPAU decided to aggressively market renewable energy to its customers, it decided to reach beyond traditional utility circles to engage the right marketing partner. For that, CPAU turned to 3Degrees to educate consumers and convert them to clean energy.
Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Adam Capage, Director of Utility Partnerships at 3Degrees. We spoke of the challenges that marketers face when trying to shift consumers to renewable energy, the approach that 3Degrees takes and reasons why it has been so successful. Here are his words:
MG: How do you partner with utilities?
AC: Essentially, we partner with utiliti
- Driving Adoption of Renewable Energy: Part I – A Utility’s PerspectiveAugust 30 2008
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Interview with Tom Auzenne, Assistant Director, City of Palo Alto Utilities
Electrical power generation accounts for 40% of total annual greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the US. Such a high concentration of GHGs is due to our reliance on highly polluting fossil fuels, especially domestic coal. Yet, while the popular press focuses on the recent growth in renewable energy, it still provides only 2% of our total electrical needs today.
Until recently, many arguments have been made for why adoption of clean energy remains slow. Certainty, price ranks as the #1 barrier to broader adoption. Other factors include reliability concerns and lack of education about the technologies.
Interestingly, Palo Alto, California has bucked this trend. Over the course of several years, the municipal utility has partnered with 3Degrees, a utility marketing company, to encourage residents to sign up for its PaloAltoGreen program which provides 100% renewable energy from wind and solar power sources. The results of this program have been astounding, with over 20% of all residents switching to clean energy.
- Getting Smart About Green TargetingJuly 26 2008
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An Interview with Amy Hebard, Chief Research Officer and Founder, earthsense
Marketing green can be a challenge for even the most seasoned professional. There are many reasons for this of course: consumer beliefs are still evolving; demand is not well established; and even where it is, purchase behavior tends to be inconsistent (e.g., the same consumer buys the hybrid and the SUV).
For green marketers to be successful, they must effectively and efficiently target their audience when and where consumers are most receptive to green messaging. For marketers, this is no easy task.
While green content sites or periodicals may seem like a natural fit, advertisers must remember that consumers come in all shades of green. As such, focused periodicals may only reach “deep greens” which today represent only a fraction of the total population that express some level of interest in green. Instead, marketers must target their audience in more mainstream channels.
- Driving Engagement and Viral Impact in the Green Space: Part II – Original ContentJuly 10 2008
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While creating and sharing user-generated content is an effective way to facilitate consumer engagement and viral marketing, it is not the only approach that marketers can take. Professionally produced original content is another proven way. Increasingly, agencies or production studios create and seed content on behalf of their clients for consumers to view and share online.
One such shop is Free Range Studios which has produced several original videos that have generated significant buzz and viral impact in the green space. Calling its approach “socially conscious viral entertainment”, Free Range tries to “distill a complicated message into a fun or moving short story” while engaging its viewers by allowing them “to write the end of that story by taking action or donating.” Stories are distributed not only through paid advertisement but via video sharing sites such as You Tube and, more specifically, RiverWired, emPivot and LivePaths in the green space. They are also distributed offline at concerts and events.