Green Marketing

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/marketing/a/greenmarketing.htm

Many companies have chosen greener paths, but are they truly green if they market themselves in a green way? I think before reading this article, I felt that the little factoids about being green vs. not being green were less of a marketing strategy and more of an environmentally thoughtful education of customers.

However, I do believe now that companies should use green marketing whenever possible. People should feel responsible for the ups and downs that are a result of their decisions. This doesn't necessarily end at education of social responsibility/green-ness, but it also may benefit companies who utilize green marketing. If you think about it, customers will likely remember the company that seems socially responsible - I know I do - and will be more likely to be repeat shoppers. Anything that a firm can do to differentiate itself from its competition will lead to a positive result.

My only question is whether or not this article really describes green marketing or whether it describes green washing. Is it more about preserving the environment or about marketing to people? I understand the concept of showing that the firm is "green," but by replacing plastic bags with paper bags, how much help are you really giving? I feel that you need to be green in all that you do as a firm, but you can take little steps to achieve the goal of being green.

Is the article really "green" or is it "greenwashing"?

In Response to Cristy S.

Do you think that you would want to raise a family in a small town or a big city? How could Rindge market towards a different target market?

I think I would like to go to a big city, but I hate to see children in a big city with their parents.. it seems like a very artificial place that lacks the "bubble" that kids might might need. I feel that a lot of people should feel the need to move somewhere less blunt. Small towns seem to help develop manners too, which is tougher to see in a place like NYC or Boston. The fact that you can walk somewhere in Keene and people smile and say "hi" makes a big difference.

Rindge could market towards people looking to build a family and help reinforce positive parental "teachings" I guess. I think that Rindge could also work on improving its amenities before it can fully develop itself as a marketable place. I personally do not know that much about the area, but from what I've seen it is very peaceful and quiet. It's close to ski resorts and it's a great escape.

What does Keene do to market itself, other than the college? Why do people stay here after they graduate, for example?

Marketing The Sound Of Music Resort

My mom is always trying to find things to market our business (my family owns a candy store), and she recently got an e-mail about how older businesses are finding new ways to market themselves, especially to people who are connected by social media.

The Von Trapp family is from the movie "The Sound of Music," and there is a resort-home in Stowe, VT that is an attraction for many fans of the movie. They found that there were defined seasons of tourists instead of steady visitors, so they changed their way of drawing in customers by being more connected through social media and by emphasizing stories from the family. They then chose to make a new package to draw in new customers.

The package allowed customers to meet a real member of the family if they stayed at the hotel. Many customers who hadn't yet been jumped on the deal, proposed during the quiet season. Now they have loyal customers who come every year who might otherwise not have visited.

"At a time when many hotels close up for the month, the "Meet the von Trapp" deal started driving new business. It was business that dropped right to the bottom line. And it was business that turned into repeat business."

How could we use this kind of deal to drive those not fully motivated to buy Campus Mom's services? Is it the fact that we don't have a great deal figured out or is it just the lack of awareness? How can we track our progress (in the case of this family, they used google adwords) ?

In Response to Chris Cheever

Now my question is are these corporate and technological geniuses over idolized? Or are people not looking past the face of these companies?

My answer to this question is... YES! They are over-idolized. I think that even technological "geniuses" are people, too. Sometimes they're a little over the top in their actions and attitude. Should we idolize them? Well, should we idolize anyone? I do think that it's important to have role models, but putting people on a pedestal means that it will lead to some kind of disappointment, and I don't mean to be cynical, but look at Steve Jobs now and his place in Apple. When Steve Jobs leaves Apple (and that seems to be in the near future), the company will suffer unless they can find another person like him, not just because of his genius, but because of his ties to the company and his image within Apple.

What other companies might have this problem? How many other CEO's do you know the name of?

Is LinkedIn the way to market yourself?

First off, here's my LinkedIn account: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=73233958&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro I use it and I like it for networking, but thus far I haven't had much action on it.

First of all, why do we need to utilize networking to find the right people? I think it's because when we network, we hope that all parties are happy with the end results, and there is almost a guarantee of that. When we're recommended for a job by a friend, it builds our own confidence and makes us more comfortable. LinkedIn, which is basically made for networking, is a way of marketing yourself and being proactive about your career.

When you market yourself, you have to think about place, price, promotion and of course the product. The product is you, and LinkedIn gives users tons of space to basically fill in a brag sheet about themselves. As a user, you're able to talk about your experiences, download your resume... which brings me to promotion. You're marketing yourself and you want to look good. LinkedIn allows you to do that with your own personal expression on your resume but also in your profile. The place is important and LinkedIn has a section for that. One thing that I could never imagine is someone marketing themselves using their "price" or pay expectations from employers.

Is there anything that fulfills every part of the 4 P's when you are the product as the employee to be? How do consumers (or, in this case, employers) use LinkedIn to find that perfect candidate and how does marketing yourself play into that?

In Response to Kristen Begin

If people realize JC Penney is making more of an effort to go green...should the company expect a revenue larger than that of their 2010 catalog sales? What are some other reasons that would convince JC Penney to get rid of a $454 million dollar sales opportunity? Do you think this was a wise decision made by JC Penney administrators?

Kristen asked if JCP will see an increase in revenue because of their new efforts to go green and whether JCP chose to pass up a sales opportunity or not. I think that you have to consider how people feel right now financially and whether or not they are going to purchase because they need something or because they're reminded that they "need" something.

Also, how big of an impact is "going green" these days? It feels to me more like green-washing sometimes when companies market their efforts to be green. On the other hand, it is obviously more green to skip the catalogs, but it's also a cost-saving effort. Maybe corporate felt that individual stores would survive without the extra marketing efforts, so they're cutting back to save some cash for marketing once people are ready to buy again.

I always believe that cutting down on mailers is important, not just because it saves the company money, but it's one less thing that customers receiving the mailers throw away. How many of them are actually recycled? Why do they even really need to exist in the first place? I don't think I've ever seen a JCP mailer...

What other companies are doing this? It seems like some companies are set in their ways (who doesn't get a weekly victoria's secret catalog??) and others are changing. Does this affect your purchasing decisions?

How Much Can PR Cover?

I get a weekly update in politics and business from The Economist, and I happened to notice a story at the very bottom of it. Typically, I like The Economist because it seems pretty close to an unbiased source of news. This is the last part of the weekly update:

Out of fashion

John Galliano was sacked as Christian Dior’s lead designer for professional misconduct. This came after a video surfaced of Mr Galliano apparently making anti-Semitic remarks to customers in a Paris restaurant and declaring “I love Hitler”. Mr Galliano was admitted to the French Legion of Honour in 2009.

When I read this, I was shocked! When I hear about anti-Semitism, I think about Kramer from Seinfeld a few years back, and before that, not much.

I question how much help PR can be for this person of status. How will this affect him in the long run? Public Relations nightmares can be really long lasting. He's been fired, but how much damage will he have to deal with at this point?