Here’s a marketing bandwagon that is over flowing. The growth in green products is everywhere from fashion to food, to flame retardants. Society’s interest and intentions in doing the right eco-thing, protecting the planet and making green choices are real, but are marketers living the green promise or merely helping spread nasty weeds?

The past year I’ve been immersed in the launch of a global green brand. It’s an industrial, B2B product line from a chemical company. The journey has been interesting and challenging. Here are few things I’ve learned that may help your brand bloom in any category.

1. Create a brand identity that is distinct. So many green-products are using similar, all green graphic icons that float in a sea of eco-sameness. Add a secondary color with the green.
2. Walk the “true save the earth” talk. Show your customers by example how your company is serious about protecting the environment. Sustainability updates or report cards can be a great tool to share the merits of your eco commitment.
3. Work with other green companies to operate your business more eco-efficiently. If you need to print materials, use green offset printers that uses non-toxic chemicals and recycled papers. Buying promotional items? Look for eco-friendly products that are recycled or made from green materials. And employ as many green office practices as possible, from recycling paper to using energy saving light bulbs.
4. Be transparent with eco-terminology. Let your customers know what environmentally-preferred means; define your green criteria in your product offering. The more honest information you give customers the better.
5. Develop concise message points that describe your company’s environmental programs and keep your employees in the loop through events, training and communications.

On a side note, a friend of mine shared this article by Kathy Sheehan from Mediapost. Mediapost has a lot of specialized publications and blogs including an excellent one on green marketing.

Kathy’s article is worth reading.

Is Green Really A Global Consumer Trend?

I went out to lunch one day last month and noticed the thermometer on 15th Street here in New York City read 96 degrees. That’s pretty hot for June, and it has spurred lots of discussion around the office about the bumper crop of sweet corn that is now available at the Union Square Farmer’s Market (about six weeks earlier than usual), mums about ready to bloom (if they bloom now, will they bloom again in September?) and sunflowers already six and seven feet tall.

“Global warming” is usually the concluding phrase after all of these exchanges. And now, as we near the end of the third month since the BP oil spill in the Gulf, it seems that everyone is talking about the environment.

This environmental conversation continues among Americans and widely in public policy arenas around the globe. But, is the environment a global consumer trend? That is, do consumers around the globe think about the environment and is it a trend that is global in its scope — and global in its implications? To read full story.