27 Jun, 2010
bagel biter ben & jerry's branding dean's beans organic fair trade Unique Selling Proposition USP visibility marketing
Last month, we looked at the incredible effectiveness of visibility marketing in advancing social causes. Can it also advance a for-profit business, and do so without buying enormous amounts of expensive advertising? Can small businesses take advantage of this kind of messaging?
I’d give the answer a qualified yes. Branding/visibility campaigns can work for small businesses, especially those with a social and/or environmental message. And now that a branding campaign can drive traffic to a website that reveals the whole story, it’s easier to pull one off than it would have been 20 years ago.
A large-scale but very counterculture example is Read the rest of this entry »
7 Jun, 2010
aida formula attention branding save the mountain visibility advertising visibility marketing
I used to be really scornful of “visibility advertising”: campaigns that had only a branding purpose, didn’t try to sell anything and in many cases didn’t even try to pass on a message. For most of my career, I thought this kind of marketing was only the province of corporate giants with unlimited budgets: companies like Coke, Nike, and McDonalds.
But ten years ago, I had an experience that caused me to change my mind. We were in the middle of a deep, multichannel campaign to block a particularly nasty housing development going all the way to the ridgeline of our local mountain (right next to a state park on the next mountain over, whose gorgeous view would be ruined). In addition to the press releases, the media campaign, the lobbying, the massive turnout at public hearings, and all the other tactics we were using, we did lawn signs and bumper stickers.They just said “Save the Mountain” (the name of our group) and gave our website. Of course, this was not only branding the organization, but also the idea that the mountain could actually be saved; our action mission was right there in the organization’s name.
One day, some of our canvassers were working a local farmers market when who should stroll by but the developer and his wife. And she turned to our people and said, Read the rest of this entry »
7 Jun, 2010
Jeff Brown, founder of RideBuzz.org: a web-based organization to promote and facilitate ridesharing/carpooling, thus reducing carbon footprint and use of fossil fuels, easing traffic congestion, and saving its users money. Jeff talks about how and why he started this organization in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, how it’s benefiting its users, and how others might replicate this idea elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry »
15 May, 2010
eco-friendly printing carbon offsets new haven printresponsibly.com wind power
When I spoke at the Go Green Expo in New York City a couple of months back, one of the companies exhibiting there was a wind-powered printing company from New Haven, offering attractive pricing, eco-oriented design templates, and of course, FSC-certified and/or recycled paper. I have actually seen their wind turbine when I take the bus from New York back home to Massachusetts; it’s visible along the coast, just as my bus turns up I-91.
Read the rest of this entry »
15 May, 2010
better mousetrap chris anderson field of dreams Free: The Future of a Radical Price google guerrilla marketing goes green if you build it they will come monty python radiohead ralph waldo emerson
Free: The Future of a Radical Price, by Chris Anderson (Hyperion, 2009)
Reviewed by Shel Horowitz
The influential author of The Long Tail has once again broken new ground. He argues persuasively that the price of anything that can be digitized, and the price of even many things that are based in physical space inexorably gravitates toward zero–and then, even though it might be counterintuitive, demonstrates a seemingly infinite number of ways to monetize your free offerings.
Read the rest of this entry »
2 May, 2010
amory lovins dr. karl wald elephant dung paper mr ellie pooh sri lanka
I love it when a single offering addresses multiple social and environmental issues, providing benefits on several levels. And increasingly, I’m finding quite a number of them. One that has intrigued me since I first learned of it about a year ago is Mr. Ellie Pooh.
How’s this for capturing a whole bunch of birds with one photograph (my nonviolent spin on the old “killing two birds” proverb 🙂 ):
Reduce deforestation Read the rest of this entry »
23 Mar, 2010
This month’s Expert Interview is with Hazel Henderson, an economist and citizen activist who has taken an active role in creating a Greener, more ethical business community. Her books range from the landmark Creating Alternative Futures in the 1970s through the more recent (and wonderful) Ethical Markets, which I reviewed about a year ago. You won’t want to miss this (originally recorded for my Principled Profit radio show). Read the rest of this entry »
27 Feb, 2010
birthday parties charity echoage.com environment
If the consumer pressure directed to kids is an issue for you…if you’re disgusted by over-the-top parties for 6- or 10-year-olds that cost thousands of dollars…if you want to raise your children with an awareness of how they can make a difference in the wider world—here’s something I found remarkable and inspiring.
A mom-run Canadian company, EchoAge.com, has completely turned traditional birthday parties inside out. Instead of the usual model of everyone bringing a little present, Read the rest of this entry »
