Pikes Peak Earth Day Sponsorship a Smart Business Move February 7, 2009, 6:59 pm Filed under: Green Marketing If being “green” is the new… green… how does cultivating your business marketing image as environmentally friendly help? As a smart business owner, are you maximizing all of the opportunities there are to position yourself as green? Back in the ’60s the environmental movement began to take shape. In the ’70s, it took off. One of the single most iconic marketing images from those years comes from the television commercial that featured a Native American Indian standing next to a crowded, trashed out highway with a tear stained cheek. Parenthetically, the “Crying Indian” PSA, as it was called, was a part of the Keep America Beautiful campaign which very effectively touched upon our emotions. The purpose was to use this imagery to create a negative association with littering. More to the point, to stigmatize those who do. It worked. The Keep America Beautiful campaign caught on and helped propel the environmental movement into our collective stream of consciousness. In 2009, can green market positioning work for your business? Yes. Marketing is about touching emotions to induce a response, to influence your audience to buy. It’s about manipulating sensibilities in order to garner a reaction. Being “green” has a potent emotional component. In today’s cultural climate, your prospective clients need to understand that doing business with you benefits the environment in some way. Through you, they are helping to advance the mission of protecting the Earth. Market positioning in this context is used as a means of responding to, and demonstrating sensitivity to, what is happening in the world outside of your business. The green movement and message is resonating throughout our culture and promises to become even more poignant with the coming on of the new presidential administration. As long as that is the case, use the opportunity like a carrier wave. Piggy-back your selling message on the messages of the “green” movement. Plug your business into the “green” culture. Case in point, the upcoming Pikes Peak Earth Day event. This is the perfect time, venue and opportunity to jump start, reinforce or expand your green market positioning. This year’s event will be held at Colorado College, one of Colorado’s most prestegious universities, in the green-built Cornerstone Arts Center building. The Earth Day committee marketing team is busy reaching out to all segments of society which means a broader audience than in past years and more exposure for the vendors attending and especially for the sponsors. You want your business name on this event. But, beware. If your business is not legitimately green, or does not engage in green business practice, steer clear of this marketing strategy. Abusing the sensibilities of your prospective audience by telling them something about you that is not true will work far more efficiently against you than can imagine. The green community is quite savvy and comprised of closely knit networkers. Make the smart business marketing decision. Maximize every opportunity you can to position your business as green. One of the best of these is to become a sponsor of Pikes Peak Earth Day. Information is available at: http://pikespeakearthday.org/index.htm; Written by Ted Robertson
Pikes Peak Earth Day Sponsorship, A Smart Business Move
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