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Posted on October 28, 2008 @ 07:54:00 AM by Paul Meagher
One way in which "green marketing" differs from traditional marketing is that proportionally more successful green companies engage in "green cause" marketing, by which I mean they sponsor/participate in a range of activities that benefit the planet, social justice, biodiversity, children's education, human health, etc...
The way that Stonyfield Farm CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg put's it in "Stirring it Up" is that in "green businesses" you need to figure out what your "customer handshake" is which Hirshberg defines as"marketing with a mission that appeals to significant groups of like-minded people" p. 103. When growing a green business, that customer handshake often involves supporting green causes where you literally shake hands and give out free samples. Hirshberg never found traditional advertising grew his business that much, and the other successful green entrepreneurs he does case studies on in his book didn't attribute much of their success to regular paid advertising. Instead they achieved marketing success via green causes they sponsored/participated in and innovative approaches to marketing their products. Regarding the latter, Gary Hirshberg once sent a load of Camel manure to a popular radio station when one of the hosts said he would rather eat camel manure than the Stonyfield Yogurt the other host was eating. The "stunt" gained free and positive media attention for his organic Yogurt brand and increased sales. "Stunt-based marketing" is also frequently used in green marketing and shouldn't be underestimated as a way to make like-minded people aware of your green product/service and mission.
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