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It Isn't Easy Being Green

Now is a wonderful time for companies that offer an environmentally friendly product or service. Political, environmental and economic concerns have created a marketplace that's extremely receptive to the idea of going green. But, before you proclaim your credentials from the treetops, consider Jacquelyn Ottman's five rules of green marketing:

• Not everyone shares the same concerns. Be sure your audience is aware of the issue your product addresses, and wants to do something about it. "Whirlpool learned the hard way that consumers wouldn't pay a premium for a CFC-free refrigerator," writes Ottman, "because consumers didn't know what CFCs were!"


• Explain how your product makes a difference. No one wants to feel like their contribution is a drop in the ocean, so provide a compelling demonstration of its environmental benefits—whether on an individual or collective basis.


• Preempt skepticism with transparency. Make it easy for customers to see your commitment is genuine. "Consumers must believe in the legitimacy of your product and the specific claims you are making," Ottman says.


• Position your product as a high-quality alternative. Reassure customers that it performs at least as well as trusted products from your not-as-green competitors.


• Consider the impact of premium pricing. Customers might understand why your product costs more, but that doesn't mean they can afford the extra outlay—or that they think it's worth it.

The Po!nt: According to Ottman, "A strong commitment to environmental sustainability in product design and manufacture can yield significant opportunities to grow your business, to innovate and to build brand equity." But do your homework before diving in.

Print Ads of a kind - VII

Product: BICE - 'Bread is life'

Print ads of a kind - VI

Product: La Farge Healthcare, Barcelona

Print Ads of a kind - V

Product: Del Monte Foods

Print Ads of a kind - IV

Product: Max Magazine

Print Ads of a Kind - III

Product: Volvo

Print Ads of a Kind - II

Product: Playboy Website

Print Ad of a Kind - I

Product: Schneider Breweries

Print Ad of the week

Client: Manix

Category: Lubricants

Agency: DDsyR, Europe

Hunterz Inspire

Branding Customers—Literally

There you are, wandering around SEMA, a trade show for the automotive aftermarket industry, when a promotion at the Dunlop Tires booth catches your eye. If you let them tattoo the Dunlop logo on your body, you get a free set of tires. Crazy? Of course it is. But blogger Debra Mastaler explains why this smart strategy works on a number of levels:

• It exploits mainstream acceptance of tattoos, particularly among SEMA folks, and ups the ante with celebrity artists like Kat Von D.


• It generates publicity aplenty—like this—without the use of traditional media.


• It builds on the company's earlier marketing efforts, like the "Treadhead" promotion, in which hairstylists shaved Dunlop tread patterns onto customers' heads.

According to Mastaler, 50 Dunlop enthusiasts took the plunge, and there are hundreds more on a waiting list. Mack Collier at The Viral Garden adds that Dunlop filled every available appointment within minutes, and that one recipient didn't even realize the tattoo came with tires—he was just thrilled about getting some free ink!

"You have to remember that a customer evangelist is crazy about their favorite brands!" writes Collier. "So Dunlop ... made it easier for [their evangelists] to engage in actions that they were already performing."

Tattoos may be an extreme example, but if you aren't providing inventive ways to help your customer evangelists spread the good news, you might never learn just how far they'll go for you. And that is Marketing Inspiration.

Hunterz Tips

Another Way to Dodge Spam Folders

As good as your online campaign might be, you'll accomplish nothing if messages wind up in spam folders alongside pitches for counterfeit watches and herbal remedies of dubious merit. Neil Anuskiewicz claims it's easy to avoid this fate by establishing an SPF (sender policy framework).Don't let the techno-jargon scare you. In layman's terms, it works similarly to the authentication process a merchant uses for credit-card transactions, and assures Internet and email providers like AOL or Gmail that you are who you say you are. All told, an SPF vastly improves the chances that your message will go straight to a recipient's inbox.

Getting one is not only simple, says Anuskiewicz, it's free. You can use the setup wizard at sites like this, which walks you through each step, or you can create a manual record with your domain name registrar or hosting provider. Another option is delegating the task to your email administrator. A few things to keep in mind:

• You can't create an SPF with a free email provider like Gmail or Yahoo. This means you'll need a personalized domain name. They're inexpensive and there's a payoff: An email from sales@yourcompanyname.com has much more credibility than yourcompanyname@yahoo.com.


• Always use your domain name as the from address when you publish your SPF record. If you send email from sales@yourcompanyname.com, register the domain yourcompanyname.com.

The Po!nt: Setting up an SPF is a free and easy way to avoid the spam filter. If you don't have one, get one today.

Get to the Po!nt

How Caricatures Help Your Brand

Seth Godin points out a post at Boing Boing about a study suggesting that people are twice as likely to identify celebrities correctly when they are depicted as caricatures that exaggerate prominent facial features. "A caricature falsely highlights various anomalies while diminishing the boring parts," writes Godin. "So Jay Leno gets a ridiculous chin, or Jimmy Durante gets an even bigger nose."

The concept, says Godin, also applies to business. "The best brands are caricatures of their true selves," he continues. "Yes, they must have exceptional 'features' (a step that's easy to skip, but without which leads to failure) but then, over time, those features become a caricature."

To illustrate, he cites a pair of effective corporate caricatures:

• In its early days, ads from FedEx showed dedicated drivers doing whatever it took—even renting helicopters—to deliver a package on time. A wild exaggeration, to be sure, but it made the point.


• The standard joke about Starbucks, meanwhile, is the pretentiously complex order à la "half-caf, extra hot, short macchiato, extra foam, with soy, in a ceramic mug." Everyone takes their potshots, yes, but they also know they'll get exactly what they want. Far from doing damage, a caricature might actually make your company's most outstanding features more memorable.

The Po!nt: "Coloring inside the lines and pleasing most of your customers most of the time almost guarantees you'll be bland," writes Godin, embracing personality over popularity. "It's a lot cheaper and faster and more effective to have a big nose."