EcoAmerica News Blog

Green Brand Disconnect

Originally posted Oct. 26, 2007
by David Wigder, Marketing Green

This week’s cover story in BusinessWeek featured the experience of Auden Schendler, corporate director of environmental affairs at the Aspen Skiing Company (ASC), as he tried to convince his senior management that going green was worth the investment (“Little Green Lies,” October 29, 2007).

72% Of Consumers Have Made Purchase Based On Cause Marketing

Originally posted Oct. 24, 2007
at environmental LEADER

Seventy-two percent of consumers say that they have purchased a brand because it supports a cause they believe in, according to the 2007 PR Week / Barkley Cause Survey (PDF). Corporate respondents say they see positive PR (65.3 percent), an increase in sales/retail traffic (26.7 percent) and an enhanced relationship with their target demographic (52 percent), as a result of their marketing efforts.

Guest Post: Rich Louv on Leave No Child Inside

Sometimes, giving a name to a dream helps bring that dream to life. In April 2006, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., I called for a nationwide “Leave No Child Inside” movement.  Today, a little more than a year after the Press Club event, public awareness may have reached a tipping point.

Getting to Green

Originally posted Oct. 24, 2007
by Micheline Maynard The New York Times

Nearly a century ago, Henry Ford declared a customer could have a car in any color as long as it was black. Now, carmakers around the world are trying to convince consumers that their lineups come in green. From BMW to Honda, from Chrysler to Volkswagen, the industry is  rushing  to make  vehicles that use less gasoline or don’t rely on it at all.

Corporate Greenwashers Trick Consumers

Originally posted Oct. 21, 2007
by Jane Han on The Korea Times

Toyota bloomed with an angelic, eco-friendly image with its hybrid Prius, however, on the flip side, it simultaneously rolls out one of the market's biggest gas-guzzling SUVs. Hypocritical? Not surprising, say environmentalists, as they label these growing numbers of all-show-no-change corporations as "greenwashers.''

Drought Can Spark a National Dialogue on Climate Change - Part II

Originally posted Oct. 20th, 2007
by David Wigder on Marketing Green

“You can’t call it a drought anymore, because [the US Southwest is] going over to a drier climate. No one says the Sahara is in a drought.”   — Richard Seager, Scientist, Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory as quoted in “The Future is Drying Up”, New York Times Magazine, October 21, 2007.

Change the Message to Save the Planet

Originally posted Oct. 15, 2007
by George Marshall at Guardian Unlimited

Please, I beg you, if you care about climate change forget about "saving the planet".

Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing that you chuck your bike in a hedge and hurtle off to Heathrow in your 4x4. In fact the exact opposite.

Green Marketing as a Vehicle for Consumer Engagement

Originally posted Oct. 12, 2007
by David Wigder on Marketing Green

Today, smart marketers are focused not only on whether consumers view their message, but to what extent they engage with it. One definition of engagement is as a measure of consumer involvement with a marketing vehicle. As defined, it implies that engagement should be considered as both a marketing tactic and a metric that can be measured and optimized. 

Making Green Jobs Real

Green jobs are happening, and finding them has just gotten easier with the launch of GreenCareers, a collaborative effort between ecoAmerica, MonsterTRAK, and Environmental Defense. But more importantly, GreenCareers is part of a broader strategy to engage “environmentally agnostic” Americans in demanding greater innovation in environmental protection.

U.K. Consumers Catch Companies Committing 'Green Murder'

Originally posted Oct. 8, 2007
on AdvertisingAge.com by Emma Hall

Lexus, Tesco and Others Busted for Making Empty Environmental Claims

Four out of five Britons suspect companies of "getting away with green murder." And they may be right.

"Green murder" is what Chris Arnold, executive creative director of ethical-marketing company Feel, calls marketers' exploitation of environmental ideals to make their companies look good.