Detroit Leads?

I love the idea of the plug-in electric vehicle with on-the-go recharge that Chevy unveiled with its Volt. With a commute of about 16 miles round-trip a day, I'd rarely burn transpo fuel (biodiesel, gas, ethanol) on my daily trips.

Popular Mechanics has a nice overview of the technology.

This could be a big idea that captures short commuters and others. And I hear electric engines have the gusto that Americans have come to expect, and which sub 2-liter, highly fuel-efficient cars don't. At least the Tesla does and the drag race circuit is seriously toying with them too for the torque and instant-on.

This idea could be a big leadership position for Detroit, unlike the flex-fuels that nobody flexes, and the mimicked gas hybrid technology. I still see clean diesel hybrids making a big dent in the market, probably led by Audi, VW, Mercedes in the next year. This could have the same impact that Toyota and Honda had with the gas hybrid. But the Volt could be a shining star, if it moves into production soon.

Defending a Market Under attack

A post on the carbon offset market and some communications tactics to address the recent barrage on it:

http://blog.bitepr.com/2007/11/defending-a-mar.html

Swimming in Oil Spills

The recent disgorging of 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into SF bay was unfortunate, if not unforeseen. Dozens of large container ships plow through the Bay's treacherous waters daily. But the perceived bungle in cleanup efforts will have the US Coast Guard smarting for many months.

As a surfer who lives on Ocean Beach in SF, this hit home particularly strong. I found dead birds next to oil blobs a couple days after the spill, and couldn't get into the water or even on the beach for most of the past week. Thankfully, I was back in the water at Sloat on Sunday enjoying clean, head-high waves.

The SF Chapter of Surfrider Foundation sprung into action quickly and helped direct folks that wanted to lend a hand in the cleanup. And now we have a brigade of volunteers trained in hazmat cleanup so there will be no delays next time.

Let's hope the NTSB and the Coast Guard hold accountable those that caused the spill and those that didn't quickly contain the spilln which led to its spread across hundreds of square miles of bay, ocean and beach.

Chevy Hybrid on the Radar

The Detroit News reported on Nov. 14 about Chevy's sustainable marketing strategy, led by its new Chevy Silverado Hybrid, a world's first.

Props to Larry Burns for being honest that Chevy hasn't told the "green" story well in the past (honesty). But has Chevy had anything to talk about? The new marketing campaign touting green seems very well thought out and digestible for media and consumers alike -- and shows a vision for the future -- which is great.

But he notes that Toyota has an image "to die for." Toyota's image is built on credibility and proof points that back up claims -- that have been years (if not decades) in the making. Toyota's brand has always had an element of efficiency in it; not so for Chevy (thus the skeptics).

When making "green" a part of a brand, it exposes you to more scrutiny, esp. if there's a legacy actively resisting CAFE (though even Toyota is guilty here). When making a claim, it can't be just to build an image, it has to be authentic -- or you'll get raked over the coals. The "green" bunny is out of the bag now for Chevy; it'll be hard to put it back even if oil drops back to $60 bbl.

Clean Feelings

Here's a post I made to my company's (Bite) blog back in July 2007 on consumer feelings toward a brand based on perceived leadership in sustainability:

http://blog.bitepr.com/2007/07/clean-feelings.html

Carbon Leakage - Sounds Messy

Carbon leakage was a new term for me -- and its kinda catchy. To me it generally refers to the offshoring of carbon emissions. So, while I may be pissy with China based on my perception that it's not checking carbon spewing industry, I recognize that my purchase of products made in China are contributing to the problem.

I've posted a blog on the topic here: http://blog.bitepr.com/2007/11/paying-to-stop-.html

Here's a more technical definition: The term carbon leakage refers to the effect that a part of the CO2 reduction that is achieved by countries that abate CO2 emissions is offset by an increase in CO2 emissions in non-abating countries. http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/500036002.pdf

Buying Our Way Out of This

It seems that "green commerce" is getting some legs. I like the concept of everyone helping out by changing their buying habits. A nice way to ease into it. Question is, have we passed the "ease into it" stage?

A co-worker brought up Green.tv as a new media company focusing on all things green (aptly so). I like their recently launched NewConsumer channel, which is about fair trade and ethical shopping. This is tapping into the broader consumer interest in “green commerce”, similar to ShopGreen from PriceGrabber.com, the broader ENERGY STAR movement, etc.

Another budding idea is the Interra Project, backed by one of the founders of Odwalla.

And there are a variety of new media properties popping up in the broader green space, including Building Green TV and competing green ad networks from Lime and SustainLane, which is great.

Consumerism may be here to stay; can we buy our way back to sustainability by applying consumer marketing vs. cause marketing concepts to effect consumer change? Check out EcoAmerica and the LOHAS study for more ideas.

Stunt Marketing for Botanical Pesticide

We tried out a little stunt marketing for a project with EcoSMART, which markets botanical pesticides that kill bugs as effectively as synthetic pesticides, but is safe for kids and pets. It works on a neurotransmitter that isn't present in mammals.

The product has been available in commercial and agricultural markets for several years. It's now available at select Wal-Marts, as part of that company's broader sustainability offering. This stunt was timed to coincide with retail availability in the SF Bay Area and was part of a media day with the founder of EcoSMART, Steve Bessette.

The goals were to provide interesting pitch fodder for social and traditional media and to have some fun with the public. Video and photos of the event are posted; please take a look and share it with those who’d be interested:



Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9029668@N08/sets/72157600367845472/

Green Media Explosion

Earth Week has everyone buzzing nowadays. Remember when it was just you that planted a tree or changed a light bulb in celebration? Iron Horse Vineyards even had a shindig; nothing like some bubbly carbon dioxide to celebrate. Glad everyone's making hay of the day, but it's a bit overwhelming. It'll take me another month to get through all the good writing on my favorite topic. I'm posting them here so I don't forget...

Robert Redford chats about the new green programming on the Sundance Channel | By Amanda Griscom Little | Grist | Main Dish | 16 Apr 2007

Lime Launches Eco-friendly Ad Network · MarketingVOX

Grist reviews the spring crop of green glossy mags | By Sarah van Schagen | Grist | Arts and Minds | 27 Mar 2007

Vanity Fair's Green Issue

New York Time Sunday Edition, April 22, 2007 had some good stuff. But they require registration and payment, so they'll have thousands of less reader of it.

And GreenBiz's GreenBuzz newsletter, which is always on the job.

Bite Me

About six weeks into my efforts to build the the cleantech business, THUNDER FACTORY sputtered. Its business cycle hit a predictable trough. By my calculations, any upside, both financially and professionally, was far in the distance for those that stayed.

So, on March 16, I sent the agents out and starting turning over rocks. I had a couple of strategies: 1) join an agency that had/was building a cleantech practice; 2) go to the corporate side for either an established player with green designs or one of the startups that had secured a Series B or C round and were ready to ramp up marketing or 3) do my own marketing/communications consulting thing.

Group 1: these are folks I've listed previously, including A&R Edelman, Bite, Blanc & Otus, Antenna and Text 100. I had an in with Bite through Kristina Skierka, previously at McGuire & Co., which handles most of the Flex Your Power programs (uber resource efficiency program in California). I also found out about 463 Communications, which does tech policy and has some interesting partners. I also looked at Ecos Consulting and Resource Solutions Group (which broke off from a previous employer, D&R International), both of which are hybrid agencies/energy efficiency consultants.

Group 2: I checked out SolarCity, ecoAmerica (a non-profit where my old boss is the Executive Director), Business for Social Responsibility, Fat Spaniel, Organic Bouquet, and a handful of anonymous Craigslist postings. Surprisingly, all the previous networking didn't turn up many cleantech companies that were actively hiring.

Group 3: Building a book of business looked like it would need to be ad hoc clients, not just cleantech. Nevertheless, I started piecing together project options for a variety of sources.

Shortly into this sifting and sorting options, Bite Communications came back with a solid offer. The culture (flat, comfortable), reputation (friends of friends work there), clients (big brands and startups too), overall package (inc. 5 weeks vacation), and, very importantly, burgeoning cleantech and green products practice hooked me. I start on April 30, 2007.

Turning on the Cleantech Biz Dev Spigot

About six months into my year stint at THUNDER FACTORY, I started actively building a cleantech practice. While working on the future of healthcare (McKesson) was very rewarding, and anything can hold my interest for a half-year (like Magliner hand trucks and the dynamic world of self storage through Extra Space Storage), my long-held passion for cleantech needed to be fed.

Seems everyone in communications was setting up shop. Those that I came across included A&R Edelman, Antenna Group, Big Think Studios, Bite, Blanc and Otus, Blue Practice, Clean Agency, Digital Hive EcoLogical Design, Matter Communications (www.matternow.com), Straus Communications, Text 100, and Weber Shandwick. Plus, the traditional agencies with big accounts that were diving into green/cleantech (e.g. Hoffman/Lewis with Toyota) were soaking up the new work as well. Our work was cut out for us.

I started going to all the events. Commonwealth Club had a cleantech event down at AMD HQ with the winners of the Cleantech Open, which included Adura Technologies, KiteShip and others. The Cleantech Forum was a couple weeks later. Then an Alliance of CEOs cleantech event, which included Fat Spaniel Technologies, Sun Light and Power, SolarCity, and CleanFish. Heading out to Green Drinks. Haunting Craigslist for any postings to see who was looking for marketing help.

Is this thing on?

I had an epiphany back in 2001, when I had the luxury of time on my hands, that my personal and professional lives would have to--and should, if I was going to get anywhere--merge a bit more. I had always tried to keep them separated, figuring I didn't want to talk too much shop at dinner with friends or be passing out business cards at the local anti-war protest.

With the dot-com bust and my resulting free time (with severance), I did a brief recap of my life to date and saw a couple of common threads:

--green stuff (summer stint doing remediation, mostly at gas stations where "product" was floating on water tables; canvassed for PIRG in Chicago, mostly on wetlands restoration post Mississippi flooding of '93; brief stint at Demand Management Corp. right before it was bought by Honeywell, working on Greenlights, the commercial precursor to the ENERGY STAR program; volunteer chair of the SF chapter of Surfrider Foundation for four years; all into that recycling thing and a "small footprint," in part because that's all I could afford in SF);

--technology (six years in high-tech PR, four at Blanc and Otus, and ENERGY STAR was about energy efficient products, which is tech, if not high-tech); and

--public affairs (UNDP internship in '92; internship with Burson-Marstellar in '93, trying to stay away from missiles and cigarettes and steer towards green stuff with EarthShell and a local "green dump"; citizen lobbying with PIRG on renewable energy, national bottle deposit and wetlands protection; started working on an intro of the Bush admin to Silicon Valley in 2000 with Hill and Knowlton's DC office headed by Torie Clark, before she went over to the Pentagon and I was laid off).

On a plane over the Atlantic en route to a college buddy's wedding in Norway, I had the epiphany that "sustainable technology marketing" was my sweet spot. Upon returning from Europe, I grabbed a job working on ENERGY STAR with the Feds, which lasted four years. The company I was with, D&R International, never got it together to have enough to sell on the "Strategic marketing" front, most of that work went, deservedly, to Marketing Drive, sister company to Interbrand, which managed the overall ENERGY STAR brand. And I looked around at most of the companies we were working with, The Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, Whirlpool, GE, Sylvania, etc., and while they took guidance (and a bit of brow-beating) on marketing plans from the Feds, it was still either in-house marketing folks or general marketing agencies that got to do the bulk of the "green marketing" work. So, I struck out for a general marketing agency, whose services I could sell to "sustainable technology" companies, which are now more commonly known as "cleantech" companies.

As a marketing consultant, I'm constantly consuming media and looking for spots to squeeze my clients into or trends to stay ahead of (or at least comfortably drafting off of others). What better way to keep my mind focused on my priority, cleantech, while still doing my day job that includes a lot of non-cleantech stuff.

This blog will be my public gathering place for all the things I come across that seem worthy of sharing or gathering for future reference.