Communications Strategies

A striking new peer-reviewed study in Environmental Health Perspectives found that in just three days by replacing canned and other prepackaged foods with fresh, organic meals, the body's levels of BPA and phthalates dropped dramatically.

The same is true when it comes to marketing. As the head of a Minneapolis green advertising agency that specializes in organic branding, yoga marketing, LOHAS marketing and social change communication, my team and I know that a prepackaged approach can be as toxic as chemicals.

Each brand, message and audience is unique. By attempting to apply off-the-rack strategies that may have worked for others, a business or organization could well be cheating itself of a fresh, nutritious and delicious opportunity.

The power of good green marketing is not so much what's visible from the outside—but what's within. So before you go shopping for convenience, consider the quality of ingredients first. Is your approach to marketing a cheap, quick fix? Or is it healthy and designed for long-term growth.


Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

Who needs a cabinet full of pharmaceuticals when nature offers its own medicine chest? 

As the owner of a Minnesota advertising and marketing agency and organic industry leader who specializes in green marketing, organic branding, social change communication and the LOHAS consumer, I have long worked with clients to educate customers about how food can heal.

One of our clients, H. Brooks and Company, is an absolute leader when it comes to offering tools that empower and educate grocery stores, restaurants and shoppers about the health benefits of fruit and veggies. Every marketing touch point is an opportunity to create messaging that not only differentiates your brand, but drives sales.

This recent newsletter illustrates how you can combine classic B-B sales strategy with a holistic message. And who doesn't love the fact that a delicious slice of watermelon can promote heart health and help prevent cancer?

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

A client came to me yesterday with a request to create a "quick ad" for immediate insertion. When I asked about message, desired response, audience demographic and points of uniqueness, she admitted her team hadn't quite thought that through. 

I suggested she save her money. As the head of a green advertising agency that specializes in social change communication, the LOHAS consumer, yoga advertising, organic branding and green energy marketing, I urge our clients to remain proactive—not reactive.

While it's difficult sometimes not to get caught up in the office swirl, a clear head is an essential element when it comes to good advertising and marketing strategy. So the next time you find yourself reverting to reactive mode, take some advice from the yogis. Take a breath. Find your center. And listen to the wisdom within.


Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing

This one is tricky.

Powerful, yet controversial environmental print and TV spots for WWF comparing the 9/11 terrorist attacks with the 2004 tsunami, were recently entered at Cannes. They've caused quite a stir. Although not the kind the agency DDB had hoped for. 

Turns out this agency created what is known in the industry as a fake or phantom ad. A campaign created and placed often at the expense of an agency for the sole purpose of winning a prestigious award. What's more, WWF claims the first they knew about this spot was when they found it on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFHeQsOULng

As the head of a green advertising agency that specializes in green marketing, LOHAS marketing, organic promotion, natural advertising and environmental communication, I am all for compelling creative that moves millions to take action to protect the planet. But unfortunately, this incident uses the brand power of WWF for a cheap shot at a big award. Too bad.

The world needs exceptional advertising and green marketing strategy to wake us up. Shake us up. And to bring about much needed action and change. But to create work that is all about the creative shop, at the expense and credibility of a client, is simply inexcusable.



Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

Will sex sell to to apathetic guys? The new eco website www.angrygreengirl.com certainly hopes so.

Targeted at men who might be cajoled into taking eco action by self-described "hot" babes, this site isn't for everyone. But as a new launch in the green scene, the brand is clearly unique.

As the head of a green advertising agency and an expert in the categories of organic marketing, green online marketing, sustainable advertising, social change marketing and eco communication, I've worked with a lot of eco businesses to create advertising and marketing strategies that build movements and garner millions of media impressions.

But I have to admit, I've never recommended launching a new green site with the offer of free, eco, waterless car washes for hybrid drivers by bikini-clad models. But then, I've never worked on a brand like angrygreengirl.com.

Will this new venture make it? Who knows. But the market will soon decide whether this site is sexy. Or just silly.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

It's state fair time in Minnesota and that means our news media are scrambling for the catchiest, kitschiest, most spin-worthy local stories. Speaking of spin, one media outlet, WCCO-TV is doing a great job educating about renewable energy by inviting fair goers to ride electricity generating bicycles to power the news. 

The tactic is an excellent way to engage an audience, demonstrate commitment to green power—and by the way, have a lot of fun. As the leader of a Mpls advertising and marketing agency that specializes in eco promotion, green marketing strategy, social change communications, LOHAS marketing and green energy, I create the same kind of experiential, high engagement strategies when messaging for clients. Whether that means devising a game to "knock out nukes" by throwing a ball at pins at a green festival or "fishing" for fun eco facts (both of which we've done) the fastest way to success is for your audience to tangibly FEEL the benefit.

So make it personal. Engage the brain, but start by opening your customers' hearts.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

Earth Day doesn't come around for more than six months, but the movie is in theaters now.  In keeping with brilliant green marketing strategy, word about the movie is being spread through low carbon affinity channels like Earth Day Network, through blogs, twitter and more.

As the head of a firm that specializes in green marketing, LOHAS marketing, eco promotions, green pr, social change communication, eco communication and green energy, I'm psyched to see this 2009 Sundance Film. But more importantly, I applaud Earth Days film makers for joining those of us on the marketing, non-profit and green product side for creating a visually stunning and entertaining way to share this critical message.

To learn more, go  to: http://www.earthdaysmovie.com

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

According to Forbes, in 2008 consumers spent $23 billion on organic food.

That's a 16% growth rate. Even with the double digit growth this category has seen over the last decade, organic represents just a tiny percent of total food purchased in the U.S. That's good news. Because there's still lots more room to grow.

As the head of an advertising and marketing agency that specializes in organic marketing, organic promotion, green communications and LOHAS advertising strategies, I am passionate about supporting the efforts of organic companies. These are businesses that are working to improve the health of people as well as the planet. 

Before starting my agency, I worked as VP communications for the Organic Center, a non-profit dedicated to educating millions about the health and environmental benefits of organic. I've had the privilege of walking organic fields with farmers, eating meals prepared by the nation's premier organic chefs and creating messaging that educates and inspires action—including the groundbreaking coffee table book, Core Truths.

The seeds of change have been planted. It's up to us as marketers to help bring in the harvest. 


Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

I just learned that a Midwestern city in the midst of severe financial crisis is planning to build a model green home on spec. Unlike similar homes that have been built and marketed in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, this home will be built in an economically distressed neighborhood.

The message? A green lifestyle isn't just for those with fat bank accounts, green living today means dramatically improved energy efficiency—which brings cost savings conventional homes can't touch. As the owner of a green advertising agency and an expert in green communications, green marketing strategy, LOHAS marketing and eco promotions, I believe this city's messaging is right on track. 

I've spent much of my career marketing and creating messaging strategies around renewable energy. Over the years, I've attended many green energy conferences and the technological advances and market applications have been absolutely stunning. Consumers have traditionally had to pay a stiff premium for most energy-saving and planet-friendly products. And while today the cost is still higher, the gap is slowly narrowing. What's better still is that green living is not only saving consumers money, those who are generating their own power are actually making more green.  

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has just released a co-authored new report, “Understanding and Preventing Greenwash: A Business Guide,” to help companies better communicate their environmental message based on a company’s true sustainability practices.

As a leader in LOHAS marketing, green marketing strategy and eco advertising, I have a deep understanding of the LOHAS consumer and have worked on many organic campaigns. While the advertising industry has long ago established that "sex sells," I maintain that "truth sells."  

So, to companies who are thinking about engaging in a little greenwashing, I'd recommend that you don't. Once trust is broken with your customer, audience or market, earning it back is not only an extraordinarily expensive proposition—it can be downright impossible. Why risk your business on a lie?

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—

a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing

 

Consumers want to connect with the people behind the products they buy. They want the back story. The inside scoop. And they want to get a sense of personality and passion. This is especially true when it comes to food. 

As head of a green advertising agency that specializes in social change communication, eco communication, green promotion, alternative advertising and LOHAS marketing, I recently worked on a campaign to promote locally and sustainably grown foods. We interviewed farmers, wrote profiles that stores could use in their newsletters and created point-of-purchase signs. It was a simple yet powerful strategy.

I was recently shopping and stopped at a bin overflowing with incredibly fresh sweet corn. Placed prominently at the display was one of the signs I had created. Shoppers were milling about filling their bags while reading the story of the farmer who was profiled. The more they read, the more they filled their bags. Having met the farmer who grew the corn, I knew how incredibly proud he would be. A connection had been made. And that is the essence of great marketing.

 

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director for firefly180 marketing—

a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

There's a lot of talk in the industry about wellness marketing. For us, at firefly180 marketing, wellness marketing transcends the medical industry. Pharmaceuticals. And the typical cadre of doctors, nurses and specialists. 

Yes, more traditional wellness care has its place, but to us, wellness marketing and wellness promotion is more holistic in its approach. It speaks to the needs, philosophy and desires of each individual. Because we specialize in working with wellness companies in the categories of green communications and natural advertising, we are perhaps more in tune to the fact that for many, wellness strategy may include meditation, acupuncture, Bach flower remedies, kinesiology, reiki, chigong or massage. 

But perhaps just as importantly, we feel that a good wellness marketing company should first and foremost practice wellness as part of its corporate philosophy.

Does your wellness marketing firm:

1. Have an office with access to lots of sunlight?
2. Promote exercise such as yoga?
3. Feature fresh flowers at the front desk?
4. Avoid synthetically manufactured fragrances and products?
5. Offer staff members healthy beverages such as organic herbal teas?

While these practices may seem outside the scope of wellness marketing, they are actually a measure of your firm's passion for an integrated wellness approach. So the next time you hire a wellness marketing firm, observe where they fit on the total wellness equation. Their score may not only be revealing, it may help you measure their ability to communicate your wellness message.

Recently, in a tiny West African village in Guinea, opportunity knocked.

This remote and steamy mountain village where residents live in one-room, windowless huts on communally-owned land saw an influx of workers looking for a place to live when a mining company boosted its labor force.

Since this community, with no housing market had no homes available, they began to move in with their neighbors and rent out the family-owned huts. Then using rent money, the villagers began to build new huts. As workers poured into the region, rents exploded and times were good.

Then the price for iron-ore plummeted and the new workforce was laid off. Now with hundreds of empty huts, the villagers are not wringing their hands in despair, rather they are preparing for the day the miners return. (And they know they will.) Bringing with them rolls of rent money.

As an expert in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green communications, natural advertising and organic advertising, I've worked with my clients through several challenging market shifts. Each has ushered in a time of introspection. Followed by stunning reinvention.

The path to great sustainable marketing strategy or exceptional award-winning work is never a straight line. It curves, it swerves and it loops around until settling solidly on track. That's the creative process. One that brings with it rich and meaningful rewards.  And like the Guinea village, the knowledge that good planning brings with it future prosperity.

I learned a great lesson from Tom, the guy who washes my windows. A second generation window washer, with sons who have followed in his footsteps, Tom loves his work. It's all about creating clarity. 

It's the same with marketing. Good branding and communication strategies are designed to create the same kind of clean, clear results. Instead of using a few drops of dish soap in a pail of water and a squeegee, my agency, firefly180 uses words. And images. 

With a specialization in green advertising, LOHAS marketing, alternative advertising and eco advertising, my team and I use our tools with the same passion as Tom. The result is creative and brand strategy that sparkles. And our clients who are often eco businesses, progressive organizations and wellness companies are left with a clear vista that reveals limitless opportunities.

The marketplace is continually in flux. And it is often ruled by fear.

A few years ago the housing market looked like manna from heaven. A money tree. A bubble that would never burst. Last fall, some economists were predicting depression.

Today, many of my colleagues in the advertising and marketing business have either gone out of business or laid off staff. Why? The easy answer is that their clients stopped spending. But the bigger part of the story is fear.

But good marketing and communications strategy is not ruled by fear. It is fearless. Yes, markets change. But that change often brings unexpected opportunity. When I started my green marketing agency with a focus on LOHAS, wellness promotion, wellness marketing, renewable energy marketing and environmental communication 20 years ago, marketing experts said I would never make it. They were wrong.

Was it easy? Not at all. But with the challenges, came tremendous ability to not only get outside the box, but to burn the box. To throw out rule books and make my own. And most of all, to move outside the fear-based business model and instead of following the swing of the pendulum—to simply observe it. Without fear. 

Today Costco announced a new green initiative that is not only a smart proactive move, it shows they know their customer. And they know what their customers want.

Their electronic recycling program which allows customers to trade in and recycle laptops, cell phones, digital cameras and gaming systems, is a smart environmental communication strategy. It's fast. It's easy. And of course, you can always replace what you recycle with the electronic selection offered at the store. But the beauty of the program is that Costco is taking responsibility for the waste caused by products they sell. 

When it comes to communication strategies, it's important to walk your talk. And Costco is by offering an ever increasing array of organic food and non-toxic cleaning products. Add to that their new energy-saving solar panel initiative and you've got the makings for a good solid green marketing campaign.

As an expert in green marketing, wellness marketing and wellness promotion, I work with lots of wellness companies and progressive businesses. Is Costco perfect? No. But neither is any other business out there. The fact is, just by getting out of bed each day, each of us causes environmental impact. The best we can hope to do is to lessen that impact and be conscious of taking steps to restore the Earth.

As an expert in environmental communications, environmental marketing, wellness marketing and award-winning communications strategies, I've learned a thing or two over the last 20 years.

1. Know your audience
Where do they live. What kind of car do they drive. What do they aspire to. Get inside their heads and hearts. Think about how your product can serve them and design your communication strategies in ways that speak to clear, tangible benefits.

2. Hide nothing
Always be transparent.

3. Build trust
Consumers have had the experience of being lied to. Why should they believe you? Use testimonials, independent research, person on the street interviews and case studies to back up your claims.

4. Position unique qualities
There are a limitless array of products in the marketplace. What makes yours unique? Special? One-of-a-kind? What are your product's unique benefits and attributes? Share them.

Environmental marketing is not about spin, greenwashing or anything less than 100% transparency. I wish the marketing team behind Solo's new, bare launch would get a clue.

Marketed as "eco forward" with "environmentally preferable materials like bamboo and sugarcane," these single-use plates could well be a better alternative. While I applaud the company for greening their line, I wish they would have given consumers more credit. Savvy green and LOHAS consumers want to be more than "marketed to." Solo's ads and packaging do not reveal a breakdown of their product's content. And on the product's site, there is no mention of content on product pages—instead you have to drill deep into the FAQs to find that this line contains just 20% post consumer fiber. Why is this information buried? It's not necessarily bad. It may not be perfect, but it's definitely a step forward.

Also missing is information like how much bamboo is included?  How much sugarcane? Why sugarcane? Was their virgin paper content sustainably harvested? And why are they now front-and-center with post-consumer content?

As an expert in wellness promotion, wellness marketing, communication strategies and environmental communication, I've seen campaigns like this implode once consumers start to dig for answers. Without Solo revealing vital product information, consumers are left to ponder, "What are they hiding?" Maybe nothing. But "nothing" is worse than talking down to your market, especially when you're hoping to get a premium price.

In a market where each new day brings the next self-professed advertising guru. Where there's always a latest and greatest new trend to follow. Methodology to adopt. Or 10-sure-fire-steps-to- marketing-genius to follow. It's important to keep in mind while sorting through the clutter, that labels like these simply represent a point of view. There is no substituting your own expertise, experience and passion in the way you tell your story.

Whether you're looking for green marketing strategy, social change communication, environmental communication. Or if you're launching a green public relations campaign. The key is to know your audience.

This ad  that I created for progressive indy magazine, Utne Reader was designed to drive subscription sales at a Green Festival. We knew the audience at this event was green, that was a given. But instead of positioning the magazine simply from an environmental perspective—which it has—we chose to be bold. Truthful. Provocative. And a bit self deprecating. But perhaps most importantly, this ad conveyed the depth and breadth of the magazine. It offered more reasons to buy. And it doesn't talk down to its audience. The result? Record subscription sales and current subscribers who felt even better about their magazine choice.