Green Energy Conference

Marketing the Green in Green Living

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 by Lisa Proctor

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.

McDonald's Going Green?

Monday, August 17, 2009 by Lisa Proctor

In today's edition of Environmental Leader about McDonald's creating prototypes for green restaurants, the issue states:

"...The restaurant is treating the 10 locations as “learning laboratories,” said McDonald’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility Bob Langert, in a Q&A with DailyFinance. One of the green prototype stores, in the Chicago area, uses 25 percent less energy than similar locations. Energy savings and waste reduction are central to McDonald’s corporate social responsibility strategy, Langert said. Globally, the restaurant consumes $1.7 billion annually in energy and it spends another $1.3 billion handling its waste. McDonald’s has more than 31,000 locations worldwide..."

Does this new effort amount to greenwashing? Or a super-sized step forward? While it may be too early to tell, as an expert in natural advertising, organic advertising, organic promotion and LOHAS marketing, I've worked on many leading-edge advertising strategies and attended more than a few green energy conferences.

When a company the size of McDonald's initiates a move in a more sustainable direction, the outcome can only be good. While the franchise is far from perfect and their desire to reduce waste and energy consumption is all about increasing their bottom line—what's wrong with that?

The beauty of green and sustainable marketing is that doing what's right is generally rewarded with doing well. Who knows? Maybe a McOrganic menu is right around the corner. I would be lovin' that!

Research and the LOHAS Consumer

Friday, August 7, 2009 by Lisa Proctor

What do consumers want in a healthy lifestyle
and what do they actually do to achieve it?

To learn the answer, you'll need to buy Natural Marketing Institute's (NMI) latest study. Their

work has been critical to marketers for years. As a leader in Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) marketing, eco advertising, social change communication and organic marketing, I am considered an expert on the LOHAS consumer. This psychographic group includes one in four adult Americans and a $209 billion marketplace.

During my career, I've launched many organic campaigns, attended green energy conferences and worked with lots of progressive businesses. While each creative and strategic effort has required varying strategies and approaches, a key part of the foundational success of each campaign has been thanks to research from organizations like NMI.

While it's important as marketers that we take into account what we know, it's just as important to remember that the market is a shifting and evolving organism. And research can be a vital tool in filling the gaps of what we don't know.

Green Marketing—A Job You'll Love So Much You Can't Believe You Get Paid

Monday, August 3, 2009 by Lisa Proctor

I was just invited to be a college guest lecturer for a promotional writing course. As an expert in the categories of wellness promotion, green advertising, green energy marketing, wellness marketing and LOHAS marketing, I have been honored to build strategy and create campaigns for many wellness companies and progressive businesses. I love sharing my experience with students.

In 1990, when I launched one of the nation's first green advertising agencies, my area of specialization was seen as a bit of a curiosity. But times have changed. Dramatically. Businesses understand the power of great creative, but even more they understand that millions of consumers are passionate about buying from brands that align with their values. In addition, interest in renewable energy has brought about incredible technological innovation, an expanding sustainable energy market and a host of green energy conferences.

I've found that today more and more students are looking for careers that not only provide an income, but that feed their soul and contribute to the greater good. I applaud that passion. Because this is exactly the path to finding a job you love so much you can't believe you get paid.

The Winds of Change

Thursday, June 25, 2009 by Lisa Proctor

Green Energy Conferences are springing up across the country. Everywhere there is talk of shifting to green energy jobs. This quantum shift couldn't have come soon enough. When it comes to saving jobs and saving the planet, there is no paradox. Business and nature can indeed not only co-exist, they can—and should, thrive.

During my career in social change communication, wellness promotion and wellness marketing, I have had the honor to be among the voices that have fueled this movement. During the 1990s as one of the lead creatives on the Green Mountain Energy brand, our team flooded the east and west coasts with messaging about the power of consumer choice. I shot TV spots featuring our spokesperson Kenny Loggins in the redwoods. And Kenny and I recorded dozens more provocative and powerful radio spots that spoke to the reality of climate change and what each of us could do to fight it.

At the time, few energy companies had the guts to be part of the solution—but Green Mountain Energy, then a funky little Vermont-based company, had the passion and the guts to take on one of the most polluting businesses on the planet. The founder of the company, Kevin Hartley, called our team a ragtag band of eco-warriors. Amazing what a small group of social and environmental change agents can do.

Mission with Message Creates Change

Thursday, June 11, 2009 by Lisa Proctor

When I worked as a lead creative on a national advertising and marketing campaign for a company called Green Mountain Energy, I attended many green energy conferences. A decade ago the concept of clean energy was new. Education then, as it is now is key to change. Our agency created that change by crafting a campaign rich in eco communication and wellness marketing with a message that spoke to personal and environmental change.

We grew this tiny Vermont-based company from zero to 500,000 customers is just a few years. How? By harnessing the power of consumer choice and educating millions about the fact that making electricity causes more air pollution than any other industry—not to mention climate change. Knowledge is power. And in the case of renewable energy, the color of knowledge is green.