Organic Promotion

I just ordered a flat of organic strawberries. It's a choice I feel really good about. Not only are those berries going to taste amazing, they are healthier for me and my family, they're supporting the work of organic farmers and keeping the soil and water free from toxic chemical pesticides.

As consumers, we have tremendous ability to effect change at the very deepest level. But unfortunately, all too often we forget we have any power at all. We feel we are at the mercy of "big corporations." But, as an expert in sustainable advertising, wellness marketing, wellness promotion and as an advertising agency owner who works with eco business and wellness companies, it's my job to remind consumers of their true power. Every day we get a chance to vote with our dollars.

So the next time you open your wallet, remember if you want to leave the world a little greener, spend your own green on products or services that serve you as well as the planet.  

Like many, I began my yoga practice in my basement with the help of Yodney Yee DVDs and videos. It was convenient, it was meaningful and it was incredibly beneficial.

Today, I practice in a studio where I continue to explore the rich depths of yoga. And as a marketer with a long history of working with wellness companies, wellness marketing and wellness promotion, it is not surprising that one of my favorite clients is Yoga Alliance—the largest professional yoga organization in the world. I'm working with Yoga Alliance not only on developing new messaging strategy, yoga marketing and yoga advertising—but an entire brand evolution.

Evolving a brand is much like the practice of yoga—which is to unite body, mind and spirit. Because all good brands at their core are the embodiment of the physical, the emotional and the intellectual. Just like all of us. That said, branding is less an intellectual excercise and more about exploring our own humanity.

Not many agencies that specialize in LOHAS marketing, green advertising, organic promotion and wellness marketing can say that fireflies dance outside their office door. But we can.

Based near the scenic St. Croix river, our office is surrounded by acres of rolling hills covered in native prairie grasses, wildflowers and woodlands. It's a place where clients make excuses to visit.

Last night during a heat lightning storm, the fireflies were out by the thousands. The night sky was alive with the flashing of lightning and the flashing of tiny winged creatures. It was magic. It was nature at its finest. It was unforgettable. And it spoke directly to the kind of   work we create at firefly180 marketing.

  
Every time a purchase is made a consumer asks themselves three questions:

1) What's in it for me?
2) How is your product unique in the marketplace
3) Why should I believe you?

When it comes to organic advertising, environmental marketing, social change marketing or sustainable marketing—each of these three essential questions needs to be addressed before a consumer will buy.

Here's the good news. Each of these questions is easier to address when you have a product or service that speaks to personal or environmental health. Whether you're promoting organic produce, green lawn care, sustainably made furniture, an eco spa or energy efficient appliances, you have a story to tell that more conventional products can't touch.

It gets even better. Consumers of products like yours (generally LOHAS consumers) don't want to be sold. They don't want to be advertised to. They want the back story. They are hungry for data, information and proof. They want to know they can trust you. They are leery of being green washed. So you don't worry about "selling," your job is to "share." Remain fully transparent. Be authentic. And the sales will come.

"Be well."

It's a sentiment expressed by millions throughout the world each day—through email, as a parting greeting, or as a heartfelt wish. In that spirit, at the core of Wellness Marketing is the same intention. Marketing in the wellness category speaks most specifically to promoting personal well being. Whether that takes the shape of advocating for yoga or launching an organic campaign that promotes healthy foods free of toxic pesticides.

Consumers are faced with an unending array of choices. What laundry soap to buy? What's better, organic cotton, bamboo or Egyptian cotton towels? Free-range or organic eggs? Low-emission diesel or hybrid?

As marketers, we have tremendous power to help guide, educate and inspire millions to self-actualize through their everyday purchasing decisions. And in this way, we can offer up our own intention to, 'Be well.'

While some who have worked in the eco advertising and environmental trenches for decades express concern about organic going mainstream, I couldn't feel more optimistic. 

The movement toward eco awareness has been an organic evolution. The explosion of curbside recycling programs in the '90s was one of the first indicators that mainstream America was beginning to understand not only how empowered they felt by a simple act like recycling a bottle, but how GOOD they felt. In fact, while working as one of the lead creatives in Mpls. on a national advertising campaign to promote renewable energy, we leveraged that "feel-good, what's-in-it-for- me," desire to craft a direct response piece shaped like an aluminum can with a headline that read, "If this makes you think of recycling, have we got an electric company for you." 

Would this strategy be considered alternative advertising or sustainable advertising? Not really. It was simply good, solid advertising. Chinese General Sun Tzu, in 500 B.C.  said, "Know your enemy." When it comes to paradigm-shifting advertising, I say, "Know your audience."