The past few years, we’ve seen an increase in companies that haven’t necessarily been known for their eco-friendly ways jumping on the green bandwagon.  While some may call this greenwashing, is it really such a bad thing?

During the Super Bowl, Audi released their new “eco-themed” commercial featuring their latest car (and winner of Green Car Journal’s “Green Car of the Year”), A3 TDI.  The ad follows a squad of “Green Police” that obsessively seek out and arrest regular Joes for their environmental ignorance.  My personal fave is the scantily-clad gentleman running away from a SWAT team-sized crew of green police chasing him down for having the hot tub temperature too high.  The commercial is timely, humorous, and informative in its own way.  However, there are mixed feelings about the ad, as seen in the comments of this popular green blog, Ecorazzi.  So, what are the issues?

1)  Is it greenwashing?  While A3 TDI sets itself apart from other Audi vehicles by being more eco-friendly, Audi is not adjusting its branding to fit this one product.  It can be a step in the right direction for the luxury car industry, raising the bar when it comes to responsibility, and raising awareness about simple changes that can be made in daily life.

2)  Is it demeaning to green-enthusiasts?  While this is an extreme case of environmentalism and it may seem to poke fun at die-hard eco-savers, the ad also offers comic relief when a lot of other brands may take a more “shame-on-you” approach to environmental education.

3)  Is this A3 TDI REALLY green?  As consumers, we all want options.  Whether or not a Hybrid car is the greener alternative, Audi is opening the door to competitors, which means companies will begin working harder to decrease their carbon footprints.  And marketers will get a lesson in sustainable marketing.

So, do we applaud this large-name brand that’s spreading the eco-friendly message or do we disregard them because we would have chosen an alternative way to get the message across?  Please share your thoughts/feelings on greenwashing in the comments.

When the green movement first started garnering major awareness a few years ago, it seemed that any eco-friendly product or service was able to capitalize on the attention and get positive press and accolades.  As the movement continues to grow and green products flood the market, however, it has become harder for new brands to infiltrate the cluttered marketplace of  green marketing. As consumers continue to get inundated with green messaging, new products and services are under much more scrutiny and must do more to differentiate themselves from the pack. Having handled the public relations for a few green brands, I have a few tips for how eco-friendly products can distinguish themselves in the green market.

Provide value

The down economy affected the green market considerably. Just being green isn’t enough anymore, and consumers are much less likely to pay a premium for green products and services. Consumers have to see green products as providing value to their lives, especially if the products cost more than a non-green alternative.

Implement a corporate culture of sustainability

These days, just having an eco-friendly product or service is not enough. Companies have to practice what they preach and embody a corporate culture of sustainability. Has your green company implemented sustainable business practices, such as recycling, using renewable energy, consuming less and conserving water, as well? Is your company involved with green charities and organizations? Green initiatives should be implemented across all sectors of the company.

Provide a unique product or service

Provide something new and different to the market. It is much harder to gain recognition if there are 20 other brands that offer a very similar product or service to yours.  Do we really need another basic, organic cotton t-shirt company?

Be committed and authentic

So many brands are trying to capitalize on the green movement by making small tweaks and throwing an eco-friendly label on their product. The public is getting much more savvy and is no longer buying it. If a company is not fully committed to the cause, and is just trying to jump on the bandwagon, it can backfire. If, for example, you are using organic cotton, but are also using toxic dyes, you might face scrutiny and a backlash from the media and the public.  Don’t claim to be eco-friendly unless you can really back it up.  And as with any brand, authenticity is key.

Do you have other tips for green brands? Which green brands do you think are doing a good job?

So our holiday caroling video was a bit of a hit. Feedback has been good for our purposely “bad” execution.

When I first presented the idea of all of us butchering a song, there was a lot of nervous laughter in the room. Everyone at Bailey Gardiner seemed to think it was funny. But an important question remained. Would we all be willing to make asses out of ourselves? Well… clearly that was well within our skill set.

Nothing teaches like the act of doing. And in the course of filming, I learned a few things. I learned that…

- Sticking a camcorder in front of someone can severely limit motor skills.

- Some of us can actually sing (Katy and Jason). Yo, Susan Boyle- watch your back.

- Exiting a bathroom stall – while singing and eating a candy cane – wasn’t nearly as cool as I thought it would be. Perhaps bathroom humor is best left to the experts.

Without much further ado, here’s a short clip of outtakes and bloopers, as well as the original, just in case you missed it. Enjoy.

Image by sniggy via Flickr

Today is Blog Action Day. The issue being written about and discussed around the planet is Climate Change. We have asked one of our Pinnacle Worldwide partners, Jonathan Wootliff, who has spent his life immersed in corporate responsibility and climate change issues to write a guest blog post. Thanks much Jonathan!

The heat’s now on corporations to address the growing challenge of global warming.

With less than 50 days to the international climate change summit in Copenhagen, the issue is increasingly making headlines.  As consumer and other stakeholders’ concerns grow, there are heightened expectations of business to help fix the problem.

Crop failures, coastal erosion, extinction of endangered species, lack of fresh drinking water and severe economic effects are just some of the dire consequences predicted by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Without doubt, this is The Issue of the Century. And it’s got to be the most sizzling corporate affairs topic.

President Obama says global warming is an urgent threat, and wants the US to lead in confronting the climate crisis.  A key condition of GM’s bail-out is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its products.  The Environmental Protection Agency is reaching out to companies through its Climate Leaders program to encourage the development of comprehensive climate change strategies.

As the American Clean Energy and Security Bill makes its way to the Senate, the big question is what does all this mean for business?

What impact do companies have on climate change?  What steps are they taking to reduce their carbon footprint?  Are they contributing to the problem or to the solutions?

This is clear public affairs territory.

As a former Greenpeace Director, I know it’s the ideal time for me to start a new Corporate Accountability practice at specialist issues management firm, Reputation Partners.
Credibility of environmental activists is riding high, andthey’re sharpening their focus on corporations.  Business must find ways to work with civil society.  Corporations need smart strategies like never before.

It’s a perfect storm for our profession.  And it’s a perfect opportunity for brilliant businesses brains.

I’ll put money on Obama dropping in on the Copenhagen summit as he flies in to neighboring Oslo to collect his Nobel Peace Prize in December.  That will give yet more air time to this burning issue.

Corporations must be prepared.  I look forward to exchanging ideas with fellow professionals as to how we can give the best advice to ensure that business is seen as climate hero, and not the villain.

by Jonathan Wootliff, Head of Corporate Accountability, Reputation Partners

jonathan@reputationpartners.com

This week is the official launch of pedicab advertising campaign for Seaport Village.

Ten cabs from Yellow Bike Cab will be running the ads in the downtown area for the next three months. The ads are an extension of Seaport’s existing advertising campaign and coincide with summer — when Seaport sees it’s largest crowds.

What makes this campaign unique is that not only were we able to buy space on the pedicabs, we also created t-shirts with wording that ties-in to the cab messaging. The shirts will be worn by the cab drivers throughout the campaign.

Check out the photos of the final product below and this video we made showing how the pedicab company applied the artwork to the cabs. Neat!

Shirt reads: “Stop staring at my butt”

Shirt reads: “No weight limit”

Shirt reads: “My other ride is a carousel”

Last week the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau hosted a media fam with about 25 freelance travel writers from around the country. A fam is short for familiarization and involves lots of trudging around from one visitor spot to another, with bouts of eating and drinking in between. I know hard work. But actually it is, the days are very long (10- 14 hours), and the media really are troopers about it.

This group stayed at the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown (our client) and on Friday morning during the hotel’s presentation, were asked the question “How many of you know about Earth Hour?”.  Surprisingly few hands went up. So my client shared this video with them and let them know that on Saturday night at 8:30 pm, the hotel would be shutting off all non essential lights in the public areas and asking hotel guests to turn off their room lights and come downstairs and have a drink on the house, in the candlelight.

The hotel was sold out, so to ask every guest to participate was to expose a whole lot of people who probably knew nothing about Earth Hour to this global observance about climate change. We even convinced our client to do a 12second video. Sometimes I just have to toot a client’s horn. This was a very cool thing to do!

And just because it’s so great, here’s another great link to the night from the Boston Globe’s site. Worth a click. I can’t wait to see what happens next year. I think Earth Hour will really take off in the US in 2010.

It seems the San Diego Union Tribune isn’t the only newspaper in a fight for its life. Ten other major newspapers across the country are reported to be on the outs too. According to an article published by The Center for Media Research, an estimated eight of the fifty largest daily newspapers in the U.S. could cease publication in the next eighteen months. And though this news doesn’t come as a huge surprise, it does serve as an indication of where we’re headed as a country when it comes to where we go for our news.

So, how are people taking this news? PewResearch reveals in one of their recent reports that only 43% of Americans say that losing their community newspaper would greatly hurt the civic life of their community. And, mere 33% of American’s say that they would “miss” reading their local community newspapers.

Consensus is — out with old and in with the new…

Watch to find out… http://adage.com/brightcove/lineup.php?lineup=1182767334

Even though our beloved Charger’s aren’t playing in this years Superbowl, we San Diegan’s still have something to be proud of. One of the commercials scheduled to air–not once, but twice– during the Superbowl come out of an agency located right here in San Diego.

To have one of your commercials run during the Superbowl is like winning the lotto in the Advertising industry, which is why the Mering-Carson agency located in Encinitas, has reason to celebrate.

The young man making this all possible is Chris Roberts, a fellow alumni from Point Loma Nazarene University. His 30-second commercial called “The Chase” was one of five finalists chosen in the Doritos Superbowl ad competition. Chris’s success reinforces what we’ve been saying all along — San Diego’s creative is among some of the nations best. Congratulations Chris!

 Traditionally, the Inauguration of a President was either heard on the radio or watch on a television. However, the Inauguration of President Obama surpassed all, with people tuning in via live webcasts and social networks such as Twitter and live blogs. AdAge Daily News reported that Obama’s Inauguration will likely “have been watched by more people and on more platforms than virtually any other televised event in U.S. history — including the Super Bowl.” History in the making in more ways than one!