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Promoting Eco Friendly

Today there is a real demand for eco friendly products and services. Potential customers range from the housewife shopping at Wal-Mart to corporations wanting to clean up their environmental act. Everybody wants to go "green". Run the term "eco friendly" on your web browser and see how many "hits" you get. Would you believe over six million!

Promoting your product as "eco friendly" is a sure fire sales technique to generate interest. It shows that your company is responsible, innovative and on the cutting edge of new technology. Here's the catch. Don't get caught simply rebranding the same tired old product. Calling yourself "eco-friendly" isn't the same as being "eco-friendly." Your potential customer is going to ask "where's the beef." At that point you had better be able to back up your rosy sales presentation with some cold hard facts.

If you are going to promote your product or service as "eco friendly" you must be able to demonstrate most of the following points. First, is use of the product or service harmful to people or the general environment? Better yet, does the product or service help the environment? A disinfectant based on vinegar rather than bleach fits this requirement. Second, does production of your product or service involve potential or actual harm to the environment? Shoe leather might come from a renewable resource but its production creates some serious toxic waste. Third, what about the carbon footprint your product creates? Saying your product is locally manufactured and employs your neighbors is one thing. Promoting it as having a low carbon footprint due to local manufacture is much better.

Another way to promote "eco friendly" products is to stress that your product can be recycled. The aluminum industry has created a real success story with this technique. They can rightly claim that 89% of all aluminum used today is recycled. That fact that a similar percentage of steel is also recycled scrap hasn't gotten much promotion. That's one reason that the aluminum industry is thriving while steel is struggling. If your product or service involves recycling you've hit the jackpot. A company that produces railroad ties from recycled plastic has a built in advantage over someone who sells traditional wood beam ties.

Long-established companies should also promote being "eco friendly". The traditional methods of manufacturing products often involved some real environmental damage. These methods are no longer acceptable. Changes had to be made to avoid environmental liability. Newer methods of manufacturing, different materials or safer ways to provide services had to be found. The surprise was that these newer methods were also more cost-effective. Railroad ties made from scrap plastic are much cheaper than those made from wood.

It doesn't matter why a company changed their business plan to become environmentally responsible. Once it does the company should shout it from the rooftops. It's just good business.