From the monthly archives:

September 2008

The purchasing power of identity

09.30.2008

We live in the world of commodities: products and services are so abundant and varied, they have become hard to tell apart and choose from. Just what is the difference between Bank A and Bank B? Why choose Car X over Car Y? Blue jeans? They’re all blue! Confusion reigns. It’s brands that win. Brands [...]

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Speaking of “community”…

09.25.2008

The word gets just about as much overuse as sustainability. What exactly does “community” mean? Why is community important for a successful sustainable marketing strategy? The dry definition goes something like this: “Community is a cohesive social group or entity of human individuals possessing a unity of will and sharing interests, intents, beliefs, resources, preferences, [...]

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Community building as a sustainable marketing strategy

09.24.2008

Cultivating long-term relationships with target audiences is a very, if not the most, sustainable way of marketing. It’s much – 6 to 10 times – cheaper to keep a customer than to acquire a new one, and existing customers spend and refer more than new ones. The next step is to create sense of community [...]

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It’s not about you

09.23.2008

You have an innovative product or service that is bound to make the world a better place. You have an amazing website or even a sleek brick-and-mortar store. You have all the green – cash as well as credentials – that you need. Forget it. None of this matters. It’s really not about you. Trying [...]

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Sustainability beyond the environment

09.22.2008

Just as the commonly accepted definition of sustainable marketing is lacking, the commonly accepted scope of sustainability falls short of its true meaning. Sustainability means fulfilling our current needs in a way that preserves the ability of future generations to meet their own needs the same way we can. So far so good. Except that [...]

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So what is sustainable marketing anyway?

09.21.2008

“Green marketing” has become a term frequently tossed around in the corporate social responsibility and sustainability narratives. “Environmental marketing” and “sustainable marketing” follow closely as synonyms. All of these terms have come to signify the marketing of environmentally-safe or earth-friendly products. Yet even in the simplest, original 4P version of the marketing mix, Product is [...]

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