Green Options

Earth Day brings out the best (or worst) examples of greenwashing.

I simply ignored most of the PR pitches I got in the last couple of weeks, but one stood out to me as an absolutely ridiculous spin on a product.

I’m going to take a chance and give it more publicity than it’s worth. Here’s the pitch I got:

“Monopoly®: Planet Earth Edition gives fans the chance to buy, sell and trade the earth’s most natural resources, landscapes, and animals Monopoly® style.”

Looking for another good PR tip? I know I may late to the game, but a friend just told me about Peter Shankman’s site HARO.

HARO (an acronym for Help A Reporter Out) is a site that publishes by email (and Twitter when “urgent”) requests from reporters for expert advice. You receive one to two emails a day with a dozen or so requests; typically, at least one or two of the requests are for “green” experts or products.

A typical request look like this:

A freelancer for Ideal Bite/Mama Bite posts:

“I am working on a few different pieces for “beach week” and am looking for kids sandals, bathing suits and hats that are eco-friendly — Made of organic or eco-friendly materials–recycled etc. Please put HARO-Beach-(Your Product) in the subject line.”

Requests also indicate whether you will be treated as an anonymous source and give a deadline.

By Contributing Writer Melissa Chungfat | Part of Green Printer’s ‘Design Goes Green’ dispatch.

Thanks to blogs, websites, Facebook, and the ever-growing list of social media tools, people have the ability and power to educate themselves about anything they please. It is harder for companies to get away with lies about their products and misleading messages. People can easily look up “greenwashing” or “what is an organic product?” in a search engine and in a matter of seconds, they have a list of resources that cuts through the PR.

So how can companies who are taking sincere environmental initiatives market themselves credibly?

Talking with Corey Szopinski, Principal and Founder of Core Industries.

Your firm has worked on some pretty cool projects like Live Earth and Pepsi, 1% for the Planet and the Volkswagen Carbon Neutral Project. Tell us what your clients come to your company for and what makes Core Industries different from other interactive strategy, design and development firms.

We’re the next evolution of a boutique interactive marketing firm. We are one of the few very high end development shops that has a clear mission of focusing on the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. Clients come to us because they know that we get invested in their projects, their company, and their people, because we care about what we’re doing… we not out to make a quick buck. In fact, our overall mission is to help foster the emerging green economy. Our way of doing that is by using graphic design, computer science and marketing strategy to help our clients be more “sustainable”. And for us sustainability has a dual meaning: it means being responsible for our environment, but it also means making sure the business is sustainable. In other words, we help our clients thrive, not just survive.

GreenSource (promises every other monthly green building case studies, policy updates and technical features. It is a valuable a community for both buyers and suppliers. Buyers have a resource for what’s new in green building solutions, so if you are doing any remodeling or expansion, there is lots of good information. Suppliers have both a targeted advertising and PR vehicle. Free press is worth its weight in gold.

I asked Dean to tell me a little about his business and give us some advice for ecopreneurs interested in marketing and PR - and who isn’t?

Some tidbits from our conversation

So, Dean, What makes KoiFish Communications unique?

Marketplace Radio wants to hear from green business owners about how they are doing in the down economy.  Looking at their Web survey form, it seems that they are looking for companies to feature in stories as much as they are in taking the pulse of green business at the moment.

Perhaps it is an opportunity to get some publicity for your business.

Regardless of whether you are able to get any free PR, by participating, you will also be contributing to a discussion about issues that may be critical to your green business’ success.

As a blogger and freelance journalist, I receive several to many press releases a day, promoting all sorts of products, web sites and events. As a marketing consultant, I write press releases for my clients and struggle with the time and energy that goes into creating something which, well… often isn’t read.

Silicon Valley Watcher, Tom Foremski puts it nicely:

Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of top-spin, they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes…

Press releases are created by committees, edited by lawyers, and then sent out at great expense through Businesswire or PRnewswire to reach the digital and physical trash bins of tens of thousands of journalists.