The document discusses marketing challenges and strategies for clean and green technology companies. It notes that clean tech presents both opportunities in new audiences like governments and disruptive potential against entrenched industries. However, clean tech marketing requires balancing commercial and environmental messages, proving credibility through actions like audits, and finding the right tone between passion and practicality. Partnerships can help navigate these complex issues of positioning clean tech benefits against the need for realistic support and return on investment claims.
11. Balance your green story with your commercial story Most buyers still have bottom-line motivators
12. Be scrupulous Success depends on credibility & authenticity. Don’t puff the numbers and don’t smear the facts. Never fake it.
13. Beware of ‘Parapet Risk’ • Being accused of greenwashing • Being held to a higher standard than non-green peers Body Shop were criticized more than Wal-Mart on green issues!
14. Prove your commitment don’t just claim it. • Walk the green talk • Get a green audit • Cut travel & waste • Promote recycling • Look at your whole carbon footprint • Think 360˚
15. Make your claims meaningful and dramatic. Give politicians the stories they need: “ Saves the equivalent of a new power station each year.” “ Enough to power Omaha and Oslo.”
16. Lobby hard Work the influencers: politicians and the media. Use your embassies overseas.
17. But lobby intelligently. Don’t alienate your buyers by overtly going over their heads to apply pressure.
18. Use social media. A powerful new tool for engagement with your audiences. Use it to listen and to help shape the debate.
19. Don’t be afraid of passion. It’s okay to show you really care about the benefits your technology delivers to society and the planet. A dull, clinical tone wastes a major asset.
20. Pass the positioning test: Relevant: adds real value Available: it’s unique Attainable: it’s credible
21. It’s a balancing act. Big claims vs credible support Vision vs practicality Greenness vs ROI Altruism vs Authenticity
22. Don’t go it alone. Find a partner who has been there before...
23. About us Velocity is a B2B marketing agency with a growing clean tech/green tech practice. We bring a fresh spin to digital marketing, including content marketing, social media, online pr, demand generation, lead nurturing and anything that can help tech companies break through, get heard, motivate markets, generate leads and win business.