The New Rules of Green Marketing

Stragegies, Tools, and Inspiration for Sustainable Branding

By: Jacquelyn Ottman

Narrated by: Caroline Miller

Green products have been around since the 1970s, but it's only in recent years that they've become ubiquitous. It's not because consumers suddenly prize sustainability above all. It's because savvy green marketers are no longer trying to "sell the earth" -instead they're promoting the value their products provide: better health, superior performance, good taste, cost-effectiveness, or simply convenience. This central emphasis on primary benefits - the new rules - is critical to winning over the mainstream consumer.

The New Rules of Green Marketing helps readers understand why value-based sustainability marketing has become a critical organizational capacity and how they themselves can adopt this approach. Drawing on the latest data from leading researchers and reflecting on learnings from her corporate clients and other pioneers - including GE, Nike, Method, Starbucks, Timberland, HP, NatureWorks, Procter & Gamble, Stonyfield Farm, and Wal-Mart - Ottman provides practical strategies, tools, and inspiration for building every aspect of a credible value-based green marketing strategy. She covers using a proactive approach to sustainability to spur innovation, developing products that are green throughout their life cycle, communicating credibly to avoid accusations of "greenwashing", teaming up with stakeholders to maximize outreach to consumers, taking advantage of social media, and much more.

This book takes the best of Ottman's previous groundbreaking work it into the 21st century. Her new rules relegate traditional "green guilt" approaches to the recycling bin of history, break green products out of their niche and, ultimately do a far better job of advancing the triple bottom line of people, profits, and planet.

©2011 J. Ottman Consulting, Inc (P)2012 J. Ottman Consulting, Inc.

Out of date

Good structure but out of date information with regard to sustainability. Needs to be updated. Good for someone being introduced to corporate sustainability.

Going green to survive? Competitive advantage?

This book is a bit long, but I keep with it, and i did learn a lot, from engagement of staff to lobbing, effort in CSR initiatives...even if this book can be heavy at time with lots of datas and numbers, it make all sense and give you a idea that environment issues can have real datas.

Cynical Greenwashing

This book is quite dated but, worse than that, it is disturbingly dishonest and an ongoing advertisement, often for companies that are far from green. Now, don't get me wrong, there is virtue in greening any company. But when you tout Walmart as green for purchasing local foods without so much as mentioning the amount of LPS (little plastic...stuff) that they ship from China, you are acting in extreme bad faith. When you say that green must be linked to social justice but fail to point out the Walmart is significantly subsidized by tax payers because they underpay their employees who must seek public assistance, you are acting in extreme bad faith. I don't mind that this author uses examples from companies that are not tree hugging green, in fact I think that it could be a good thing, but when she fails to point out the places that these companies violate the very principles that she is extolling them for, it is clear that she is a biased sales person. This book is one long ad for any number of companies, some have great practices, some... not so much.