by Worldchanging local blogger, Brian Smith: On May 5, 2007, PR Week (a national trade journal) held an ambitious event “Target Green: Making Sustainability Work.” The stated goal of the conference was to highlight how corporations are “making meaningful changes that benefit the company, and the planet, and how PR and marketing play a crucial role.” Spokespeople at the conference came from some of the largest corporations on Earth: GE, Dow Chemical, Dell, Sun Microsystems, Siemens, UTC, Phillips, and even, ExxonMobil. Up on stage left and right, jumbotron screens flashed the names of the sponsors: big media, food companies, and international marketing firms. Next, single words flash in Orwellian repetition in white letters on green background: “Authenticity,” “Credibility,” “Responsibility,” “Sustainability.” The timing of such an event was clear. Green marketing has become the 21st century’s version of “Customer Knows Best.” And without a working knowledge of Green marketing, corporate PR teams would fall hopelessly behind the curve. Massive piles of investor cash are headed in the direction of Green products and companies. To catch the wave, every company must find a way to describe what they do as environmental. And to a certain extent, we did that. How? By… (more)
(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Branding and Marketing at 12:33 PM)