New Media Opportunities for Green Companies

It looks like the mainstream media has just woken up to the Green Movement. In the period leading up to and including Earth Day 2007, it was nearly impossible to find a newspaper, magazine or view a website or TV newscast that didn't have a Green feature or two. Many businesses I spoke to felt overwhelmed by the crush of attention, worrying that they had missed out on the bonanza they had always waited for.  But have no fear!  the wave of interest in all things Green is far from over. In fact, it is just beginning to reach beyond the choir.

New Entrants Flourish. Until recently, Green coverage has been the bastion of niche publishers targeting hard-core environmentalists both in print and on the internet.  But as Green goes mainstream, major American publishers are increasing their offerings of "green" content, hoping to attract readers and advertising revenues from manufacturers and retailers who are promoting eco-friendly efforts. 

For instance, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, the online arm of The Washington Post Company, has just introduced Sprig.com, a new Web site aimed at environmentally conscious women.  Sprig.com will feature articles in five categories: food, fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle, with videos liberally mixed into each section. According to an interview in the New York Times, Spig's editor wants to "target the 95 percent of people who want to be 5 percent green,  not the 5 percent of people who want to be 95 percent green."

The National Geographic Society  is another interesting entrant. Their new site Green.NationalGeographic.com will include more than 2,000 pages of environmental news, how-to videos and tips on eco-friendly travel and activities.

Established Media Benefit Too.  The long-standing niche players are benefiting from the market expansion as well, with readership and traffic increasing, along with advertising revenue, as major marketers jump on the bandwagon.  Treehugger.com reported that its traffic has doubled since November to about 1.6 million monthly visitors.

What's a Green Business to Do?

As the market expands and competing publishers stake out different market segments, there will be many new opportunities to reach the Green Buyer through publicity, recipocal links, product reviews, advertising and co-promotions. If you've already invested in established Green media, the coming audience increase should pay great dividends for your business.

With respect to the "newly Greened" media, the trick will be to identify a few key media that reach your critical market segment and make sure you have explored all the listings, links and publicity opportunities associated with those channels. In many cases, these aren't even traditional consumer media - often trade magazines, association publications and e-newsletters, even nonprofit websites can be your most valuable placement.

So you can relax -- a little bit. But don't wait too long. The critical window for taking full advantage of this market opening will be the next 12 to 18 months. You will need to start sowing seeds soon if you want your efforts to bear fruit during this fertile time.

Let Green2B/Green2C Marketing help you get started by putting together a multimedia publicity plan to help reach your most important Green Buyer. Contact me at deb@popelyco.com to discuss how we can help you make the most of this exciting time of expanding opportunity!