Will the Dogs Eat the Dogfood?

February 1, 2010

PhotobucketI’ll never forget the first time I heard this expression — which is, of course, a rather crude way of asking if a certain product or service has appeal to one or more target market segments. I was sitting in a meeting with a few of my clients at IBM when someone asked me for my opinion on the subject.  I tried to conceal that I felt vaguely insulted, as I had built my career around the process of asking and answering this question – and I guess I wasn’t flattered by having it reduced to level of unrefined simplicity.

But I urge readers to develop and implement processes that get at these market basics. As yourself tough questions:

Who needs what I’m selling? Exactly why? What are the gut-wrenching needs of my target market that are addressed uniquely by my product or service?

Once those basics are in place, get at higher levels of refinement:

How should I position my product or service? I.e., how should I communicate my offering in a word or two that will generate an immediate and positive association in the mind of the market?  What exactly is my brand — and what’s the best way to express its meaning? 

An electric vehicle company near Atlanta called Tomberlin has a sport buggy called the “Anvil.” In the very name of the product, they’ve positioned it as a heavy, low-tech object – normally stationary – which, when it happens to be in motion, usually brings to mind falling to earth, causing injury. To say the very least, I would have recommended against that. (You may think I’m making this up. I’m not; check it out here.)

Yet the process of deriving correct (or incorrect) positioning is seldom as clear-cut as this. Excellence in this space is critically important, but it’s not a straightforward task. In any case, if you’d like help on this — or any other aspect of marketing your clean energy product or service, please don’t hesitate to call or write. CONTACT US HERE.

By Craig Shields | Posted in Renewables - Business | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Matching Your Brand to Customers’ Self-Expression

September 28, 2009

PhotobucketAs part of my report “25 Tips for Renewable Energy Businesses” I include an idea that I call “Match Your Brand to Customers’ Self-Expression.”

I believe that the most fundamental ingredient in successful marketing is understanding your target market’s “self-concept.” Generally, people like themselves; they approve of who they are and how they think. And they manifest this self-concept by aligning themselves with brands that reflect that approval back to them. If you doubt this, I offer this simple challenge: write down a few of the values that are at the core of your own self-concept—the beliefs that make you who you really are. I think you’ll find that the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the books you read, etc., are all a very direct reflection of those values.  And no place is this more important than in the marketing of environmentally sustainable products and services.

I know that you and I are are totally wrapped up in the idea of clean energy — both on a personal and professional viewpoint – and I’m cautious about thinking that everyone on Earth is as tuned into this as we are – which is obviously not the case. But each time I wash my 14 year old BMW with its 206,000 miles on it, I remind myself of the promise I made to myself (that I’ll never my another car without a plug on it). I’m SO done with traditional transportation, with defining myself in terms of what I drive, with needing a car that will go 130 MPH, with driving a car that causes a little piece of environmental death each time I step on the gas. I simply can’t help but think that other people must be tired of this stupidity as well.

I believe most of the 25 tips apply fairly well to businesses of all types, but I have to think this concept is even more relevant in the clean energy space. As I’ve written elsewhere, the zeitgeist that surrounds environmental stewardship is probably the most pronounced and sweeping trend of the 21st century. 

I’m reminded of the seachange that took place in the fur industry in the 1960s, when civilization took hold of the brutality by which minks and chinchillas were slaughtered to make ladies’ coats.  In a very short period of time, women who didn’t get the message and weren’t willing to make this minor sacrifice were regarded as pariahs.  It seems to me that the situation is the same now, with Hummer drivers and others who somehow haven’t developed some level of eco-consciousness. 

In a few words (by no means original), I would say that this consciousness is summed up as:

I live in a world where others’ rights — even the rights of those as yet unborn — are just as important is mine.

I do not own the Earth or any piece of it; I am a caretake of Earth for a short period of time.

I am proud and happy to make sacrifices of my own convenience and comfort to ensure that the world a better place for us all to live — now and forever.

My advice:  Do some research to validate the idea that this spirit is alive in your target customer base.  If it is, work hard to capture the essence of that spirit in your marketing.

By Craig Shields | Posted in Renewables - Business | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)