In today's rapidly expanding green market, there is no greater challenge facing marketers of green goods and services than making their brand or service relevant to the here and now. One thing is for sure, it won't be saving the planet one “whatever” at a time. Not in this time of economic concern and green fatigue.

Instead, the solution will be bringing the green message down to earth. Taking it from a cause to a because, and making it meaningful to the issues and concerns of everyday people in their everyday lives.

The questions every marketer should be asking right now are: How does my green product, service or initiative serve not only the planet but the people living on it? How do we translate what we have to offer into meaningful, motivating messages that break through the green haze? How do we marry ecology, economy, efficacy, and efficiency? How do we educate our customers to engender habit changing behavior?

Understanding these issues has led Mind Over Markets (affectionately known as MOM) to create paradigm-shifting campaigns and messages for many of our clients.

Mind Over Markets has a simple philosophy. We believe in bringing logic to the ecologic message -- creating sound strategic reasoning that results in shifting consumer purchase habits. We believe that an accessible, powerful brand creates share of mind and share of market. That relevancy leads to desirability. That being meaningful makes you purchasable.

The bottom line is that it's no longer good enough to just be green, you have to be great. Great products, like great people, deliver beyond expectation. The real issues are whether your product or service does the job better, more economically, and more efficiently -- with less ecological impact. Whether it's positioned better, packaged better and communicates its unique promise of value better.

When you remind consumers that the one environment they have control over is the one they live and work in; when their health and the health of their families are the issues on the table; when ecology means gain, not pain; green becomes not merely relevant but, for most of us, vital. The challenge is to tell it well, with logic and wit, information and education, style and substance.

For BioShield, a manufacturer of non-toxic, zero VOC paints and floor coverings, the branding line “Beauty without the Beast” assured their customers that they could accomplish their initial objective, to beautify their home or office, without having to sacrifice their health, the health of their family or the planet at large.

For BioShield's children's line of paints, KinderPaint, MOM created the campaign “There Really is a Monster in Your Child's Room.” The monster being the toxic off-gassing of conventional paints, carpets and wall coverings. We understood that no mother or father, wanting to create a happy and healthy environment for their child, would not be moved by knowing the potential harmful effects that certain conventional products could have on the health and safety of their child. We redesigned their catalog and built in educational “Did you know?” phrases and elements that educated customers about why they should and could have “Beauty without the Beast” for their family. This campaign increased their sales by 62%.

For PALNET, our national wooden pallet client, we created the eco-branding campaign line, “PALNET. The Greenest Link in Your Supply Chain.” Focusing on the growing pressures of pallet buyers to green-up their supply chain, we told the ecological story of PALNET by illustrating the lifecycle of their pallet from scrap trim (that would be destined for a landfill) to their eventual end as garden mulch. To dramatize that lifecycle, we featured a bag of mulch on the cover of their sustainability brochure with the line, “This used to be a PALNET pallet.”

When Summit Energy, a leading provider of energy management to Fortune 500 companies, wanted to announce their sustainability services, we created the Green GPS (Green Positioning System) and helped message and launch a dedicated sustainability website announcing and highlighting Summit's many sustainability services. Their Green GPS site allowed potential customers to create a customized “route” to measure, gauge and evaluate their carbon footprint, energy usage and sustainability index.

When Presbyterian Health Care decided to build a LEED certified hospital, our prescription for a better branding line was, “A Healthier Approach to Health Care.” The ad we presented that announced their new hospital read, “Taking the LEED in Santa Fe.” We saw the building as part of the healing process because healthier buildings lead to a healthier environment for staff and patients. To highlight the unconventional menus and healthy food offerings in their cafeteria, our ad read, “Our Cafeteria is a Healtheteria.”

The Santa Fe Farmers Market is so much more than just produce. It's a much beloved, looked-forward-to weekly happening and social gathering. It's what gets weary Santa Feans up early on a Saturday morning to be sure Gary doesn't run out of his organic lettuce before you get there.

Our goal was to say that everything you could want for a super fresh, local meal and a people-filled, social experience was at the market. Just the right mix of vendors, bakers, farmers, musicians, craftspeople, and of course the many characters that make Santa Fe such a fun and interesting place. Hence, “All the Right Ingredients” became the market's branding line and Santa Feans ate it up.

For more than 10 years, MOM has helped green companies find their way and their voice. Our goal is to take green products, services and initiatives from the fringe to the mainstream where the greatest opportunities for growth reside. We call that Greenstreaming.

Our team has a long and successful track record of achieving these goals. Our principals are recognized leaders in the world of green marketing. They speak, lecture and are widely published because of their expertise, knowledge, hands-on approach and understanding of the green market and consumer.

They co-author the Green Marketing Blog, a definitive, thought-provoking and educational guide to marketing success in the green products world. Their highly popular podcast, America the Green, was one of the most successful environmental podcasts on i-Tunes.

They are featured authors on green marketing in the Reuter's Inside the Minds book series and they are currently writing their own book Kermit is Dead: How to Succeed in the Maturing Green Market.

MOM's clients include alternative energy, organics, home dècor, natural pet food, health and beauty aids, garden products and lawn services, non-toxic paints, green cleaning products, organic diapers, educational institutions, pallets, recycling companies, green real estate, and more.

Memberships:
Green Business Network of Santa Fe
Santa Fe Business Alliance
Green America
International Coaches Federation

Board Advisor:
Earth Care International