Riding the eco-marketing wave

I am an avid believer that you never stop learning and that you should never miss an opportunity to meet a few new people. So when I was sent details about the first event in the 2012 programme of ‘Ride the Wave’ from the Brighton Chamber of Commerce and Brighton and Hove City Council I was delighted to see the range of great, free events planned for the next six months.

As an eco interior and landscape designer, the first event, ‘Eco-marketing: selling an environmental brand’ looked very interesting indeed and I booked my place without hesitation.

Come the afternoon there were a few faces I knew from previous events across the city - but plenty I did not know, so over a quick coffee I chatted to a few very interesting people and made some great contacts before we officially began.

A warm up exercise is always helpful to break the ice and make people comfortable, so after an introduction to the afternoon, Erica Russell from BSK-CiC asked us to turn to our neighbour and complete the classic 2 minute elevator pitch – who you are, what you do, what are your goals, who is your target audience etc.

My neighbour, Clive Bonny and I had never met, but within the allotted time we listened, asked questions and made notes on each other so after only a few minutes we were able to recall to the rest of the group exactly what the other did, for how long and what their goals were. It was a great practice of an often overlooked but essential skill which was relevant to us all – especially when it comes to the subject of communicating, which is ultimately what marketing is concerned with.

Ice broken, we settled to listen to Erica, who guided us through the key stages of marketing and how terminology, attitudes and spends have altered in the ‘eco’ sector over the past few years. This was extremely interesting to note – is eco considered a premium, whatever the product of service? Should the product or service just be great, with the underlying foundation that it is ethical also? And what does that mean for different people?

One opinion was given by guest speaker Nigel Berman, the founder of online shop ‘Nigel’s Eco Store’. By monitoring the items people bought, he was able to clearly target email marketing for similar items to the right people. Different consumers were identified, from those who buy green items for the home to those whose main drive was to save money through energy saving. The increase in this last consumer had directed Nigel to add the phrase ‘the resourceful retailer’ to his online shop – it saves you money, and yes, it is eco too. An interesting demonstration of points raised by Erica earlier in the session.

Ways of marketing were then discussed with the entire group – what are the benefits of awards, is your website up to date, how to use social media and blogging to the benefit of your business and how this differs for different users.

PR was also on the list, and second guest speaker Jasmin Robertson from Sussed PRgave an excellent overview of what PR is, how it can be used and what you can expect it to achieve. Jasmin gave examples of how this differs from local to national press as well as the different forms of PR most commonly seen.

This concluded the afternoon, and after a few more networking chats I left the event – with some great ideas for my own design studio marketing and a collection of great contacts for the future. A brilliant afternoon. 

By Claire Potter, Claire Potter Design
Read Claire's daily eco design blog, The Ecospot.

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