Ecological
niche marketing is an opportunity for your business to do the right thing and
be rewarded for it. Trends suggest that
businesses that don’t identify as ecologically friendly or local in the next
decade will risk being labelled as low-rent or hopelessly out of date. Avoid that fate: get in on the lower level, if not the ground floor. Real and substantial economic rewards await those
who approach ecological and sustainable niches with a sincere concern and good
ideas.
You
know what all these words mean by themselves.
When put together they spell out a powerful and very 21st
century approach to selling products and services. Not only are you selling your wares but also, offering consumers
a better deal or better way of doing things that is set apart from the
conventional. You’re helping people be consumers
for good rather than just good consumers.
Firstly,
it helps to know just what people mean when they talk about “greening” up their
product. Whether you’re a small
business owner or a fledgling in the marketing department of a large chain, it
helps to have a solid background in what you’re trying to accomplish. It is also helpful to see how history has
treated such movements and how they responded.
Lastly, some places serve as models that you can draw inspiration and
ideas from. When looking at what these
places have in common, we find a pattern of innovation that you can emulate.
Sometimes
called "green marketing" or "natural branding," among other
things, the whole concept is based upon the notion that being environmentally
friendly might be part of the successful marketing strategy of a product,
service or anything. Most consumers are
savvy enough now to realize they have a "vote" with everything they
purchase. Though still a minority,
there is a sizeable and ever-growing segment of the population that bases much
of their consumption decisions on their perceptions of how a product will
affect the environment and themselves.
Environmental
niche marketing is also about creating that niche where it may not have existed
before. There was no modern $4 coffee
market until Starbucks created it.
There were no Organics until farmers who have always practiced
sustainable agriculture decided to market their produce as such. No one cared what sort of light bulbs they
had when energy was cheap and plentiful – it took the modification of
technology made for RVs and space flight to even bring low power consumption
products such as compact fluorescent light bulbs to market. In the end, the idea is to let sound
environmental practices be your guide to creating a new audience for your
product or service -- one that is willing to pay a premium to let you help them
do the right thing.
Lastly,
it's all about actually backing up any claims you might make as to the
environmentally benign nature of your business. In fact, not only do you have to live up to your claims, but you
need to market yourself in such a way that people will assume you're being
truthful. People who are already
looking for "green" products will avoid yours if it smells like a
hypocritical rat. This is your chance
to practice what you preach. For once,
those who play by the rules will be rewarded.
It
is perhaps useful to note here that the environment extends beyond plants,
animals, air and water. People are part
of the environment as well, since we all live in this world – a very large system
but closed for all intents and purposes.
People who are taken advantage of and suffer dire economic consequences
become desperate. Desperate people will
resort to any means just to stay alive.
Poaching, deforestation and pollution are very often the ultimate
consequences of violating human dignity.
Therefore, eco-marketing necessarily extends to human rights.