What’s “Sustainable” in Marketing Trends?

• by Dan Bailey

Pro-environmental initiatives have existed in the consumer public face for decades. Currently we see an unprecedented amount of buzz around new green trends in the marketplace and public consumption. Thing is – which will last? Just this decade many products and predictions have come and gone – no one seems to really know what will pervade. Ultimately, the question is, which “sustainability” initiatives will actually, well, “sustain”?

Specifically, my latest reading comprises a springwise.com article, “Connecting buyers and sellers of locally grown food” (http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/localdirt/ ). Which isn’t a bad approach by the way – it concerns specifically the growing consumer demand for locally grown, organic and sustainable produce (LOS). A very “grass roots” approach to product packaging and distribution, if you will. Due to end-benefits of health and regional acclamation, I think LOS may continue to strengthen its “roots.” However this article specifically seems to promote a revitalization of the old WebVan idea. Can that dinosaur of eCommerce strategy find new success with a slightly different product in today’s uncertain economic environment?

One of the increasing emphases in online marketing today is honesty. Time and again we’ve seen the heavily schlackered advertising-speak fly in the face of modern corporate blogging and social media campaigns. But also, there needs to be an accute awareness of what the public wants; what’s in demand. Fortunately, the Web today offers myriad ways to ascertain this information. So the “easy” answer is, if consumers honestly say they are willing to pay for something, and the provider honestly presents the offering, success there can be “sustained.”

For more on issues of sustainability marketing in the world of Web 2.0, see my thesis at: http://www.zenofbrand.com/tech_industry/11ViralGreen09Aull.pdf