Some colleagues and I were discussing the branding of the Green Works cleaning products when I was in New York last week. As you may know, Green Works is the eco-friendly brand by Clorox. The question was whether Clorox was literally too harsh of a master brand for a group of products marketed for environmentally friendly properties. If Clorox equals bleach, can a Clorox product equal eco-friendly.

When you see the product on the shelf, “Green Works” is the primary brand. This is emphasized by the sunflower drawing and logo. The Clorox logo is also there, but smaller and lower on the package. This allows Clorox to serve as an enabler brand to Green Works. It gives Green Works credibility to the shopper that the product comes from a trusted brand. And having a third-party endorsement from the U.S. EPA helps to verify that this is a genuine green product. I do find it confusing that Clorox chose to have both clear and white packaging, but that is most likely due to the color of the cleaning product itself inside the white packaging.

As a direct brand, Clorox would have had some difficulty going after the green-conscious consumer. Green Works allows them to target this segment with a primary brand. But a green product must also fulfill its primary function, as well as be environmentally safe. If a cleaning product does not perform the job of a good detergent, few people are going to buy it. Both the name “Green Works,” and (more importantly) the Clorox logo tells the consumer that this product will get the grime out, while being safe.

Clorox is a believable endorser brand because of its history. Having non-chlorine bleach products, such as Clorox 2, also helps to close the perceptual gap.

Choosing how to align your parent brands and sub-brands is an important step as you extend your company’s products and services into new customer segments. Think it through and test it out.

Popularity: 60% [?]

Taking green energy products and technologies to market has a unique set of challenges. Many companies have an unrealistic expectation of market penetration (build it and they will come). Yesterday I attended a symposium on entrepreneurial opportunities in the green market, sponsored by the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. It was time well spent with Spencer Beebe, founder of EcoTrust, venture capitalists and the heads of local, sustainable businesses in the Portland area.

On the “What’s Investable?” panel were experts in alternative energy funding (Dave Chen from Equilibrium Capital, Mike Butler from Cascadia Capital, Steve Eichenlaub from Intel Capital and Wayne Ebree from Reference Capital). I asked them, from their experience, how the market dynamics for altrernative energy differed from traditional hightech market dynamics. There were some key differentiators.

Firstly, thedevelopment of solutions takes longer. They are seeing more incremental solutions than brand new technology deployments. Partly this is due to the intensve capital it takes to develop solutions, without the clarity of a sure ROI for investors.

Secondly, new solutions face a huge chasm of governmental regulations. In some cases these regulations at all levels of government can help speed up adoption of new technologies (e.g. ethanol). But more often, they slow down deployment due to overlapping and conflicting guidelines and rules. Most companies do not forsee how complex this barrier can be.

Like traditional high-tech olutions, new energy solutions must solve a real problem and fit into the existing infrastructure, and be able to rely upon a sustainable supply chain. Once adopted, however, the levers of deployment are huge. The trick is to understand what can cause your solution to fall into the cham, manage your capital and burn rate, and work with the existing energy infrastructures rather than try to re-invent the fundamentals.

More from the OEN Green Advantage symposium later on… 

Popularity: 48% [?]

Notice how many brands are promoting “green?” That can be good news for consumers, and hopefully the planet. But it could be bad news for you if you want to bring a green product to market. The market is so inundated with organic, local and sustainable products that consumers are beginning to experience a “green fog.” It’s difficult for them to sort out what is truly good for the environment and what they can do about it in their own lives. And they have a healthy skepticism that companies really do something significant to improve the environment or that a product is truly green. What can you, as a manufacturer, do?

One key step is to be very crisp in your positioning. Before you market your green product, ask yourself these questions:

1. Who is your product for? Be specific. Just saying that it is for those interested in a healthier lifestyle or an environmentally friendly product is too vague to help you position correctly. Do you need to appeal to different generations?

2. What exactly is your product or brand and how specifically is it helping the environment? Is the primary value of your product its low impact on the environment or is that an extra bonus? Which do your customers care about?

3. Is the core function (cleaning, printing, playing music) as good as, or better than, the competition? You don’t get a pass on the quality of the basic function of your product just because it’s “green.”

4. What are the specific attributes you can claim, both for the core functions and the environmental friendliness? Is it specific in the materials you use? Is it your company’s redesigned supply chain? Is it because you have reduced your intake of raw materials? Your answers will help determine what exactly you should promote.

5. How will you promote your green attributes? With a key message on the packaging? In advertising and PR? Wherever it is, be simple and direct. Make the advantage and the proof points easy to find.

Having crisp and clear answers to the questions above will help customers cut through the “green fog” and see the true value of your brand and your products.

Popularity: 55% [?]