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… 

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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.

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When the new WalMart logo appeared a few weeks ago, many of us speculated as to its intended meaning. What was that starburst all about? My belief is that it has to do with repositioning the WalMart brand against competitors such as Target, who allow WalMart to hold the low-end price leader position. But it’s a guess, because WalMart’s brand management has been so confusing.

The only thing stranger than the new corporate identity is the rollout itslef. I went visiting WalMart stores and saw no sign of the new logo. The old WalMart logo, with the star, was on the front signs, the shopping bags, the name tages, everywhere I looked - except on the bottom of the WalMart TV news screen. There the new starburst logo sat by itself. The familiar yellow smiley faces still filled the store, touting WalMart as the low-price leader. But the new logo was noticeably absent.

The rollout of the logo shows a brand identity program that is completely backwards. Let’s think about it. About 8 months ago, WalMart announced it would be selling organic produce. Aha! Something to entice the more upscale customer. But could they believe WalMart as a trusted provider of organic products? Hmm.

Then we got the new tagline on the radio and TV ads: “Save money. Live better.” So, now it’s not just about looking for the lowest price, but to live a richer life because I can spend my saved money on things that matter (hopefully on the organic produce). Months after that comes the new starburst logo, with no explanation. And dripped out ever so slowly. Have you seen the ads that have the old bags and the new logo? I can hear the discussion in the WalMart conference room. “Why waste money re-doing old footage when we can just edit the old ads and the new logo together?”

Yes, implementing a new logo costs money. If anyone understands supply chain costs, it’s WalMart.  But that is no excuse for getting the order of the brand identity all wrong. First we should have seen the new logo with a big messaging splash about how you can not only save money, but live the better life. Then, with that positioning firmly planted in our minds, should have come the proof points, such as the availability of organic produce.

This so-called campaign is a muddled mess. Yes, they saved some implementation costs. But they lost the brand message. Maybe their new tag line should be “Save money. Muddle brand.”

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An international brand always has to determine how to capture the hearts and minds of customers in local markets while maintaining its corporate identity. I think the folks at Coca-Cola have done a marvelous job of doing just that with their sponsorship of the Olympic Games in Beijing. They’ve always done well in China, and it helps that Coca-Cola translates into Mandarin as “Delicious Happiness.”

To build on their success, they’ve taken the Olympics platform, a symbol of human beings from around the world coming together, and created their “Design the World a Coke” campaign. This social media program invites consumers to redesign the iconic coke bottle.

Think about that - using the core design element of your global brand and encouraging individuals to play around with it - creating whole art galleries if they want to - and posting them on the web. The result is that it strengthens the global brand by playing on the theme of unity through diversity and individual creativity. All of this plays delightfully into “Delicious Happiness,” especially for the folks at Coca-Cola.

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Every brand needs to do four jobs for its customers: functional (what the products do); emotional (how I feel when I use the products); economic (do I feel this is a good use of my dollars); and social (help me feel connected and socially responsible). The social value of brands has been gaining quite a bit of momentum since the early 2000’s. Think of all the commercials you see where companies tout how they are good corporate citizens. They are trying to let you know that if you buy their products, you can feel good about your purchase.

Cynical? In some cases, yes. But if brands can truly discover not only what creates and emotional connection with their customers, but demonstrate a hgher social value (what Dave Norton calls “brand truth”), then they can pull away from their competitors. Consider the Body Shop.

Brand and product positioning based on higher social and emotional value can command a premium price in the market. Think ethos water, organic clothing for children, working vacations to Costa Rica vs. Cancun.

The social job is not always the most important and cannot be done at the sacrifice of brand trust. But it can add to your brand’s value.

Popularity: 51% [?]

Five Rules for Naming Your Brand

If you are just creating or re-inventing your company identity, you’re probably thinking about your brand, company or product name. It can be a daunting decision, and everyone, including your cat, will have an opinion. Here are five rules to help you be successful.

1. Choose a name that conveys a sense of benefit and value to your customers. My colleague Michael Thompson named his company Market Accelerators. Wow! Lots of energy and you know they’re really going to help you succeed quickly! It’s always tempting, and satisfying to the ego, to name your company after yourself, e.g. The Dan Berne Group. The problem is that no one, besides you, knows what it means. Is Tom Jones and Associatesa civil engineering firm or a medical practice? If you do have your name as the primary title of the business, then try to use a tag line to convey what it is you offer. In the Portland area, Lili Pang and Chris Hansen teamed up to form PANGHANSEN. But just below their combined name, they’ve added “creative group.” So there you get the sense that they are a design firm.

2. Convey a sense of stability. Customers and retailers like to know that they are dealing with someone who’s not totally new. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard famously named their first product, an audio oscillator built in their Palo Alto garage, the Model 200A (versus the 100). Even though it was the very first one, they wanted to create the impression that the product, and their brand new company, had been around for awhile. It worked! Walt Disney purchased the product and the birth of Silicon Valley began.

3. Try to avoid acronyms. Yes, historically high-tech comapnies have used them, but in today’s market, how will an acronym help you stand out? Use complete nouns and verbs to give a better sense of the value and to pack an emotional punch. Again, try to communicate your benefit and value, and what makes you different from the competition.

4. Put energy and emotion into your name and logo. Your customers and sellers want to know how you are going to benefitt them. What is the emotional message you want to convey to your customers and retailers? What do you stand for?  Are you professional and serious or fun and irreverent? The shape, colors, size and placement of characters all convey a visual statement. Think Nike swoosh.

5. Protect your name legally. You have, of course, researched your name and are sure that it is not infringing on other names and trademarks. Talk with an experienced trademark and IP attorney. In the age of the internet, this is more important than ever.

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I was recently advising a colleague on writing a brochure. The goal was to attract potential clients to purchase their products and consulting services. The first drafts she showed me proudly proclaimed the mission statement of their organization, which, if it were an academic or non-profit institution, may have made sense. But it did nothing to communicate the company’s positioning, their persona, nor did it answer the “what’s in it for me?” for the potential client.

The desire to communicate mission statements seems very strong in corporations. Even Disney has their mission statement front and center on their corporate page. But do you know what? NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR MISSION STATEMENT! OK, maybe the upper levels in your organization care. It’s doubtful that other departments in your company care. And even if they do, can’t we all just fill in the mission statement blanks…”to be the premier provider of X in the entire world!”

Instead of a mission statement, make sure your marketing collateral communicates the value proposition you have for your client, exactly what you are offering, and why they should choose you over other alternatives. A great way to do this is to pose a question that relates to a problem they need to solve or an opportunity they could easily benefit from.

Use language, colors and images that project your brand persona. Professional and straightforward or creative and irreverent? Let your brand personality come through, even as you provide the compelling hook and clear call to action..

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When it comes to maintaining a premium corporate identity, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has shown us how not to do it. The primary lesson from MSLO: It is easy to lower the value of a brand and much more difficult to raise the value of a brand.

Last week CEO Susan Lyne resigned from the company, having taken over MSLO in 2005 while Martha was preparing to try on the latest in ankle bracelets. During Lyne’s tenure, the stock price lost over 70% of its value. Lyne had had some previous successful ventures at ABC television, as well as launching Premiere Magazine. So what went wrong?

Many would blame Martha Stewart herself. How can you sustain a company brand around one personality, particularly when that personality is convicted on four felony counts of obstructing a feeral securities investigation? And she is a bit passe, no? Today it’s Rachel Ray and iron chefs. Still, Martha had many loyal fans.

A much deeper issue was in the comapny’s merchandising. Much like Harley-Davidson did in the ’80’s, Martha Stewart went for cash gain and cheap marketshare in 1997. They struck a deal with Kmart, who was in bankruptcy at that time. Why, many colleagues have asked me, would someone like Martha Stewart sell her merchandise in Kmart? According to Slate’s James Ledbetter, Kmart agreed to pay a minimum of $40M a year in royalties to MSLO through January 2003. For a while the cash cow concept worked in MSLO’s favor. But the struggling Kmart never got on its feet, merging with Sears in 2005. From 2003-2007, Kmart did not sell enough of Martha merchandise to pay anywhere near that original royalty. So the cash flow dries up and the Martha merchandise is selling next to the end-cap of cheap motor oil. And today, here’s Martha trying to pitch her brand as a premium buy at Macy’s. So which is it? Upscale premium or mass commodity? The market doesn’t like to view a brand with double vision. Hard on the yes, you know? And to make matters worse, MSLO has also cut a merchandising deal with Costco!

The simple rule of thumb is that you cannot extend a brand that far and expect it to retain its value. At best, MSLO should have created a low-end subbrand that could have stood for a price-value without trashing the entire brand (even GAP got that one right!). You need to manage your brand as a portfolio. You need to think long-term and not chase the easy dollars into commodity land.

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OK, we are in a recession. The question is what do you do about it? How should you adapt your marketing strategy? How can you retain the value of your brand during the downturn?

Rule # 1. Don’t panic. If you have a game plan, don’t jettison it. This is not the time to start a price war with your competitors. This period will end. It is always easier for a brand’s value to go down than to build it back up. If you do need to respond to a competitor’s pricing moves, match them, but don’t undercut them. You may start a spiraling down of the entire product category.

Rule #2. Continue to think long-term. Your customers’ real needs are still there. Continue to build value in your offerings. Even if they need to go away for a bit, if they know you are investing in what’s important to them. They need to know that you are in it for the long haul, that you have resources to weather you through. This will motivate them to continue to want to associate with your brand. I may not be buying a new BMW this year, but I sure don’t want them churning out the next Yugo to match the current size of my wallet.

Rule #3. Now is a good time to turn on reverse positioning.  If you’ve been thinking long-term, then hopefully you have adopted reverse positioning as part of your long-term strategies. This is where you can strip out some features of your product so that you can afford to add in some sizzle to the next generation. Think Gen2 of the iPod.

Rule #4.  Stay in touch with, and reward, your loyal customers. You still need to reach out to your targeted customers. Use online promotions and communications to stay in contact. Don’t just try to gain new customers. Also reward the customers wo have been loyal to you.

Rule #5.  Use your portfolio to your advantage. If you have a portfolio of products, your brand strategy should assign each of them a role to play in the market. Your low-end products should be used to extend your share and protect you from attacks from below. Don’t over promote these products, but do make sure they are available on the shelf. Likewise, use your higher end products to maintain your brand value and premium positioning.  

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What makes someone choose your brand over another? How do your products reflect your brand identity? As your promise of what you stand for in the marketplace, your brand must be both relevant to consumers and different from your competition. When you design for your brand, you integrate marketing analysis and design instincts. What’s going to be relevant to your customers is based on where your products are in their market life cycle, and on the spoken and unspoken needs of your customers.

You may have a technology advantage over your competition, but is that what is important to your customers? Your brand design elements must show your customers that you get them. They must not only communicate the functional advantages, they must radiate the emotional cues that attract and retain your customers.

Do your brand elements engage senses other than sight? What does your brand sound like? Smell like? Taste like? What is its feel? Effective brand identity design considers multiple ways to express your brand persona and value proposition, all aimed at reinforcing customer preference.

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