How to Get Heard in a Crowded Green World

With everything from baby food to SUVs (hybrids of course!) competing for “green mindshare,” audiences are inundated with a barrage of green claims. Although environmental awareness is at an all-time high, a growing sense of skepticism has crept into the conversation. Whereas even a couple of years ago audiences eagerly gobbled up green claims, people today are more uncertain and retain a higher degree of doubt when confronted with messages of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Clean energy companies are also susceptible to the growing uncertainty of all things green. Whether you’re developing projects, products or innovative technologies, audiences today are scratching below the surface of environmental and sustainability claims and are struggling to figure out what is real and what is not. How can renewable energy companies cut through the green clutter and make their case? In my years of working with a broad range of companies, I have found the following principles to be helpful in gaining credibility and making sure that your message gets heard.

• Validation Is King. Claims made directly by companies through paid advertising get met with the strongest skepticism. Look for ways to get you message out through other channels. Free or “earned” media, i.e., having someone else write about what you are doing, brings more objectivity to the story. As well, think about ways you can make legitimate validators part of your story. This could be an environmental NGO, a community leader or a government agency. People look to these third parties as the arbiter of what is green and are more likely to accept claims that are made in conjunction with these kinds of neutral parties.
• Be the Black Sheep. Sustainability resonates with today’s audiences, and many companies have moved to take advantage. Recognize that you’re travelling with the herd, and look for ways to stand out. Pay attention to trends that are developing and figure out how to make them relevant to your story. These can be trends in your industry or broader societal trends. By piggy-backing on these developments you can become part of the most recent hot story.
• Green Is Business. Clean energy companies can enjoy the best of both worlds in that they operate in a growing industry with tremendous growth potential and they provide real environmental benefits. However, don’t oversell your environmental attributes. Companies boasting about their environmental efforts without a strong connection back to their core business model are often greeted with cynicism. People understand you are a business and will more likely buy into your environmental messaging if they can clearly see how it advances your business.

Sustainability will continue to be an issue of importance to a broad audience. However it is likely to evolve and develop into areas that we haven’t thought about yet. Keep a close watch on these developments and make sure your message fits into the new direction. Look for ways to differentiate yourself, recruit validators to be part of the story to provide authentication and tie it all back to your core business model. If you keep these simple principles in mind, you’ll find that with a little persistence your messaging will be much more effective in engaging your key audiences.

–Jim Cabot heads the Energy and Environmental Practice at Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications where he brings over 20 years of environmental experience in advising large and small renewable energy companies. He can be reached at [email protected].