In an article “Market Share, Create Industry Presence,” an example of an event, Virginia Green Industry Council’s VA GoGreen Garden Festival (VGGF), was used to illustrate a branded presence that occurred through communicating an appropriate image sustained by viable products or services. Nevertheless, due to recent activities, my perception of the industry’s progress as a whole is somewhat undermined.

When I contacted an industry media editor/publisher to solicit the opportunity of publishing green marketing tips and strategies, he more or less said, “Although previously of interest, this topic is not as top-of-mind with most retailers as it was a few years ago.” To illustrate a basis for this viewpoint let me share personal observations.

Annually, I participate as an eco-green landscape gardener speaker for the Green Festival held in the Washington D.C. area. Believe it or not, although the event’s theme is to preserve and/or recover living green, at first, no living green products or services were on site. During the next two years, I saw living green merge into the exhibits; but for 2009, observed its decline. In fact, I saw one vendor represent his products with another name and a focus on his living green product’s output, organic fruits/vegetables. So while my recent observations support this editor/publisher’s viewpoint, I question – in what event or activities are you participating to enable consumer awareness of living green products or services?

Green Marketing Strategies

As previously discussed, the VGGF has found its consumer market to exist in the present-day green movement. In central Virginia, the era of the traditional home and garden show/exhibit is experiencing significant decline. On the other hand, has the transition been easy? Absolutely, not! Continually, the Virginia Green Industry Council and its individual members research and explore options to position their brand presence. As an example, let me share personal experiences.

Initially, consumers and media alike labeled my eco-landscape/garden advocacy the effort of a naturalist. Then, through participating in state of Virginia events, I acquired the label “eco-wise.” After participating in the DC area, I became known as eco-savvy; and next, specific to the DC Green Festival, eco-chic. More recently, someone described my activities as gardening green and green-scaping. Was my message, “Be a naturalist with a waste not, want not ecological commitment: a caretaker of the environmental community” altered? No! But descriptive words shift to accommodate green marketing terminology.

Sneed’s Nursery & Garden Center, further explains this shift. This vendor advertises its products or services as “Green Services.” The nursery places emphasis on trained eco-certified Virginia horticulturists and landscape designers. Using green marketing techniques, they emphasize regional Virginia homegrown, sustainable and edible garden design services. Specifically, enticing consumers to visit their site to experience raised vegetable gardens, native plants, compost bins and rain barrels. Of particular interest is the fact that this nursery’s advertisement includes an explanation of how to manage storm run off from your property and lessen its impact on the James River watershed (which for the Bay state area is mandated by Chesapeake Bay legislation).

As a result, designer Jenny Jenkins-Rash and merchandising manager Amanda Parrish Cottrell encouraged their customer base to definitely think green. “In January of 2008, we canned the chemicals and now offer organic solutions to our customers’ gardening needs and issues,” Parrish Cottrell says. “Since then, we witnessed not only an increase in sales of earth-friendly pest management and weed control products but an increase in our customer base. Sales of products such as mason bee nest kits, rain barrels, bio degradable pots as well as organic grown herbs and veggies have been tremendous.”

Individual Industry Presence

In your area, have marketing techniques shifted from the use of green marketing strategies as illustrated by the industry editor/publisher, “not as top-of-mind with most retailers as it was a few years ago” to another format? Have you continued to participate in traditional home and garden events or have you too found events similar to the DC area’s Green Festival or the Virginia Green Industry Council’s VGGF to work best?

What strategies are you using to create individual industry presence?