A comprehensive approach to green marketing

Nearly everyone in the building materials industry uses some form of green messaging in their marketing program. But all too often, green marketing relies on vague communications or a piecemeal approach – two common missteps that yield less-than-stellar results.

With B Green, manufacturers gain the advantage of a comprehensive, structured approach that yields credibility in the marketplace — and measurable results. B Green provides the depth of fact-based data required to reach critical audiences like architects and specifiers. At the same time, it offers the practical information and professional communications materials that appeal to distributors, dealers, builders and homeowners.

B Green’s three-phase, integrated process emphasizes practical value and end-sales, but remains rooted in meaningful data about sustainability:

Discover Phase I

During this phase, Baublitz determines the sustainable attributes of a product that can credibly support a green marketing effort. For manufacturers, this includes an Environmental Impact Assessment™ (EIA), a proprietary Web-based tool that pinpoints a building product’s sustainable qualities and how they relate to LEED and the NAHB’s National Green Building Standard. The EIA results in a thorough analysis and recommendations for green positioning and other marketing strategies.

Define Phase II

During phase II, Baublitz crafts a specific, practical green marketing plan based on its popular Marketing Action Plan (MAP™) process. The plan serves as both the strategic road map and the creative platform upon which all activities are built. Through market research, competitive analysis, tactical recommendations and other steps, Baublitz creates a clear, comprehensive plan for green marketing efforts. During this phase, Baublitz also offers guidance on product certification – an issue that raises difficult questions: Which certification programs are best for a particular product? Which carry the most value in the marketplace? With B•Green, manufacturers get answers, and benefit from the integration of product certification into all marketing efforts.

Deliver Phase III

Building on the foundation of the first two phases, B•Green culminates with the creation of tools for marketing and selling – professionally produced and custom-created to appeal to a company’s key markets. Elements may include:

  • A LEED Guide – an imperative tool for manufacturers who seek to influence architects and specifiers
  • Website content and SEO focused on green markets • Collateral
  • Staff training materials
  • Advertising
  • Public relations
  • E-newsletters
  • Videos, presentation materials, and other sales tools

B•Green enables any company to clarify its green positioning credibly and succinctly, and to develop a systematic, cohesive green marketing effort that focuses on results. Environmental Impact Assessment™ (EIA) A convenient, comprehensive online tool

Green building represents a significant growth opportunity for manufacturers and others in the construction and building materials industry. But to harness the opportunity fully, a company must take two critically important steps. First, a manufacturer must have a clear, detailed understanding of a product's sustainable attributes and its relationship to LEED and NAHB standards. Second, a company must be able to communicate factual, relevant information to architects and specifiers working on green projects.

Baublitz has developed a concise, effective way to take those crucial steps: The Environmental Impact Assessment™ (EIA). This proprietary Web-based tool conducts a thorough sustainability review that:

  • Identifies sustainable qualities and brings specificity to any “green” claims
  • Pinpoints the specific attributes that support LEED and NAHB certifications
  • Unearths new opportunities for “greening” a company’s product or operations
  • Creates a platform for green communications and marketing

The EIA leads a company through a series of carefully crafted questions that reveal a product’s green attributes – from use of materials to manufacturing processes to end-user benefits. In addition, the EIA is designed specifically to simplify the process of determining how a product contributes to certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. And, with secure online access, multiple staff members – including technical, operations and sales – may simultaneously contribute to the completion of the EIA.

At the end of the EIA process, a company receives a complete report and analysis of the results, along with recommendations for next steps. For many, the EIA leads to development of a LEED guide, a data-driven communications tool that provides legitimate product information to architects and specifiers. The EIA is based on the most current versions of LEED published by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Today, it makes more sense than ever to position building products for use in LEED-certified and other green projects. With an Environmental Impact Assessment, a manufacturer takes the steps necessary to realize the profit potential of a rapidly expanding marketplace.

For more information, email Kevin Brown, Vice President of Client Services.

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