SnoreWorld: A World of Relief

Snoring is a joke till it happens to you, then it’s no laughing matter. As a matter of fact, up to 40% of us snore.That’s not just here in America, but all over the world. Snoring can damage the health of the snorer and damage the relationships of those affected by it because of loss of sleep, fatigue, irritability and high blood pressure — not to mention the eruption of emotional issues caused by being kept awake by unpleasant and disturbing sounds. The bottom line is snoring is a major problem in search of realistic and effective solutions.

Till now, there has been no comprehensive website or single source to go to for advice, products and procedures. Because of this, an opportunity existed to serve the needs of this underserved target audience on multiple levels as a web-based aggregator of information, support and products which explain, educate and relieve snoring and the multiple problems that accompany it.

SnoreWorld.com was created to be a global resource for snoring and sleep deprivation issues. Unlike single solution sites, SnoreWorld’s goal is to build a community of snoring sufferers to share stories and solutions, and offer information and reviews on snoring products and programs.

Mind Over Markets’ strategy was to position SnoreWorld as the most complete snoring solution resource in the world. But just as important, to give the snorer and those affected by it the promise of relief. We not only wanted the persona of the brand to be open and warm, but to have authority and ingegrity so it would become a trusted source to be relied on.

We created a logo that reflected the moon and night. The heavenly orb is graphically made up of different facets to reflect the many facets of the snoring community and the many solutions SnoreWorld provides. When you scroll over each “facet” on their website, text pops up to illustrate their multifaceted approach to the problem which embraces the physical as well as the emotional side effects of snoring. This is where SnoreWorld stands apart from other online resources. They take a humane, understanding and empathic approach rather than just a hands-off clinical one to the problem.

We also wanted the logo to be restful. A big yellow moon on a velvety night sky to communicate peace, quiet and rest.

The tag line is another simple yet all encompassing promise: A World of Relief. That is meant to communicate a wide resource of snoring solutions and communication. It also says they are a worldwide resource with a broad range of methods and solutions.

Maybe if we could all get a better night’s sleep the world could be a more peaceful place. And that would be a world of relief for all of us.

What do you think?

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Every once in a while, we do a shameless promotion at Mind Over Markets. Forgive us, this is one of them…

“It’s the economy, stupid.” That’s what most green business gurus are saying today. Some are even going so far to say that green is dead. That’s simply not true. What’s dead are the messages that marketers are putting out there like, “It’s easy being green,” or “We’re saving the planet one (fill in the blank) at a time.” People don’t buy products or services to save the planet, they buy them to save and help themselves.

If your core messaging is not motivating your customers to engage in your business, if you are not getting it out there through the mediums that matter, we can help.

Mind Over Markets (affectionately known at MOM) has been living, breathing, designing, writing and promoting green products and services for over 10 years. Let us help you bring your business to a new level in this leveled market.

Announcing our Green Business Booster

This in-depth, hands-on, highly interactive process is designed to electrify your communications and take it to a whole new level. Here’s how we do it:

Where You Are Now. We will review of your digital and printed marketing communications including website, company brochure, etc. to evaluate where you are now. This includes a deep dive into your social media marketing efforts and communications.

Where You Want To Go. After reviewing your current communications, we will facilitate a highly interactive and creative process with you we call our Green Brand Discovery Session. This process will clearly position and message your product or service in order to capture its unique promise of value in a way that is meaningful to your target audiences.

How to Get There. Our Green Business Booster will help identify potent strategies to effectively communicate your message to your target audiences.

Making It Happen. This is where the rubber meets the road. Your three 60 minute Green Marketing Coaching Sessions will help you implement the communication and marketing strategies outlined in your Discovery Session. Now you’re rolling.

For more info on our in-depth Green Business Booster, contact carolyn@mindovermarkets.com or call 505-989-4004.

Green is here to stay. Are you?

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Organic chicken little has been running around announcing that the sky has fallen on the green market. Our avian friend cites the bankruptcy of Solyanda Solar as the latest victim. What defeated them was a poor choice of power generation — kind of like Beta versus VHS all over again.

When beta went down it just meant that the form was wrong not the overall technology of video players. We think the same is true here. Green issues have not gone away and neither have green answers.

There is an entire industry waiting to be born and we need the White House and both houses to get behind it. Not only will this produce multiple benefits, it is actually the road to the future.

In a green world, we will give birth to a vibrant, job producing industry with enormous growth potential. Every state, local and federal building should be fitted out for solar. Only U.S. companies need apply. We will use US labor to install them and sell the excess energy back to the grid. The skies will be clearer, and we will no longer be panicky at the pump.

It’s a win-win-win all the way around.

Done correctly, it is the industrial revolution all over again but with safer, healthier methods and much better results. We have the technology…

The problem is the real deterrent to this gold mine is the forces that don’t want to let it happen. Clean coal, frackers, and energy companies have a vested interest in green going brown. But when people finally wake up and realize that the green isn’t about hugging trees, but creating a better, healthier and safer world for all of us, we’ll hop in our hybrids or EV’s and hum past those ancient relics of our old ways. “Remember gas stations?” we’ll say.

For this to happen, green needs to go beyond the planet, right to the personal. So instead of your product or service saving the planet one (fill in the blank) at a time, communicate how green can save their family, their lifestyle, their future. That’s what we call at Mind Over Markets “Greenstreaming” — taking green from the minority to the mainstream. Then we’ll really have something to talk about.

Want to Greenstream your product or service? Just Say Yes in the comment box below.

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We know plastic water bottles are overwhelming our landfills and severely clogging mother earth’s pores, yet we mindlessly grab a bottle when offered. We know pesticide-free apples are way better for us, but still we eat the heavily sprayed ones. Here’s the dilemma: We say want green products and healthy foods, but we don’t back up our words with actions. The very actions, Dr. Renee Lertzman says, “…we know from an ecological, economic, political and spiritual standpoint would do us all a lot of good.” So what’s holding us back? Why are we talking the talk, but not walking the walk?

Renee has some answers. She’s a writer, researcher and communications consultant focusing specifically on the psychological dimensions of sustainability. Her article “The Myth of Apathy” laid out some concrete truths and insights into this dilemma, so I invited her on Women Of Green to share those with me. What I uncovered is a fresh, new perspective on what it means to be green and how to engage the mainstream consumer in really caring about the environment. A very cool interview so listen in!

Listen to interview with Dr. Renee Lertzman here.

About my guest: Dr. Renee Lertzman provides practical and professional guidance on sustainability communications, public engagement, and outreach strategies. Through consultations, presentations, and the development of written materials and online resources, Dr. Lertzman helps companies, organizations, and individuals incorporate psychodynamic and psychosocial dimensions into the planning, design and implementation of communications initiatives.

– Carolyn Parrs

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It’s amazing to see what has taken hold across our country. Average people regularly vote against their own interests and now it seems they increasingly purchase against their own interests as well. Especially where the green world is concerned.

Stand in the checkout line of your average American supermarket and you’ll see what I mean. Judging by what consumers continue to buy and not buy, eatists far outnumber and outweigh supposed green elitists by record numbers. Green products continue to retreat according to recent studies reported by Carol Pierson Holding in a recent post.

She quotes an Ogilvy Earth study that shows that while Americans have good intentions, their purchasing patterns show where good intentions lead.

I can sight the economy as a cause, which is obvious, and the granola aura, which is obvious as well, but I think there is another factor which most have not thought about and that’s the general feeling of depression that has settled in. When people think their own lives are not going to get better, why would they bother pursuing products that are better? When they think their own lives are compromised, then needs of the planet pale in comparison.

Of course, as we have written countless times, many green marketers have blown it from the beginning. All the “saving the planet” and none of the saving yourself is certainly at the root of much of the reported failure. Poor labeling, and even worse, poor messaging is really the root cause.

Global warming gets scoffed at every time it snows, but imagine the traction it might have gotten had it been labeled climate change or ever better, weather disruption from the start. Imagine the power that label would have had during this year’s record flooding, tornadoes and forest fires.

Wouldn’t a focus on healthier, safer food, especially after the record numbers of e-coli incidents jogged people into purchasing more carefully, and caring about what their families were eating? Wouldn’t the physical evidence of increases in Diabetes and the astounding increases in obesity be proof that Americans better change their living and buying habits? I think its undeniable. Sadly, none of these important issues were the focus of green products.

The first thing I learned as a young copywriter was to examine the facts, lay out the advantages, and have a strategy that created a compelling case for what you were selling. The marketing pioneers I was so lucky to work for knew you could be educational and still be entertaining. They insisted that we say something relevant first and then say it in a clever way.

We could have had a lot of  fun with the Nissan Leaf and why you should love it and want it. Not why a polar bear should. That execution would have been labeled “borrowed interest” — a device you use when there’s nothing innately advantageous about the product you are promoting. In this age of gas pump sticker shock, I venture to say there’s plenty of fuel to launch a meaningful campaign.

When a client of ours who makes environmental paint products for children’s rooms wanted to promote their line, we told mothers that there “really was a monster in their kid’s room” and it wasn’t under the bed, or in the closet, but on the walls. We changed buying habits and made their paint a hit. We weren’t saving the planet one nursery at a time, we were appealing to motherly instincts that said protect your child from toxic pollution.

Suddenly the extra two dollars a gallon paled in comparison to the health of their family.  That”s what we call the “The RELEVANT in the room”.

The other point Ms. Holding made in her post was that green is perceived to be feminine, as though that were a problem. It’s not because women make 85% of all the purchases in America. My suggestion: Make your green communication appeal to women. They’re the ones whose DNA is programmed to protect the health and welfare of the family. They’re the ones who go shopping. They’re the ones who sign the majority of checks.

Personally, if the green world fails or slips back to where it began, it will be a sad day for all of us. Not just us greenies. And that will lead to further deregulation of safety standards and encourage polluters to keep on going because it will make them think no one really cares.

Is it too late? I don’t think so. Here at Mind Over Markets, we’ve seen the battle can be won but it ain’t gonna be “Kermit” or icecaps or polar bears who are going to win it. It’s going to be intelligence and appealing to consumers self-interest.

Most marketers are slow to get it. They still believe the only demographic worth pursuing are 18-24 year olds, even though the concentration of wealth and purchase power is much much older.

In that spirit, we say it’s not that green can’t sell, it’s just been sold from the wrong point of view. When you make green important to my life and my needs, then you are talking to me. When polar bears get their own credit cards and make their own purchase decisions, then we can talk about it again.

What do you think?

– Irv Weinberg

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If Facebook where a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world, population-wise that is. It now surpasses the population of the United States — men, women and children. That’s a lot of eyeballs. So if your marketing mix doesn’t include the Big Four (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube), you are going to have to peddle pretty fast to catch up in the coming years (months, really).

To help you put your social media stake in the ground, here are some insights that will help you get your stake sharpened.

Don’t start unless you have a plan. Why exactly are you getting into social media anyway? Too often I see companies jump in with a Facebook fan page and no real plan. Then they flounder around for a while until one day they scratch their business heads and say, “What exactly are we suppose to be doing? What are we going for here?” So first assess your needs, then figure out your short and long term goals and create a social media strategy, and plan of action to meet them. Marketing is marketing.

One toe first. If you are just beginning with social media marketing, pick one channel first and work it. When I first started with Twitter, I spent a month or two just listening to tweets and watching trends. I followed some of the social media rock stars (and met some of them too at digital conferences) and carefully examined their conversations –  what they were saying, and why they were saying it. Very enlightening. I saw what worked and what didn’t, and I followed and unfollowed some tweeters regularly. Before I knew it, I was being followed back regularly. Which brings me to the next point…

Content is still king (or queen, in my case). Creating and sharing great content will always rule in social media. I have been hearing this for years, and yes, it’s still true. Whatever your business is, make it a priority to religiously deliver compelling content and I promise, your fans and followers will come back for more (and tell all their friends too). To develop great content, brainstorm subject ideas, follow trends in your industry, set up Google Alerts with targeted keywords that pertain to your business and interests, and follow other people or businesses that have something relevant to say. Watch what gets tweeted, liked and passed on. See my Facebook fan page Women Of Green to see what I mean. It’s a mix of original content, inspirational quotes, relevant news stories and great conversations around the subject of women and sustainability. By doing this, we very quickly became a “go to” place. You can too.

Serve, don’t sell. Nothing will turn off a follower or fan more than an overt advertising pitch or sales talk. It’s no mistake that social media has the word “social” in it. It’s about creating relationships. It’s about engaging your friends and fans. It’s about helping. It’s about serving. If that doesn’t sound like marketing-as-usual, it isn’t. That’s why you need to listen first. It’s a whole new world out there. Now, that doesn’t mean you cannot make an offering now and then. Businesses do it all the time. But remember, it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it (as my mom would say).

Mix business with pleasure. What I mean by this is show your fans who you really are. Let your personality shine through. What are you interested in besides the product or service you sell? Share that. Social media is about human beings, not corporations or machines. Even Dell knows that. Their Twitter guy is Jim, and people love him. When Dell customers have a problem or an issue, “Jim at Dell” has been known to stay up in the wee hours of the morning handling it. And he does it with all of the love in his heart. Really. I met Jim at a conference. I could tell.

Consistency is the name of the game. There is nothing worse than starting a blog or creating a Twitter account and then stopping after a few months. It sends a message that you are either not committed or not up on your industry or business. In my opinion, it’s better not to begin at all than begin and stop mid-stream. So if you can’t commit fully to your plan, don’t do it –  or get help. If you chose the latter, social media managers or assistants can help you create a presence, build a network and keep you on track. Shameless plug: call me if consistency or stage fright is creeping up for you. I will help you build it, and they will come.

Got an insight you’d like to share?

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Joel Makower of GreenBiz.com just declared that green marking is dead, or in his words, “Green Marketing is Over.”  To quote Mark Twain, “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  I think the same can be said of green marketing.

Here at Mind Over Markets, we’ve been saying for years that green marketing messages have not been communicated correctly and effectively right from the start.

The first task of green marketing, like all other marketing, should be an analysis of benefits. First to the consumer, and then to the planet. Too many opted for the latter, save the planet, as though you could with your cleaners and your pizzas. That never made any sense to me and it never will.

When Nissan Leaf used a polar bear hugging a man in their commercial instead of laying out the many advantages of EV’s to me and my life, when they don’t position their vehicles as personal benefit producers, when they don’t tell me what’s in it for me, then yes, green marketing is over.

When organic food isn’t positioned as better for your health, better tasting, fresher, more local and ultimately more enjoyable, no wonder it’s hard to justify the higher costs. The success of Whole Foods is probably based more on their gourmetness than on their greenness. They have the recipe right and continue to succeed.

The last time I saw a green marketing obituary it was centered on the failure of Organic Ragu Sauce. As though any organicite or foodie was going to buy Organic Ragu or Organic Heinz Ketchup.  That wasn’t a failure of green, but a failure of logic. When the largest manufacturers of caustic and corrosive cleaning solutions suddenly turns green, its no wonder that consumers scratch their heads and wonder if it’s real or just a mask.

When Kimberly Clark tells us they they’ve done “green right” instead of telling us that recycled paper is a better, saner way to make napkins and toilet paper than destroying old growth forests, no wonder we yawn and walk away.

To my mind, it’s not the failure of green marketing, but the failure of green marketers to have thought it out long enough and strategically enough to hire true green marketers and visionaries who actually understand not just the heart of green consumers, but the minds of the greater population.

Instead they wheeled out Kermit the Frog and melting icebergs. They should have been selling their products to me instead of making my purchases seem like a cause, charity, public service or a sacrifice that I have to make. By the way, you can’t actually save the planet all by yourself.

Talk about naive. At a time when people aren’t sure they can save themselves, much less the planet, is it any wonder that kind of thinking or marketing is on the endangered species list?

What’s saddest of all is that all the so called “green experts” failed in their expertness when they didn’t alert marketers that they were on thin ice right from the beginning. When they didn’t understand the balance of message, the need for benefits, and the need to tell consumers that they were not only doing what was right, but what was smart.

It really is a shame that the lemmings will watch the green hearse go by and help drive green even further off the cliff. That others will continue to not only sell, but tell things wrong and then lament the passing of one of the most significant opportunities to actually make things better for all of us.

– Irv Weinberg

Read what Jacqui Ottman says in her post “Green is Alive and Kicking”.

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A new study by the leading sustainability consultancy OglivyEarth “Mainstream Green: Moving sustainability from niche to normal” provides new insight on how to close the Green Gap that persists between what consumers say and what they actually do around sustainable living. The study notes several imperative steps to allow green purchasing practices to enter the mainstream. These are some of the highlights:

Make it Normal: The great Middle Green is not looking to set themselves apart from everyone else. They want to fit in. When it comes to driving mass behavior change, marketers need to restrain the urge to make going green feel cool or different, and instead make it normal.

Eliminate the Sustainability Tax: The high prices of many of the greener products suggest an attempt to limit or discourage more sustainable choices. Eliminating the price barrier eliminates the notion that green products are not for normal citizens.

Make Eco-friendly Male Ego-friendly: Sustainability must strike a chord with male consumers by considering what works in traditional marketing. For example, automotive brands with alternative fuel vehicles are finding success by sticking to what has been shown to work — sleek ads with an emphasis on speed and design.

Lose the Crunch: Just because a product is green doesn’t mean it must be packaged in burlap. For green marketing to succeed, it must be liberated from the traditional stereotypes to emphasize the most compelling personal benefits.

Hedonism over Altruism: The emotional tenor of sustainable marketing to date has been focused on appeals to Americans’ altruistic tendencies, but our research shows that this is to deny human nature. Wise brands are tapping into enjoyment over altruism.

Do you have other ideas about how to use purchasing power for sustainability and the way to take green spending habits mainstream? Please share them below!

Listen to Carolyn’s interview with Simran Sethi on the Psychological Barriers to Going Green. Eye-opening!

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Recently the New York Times ran two disturbing articles on the same day — Earth Day. One headline said “Green Products Lose Their Allure“. The other stated that consumer confidence was at its lowest level in years and economic depression has returned with an amazing 75% thinking our economic environment is bad and getting worse.

Obviously, these two articles have a lot in common. Green sales historically rise in good economic times and can be one of the first to suffer when money is tight. But I think there is another reason just as fundamental. Most green communications, from products to energy efficiency, have been told as an environmental story and not as an economic or health story.

Many mainstream people still think of green as a sacrifice you have to make to be a better citizen of the earth. They see it much like they see contributing to a charity. Something worthwhile — as long as your have the money.

Think energy efficiency. I hear it spoken about in term of carbon offset and alternative fuels instead of its direct correlation to the bottom line. I even hear people saying, “I know it saves me money in the long run, but I’m running for my life right now.” That’s a message all of us in the green world need to hear and understand.

Since this blog began, we have been preaching a gospel of environmental self interest. Urging marketers to tell their green story in human terms. To stop employing polar bears and icebergs to tell the story, but to simply communicate that better products are better for many reasons.

Just one year after the Gulf Oil Spill, a majority is actually in favor of drilling in the gulf again. It’s soon to be $5.00 gas at the pumps that are driving those decisions. And as soon as Japan fades from our short attention span, nuclear reactors will be on the table again.

What’s really sad is that the decline in mainstream green products and disappointing sales will further deteriorate the green world until it’s back to those Deep Green 19% who always were and always will be. That won’t help change the world or the marketplace.

Too bad something so worthwhile was not given the true intelligence and understanding it needed to succeed. Too bad marketers understood so little about presenting value propositions alongside values propositions. Too bad they didn’t employ green aware people to craft a message that would create sustainable motivation. Maybe then we could have made the green world about making sense, and dollars at the same time.

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Our teleseminar “How Market Research Becomes Market Results: Turning Data into Dynamic Creative in Green Communications” was one of our best yet. Linda Gilbert, CEO of EcoFocus Worldwide, is a market research whiz and many golden nuggets of whizdom were shared between she and Irv. If you want to know the latest consumer attitudes toward green and how to take those findings and create dynamic messaging across all your communications, listen to this.

Presenters

Linda Gilbert is the CEO of EcoFocus Worldwide. She has more than 25 years experience working tracking consumer trends and applying the learnings to brand and communication strategies. EcoFocus conducts ground-breaking consumer research and provides marketing consulting specializing in consumer perspectives on green and sustainable goods and services as well as insights into the health and wellness marketplace.

Their clients include businesses with products and services that touch consumers in their homes and daily lives: foods and beverages; personal care and cosmetics; household cleaning and home improvements; gardening and pest control; school and home office supplies; transportation; restaurants; packaging and recycling, and other consumer and B2B goods and services.

Irv Weinberg is a Co-founder and Principal at Mind Over Markets, a dedicated green marketing communications company, specializes in creating effective messaging in the maturing green market for over 10 years.

He brings with him more than 30 years of senior-level advertising and marketing experience. He has worked for some of the world’s top advertising agencies including Young & Rubicam; Wells, Rich and Greene; LINTAS and Grey Advertising in New York City. Irv has been responsible for heading up the advertising and marketing efforts of Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola, IBM, Club Med, Continental Airlines and General Foods, as well as non-profit organizations and small to medium-sized businesses nationwide.

Inquiry: What marketing topics do you want us to feature in our Green Marketing Masters Teleseminars?

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