Interview with Jamie Wimberly, CEO EcoAlign, publisher of "Green Gap Redux: Green Words Gone Wrong"
All this talk about going green, do we really know what exactly it means? Companies invest millions in trying to segment the green market. There's the BBMG Conscious Consumer Report. The Roper Green Gauge. The Landor ImagePower Green Brands Survey. And on and on..(..so many segments, so little time!) Maybe more importantly: When we talk about green are we talking about the same thing? Apparently not.
This week I spoke with Jamie Wimberly whose firm, EcoAlign, just came out with a report called "Green Gap Redux: Green Words Gone Wrong." Wimberly is CEO of Distributed Energy Financial Group (DEFG), a company in the clean tech space that includes EcoAlign. Jamie has nearly 20 years of experience in the energy and environment space, previously having served as the Vice President of the Consumer Energy Council of America (CECA), the President of the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets (CAEM) and a Director on Boards of technology companies. He is a published author, frequent speaker, and the Executive Producer of the award-winning Day In The Life Of (DILO) video.
Q: Hi Jamie. Before we talk about the "Green Gap Redux" report, can you talk about how your focus on energy makes EcoAlign different from other green marketing agencies?
A. I was attracted to the energy sector because it impacts so many of the big issues of our day, including the environment, and is integral to modern society in all aspects. The relationship between energy and environment is a symbiotic one, meaning that we won't be able to clean up our environment and manage climate change without a transformation on how we produce, deliver and consume energy. Our deep expertise in energy (the partners alone have over 50 years of collective experience in the sector) means that we can go beyond your usual agency engagement and truly discuss all aspects of strategy – operational, financial, marketing, etc. As such, we are able to elevate the discussion of such things as messaging/communications, product development, customer engagement, campaign design, channels and metrics, and other marketing-related activities to the C-level suite of our clients. Finally, I would note that "sustainability" is evolving into a complete management model. For that transition to be effective, you need to have a lot of skill sets and a strategic perspective that only comes from a deep understanding of all the moving pieces of a company. The end goal is for sustainability to become a business and economic driver to enhance profitably.
Q: So tell me, what is the "Green Gap" you talk about in your new report?
A: The green gap is the gap between stated intentions (what people say is important) and their actual purchasing decisions and behavior impacting energy consumption and the environment. What we have found is that consumers are intellectually aware of the importance of conservation, energy efficiency and clean energy, but there is a big – and perhaps, growing – gap between how many Americans believe that something should be done and what they themselves are actually doing about it. This gap is derived from many causes: lack of understanding, few choices, a commodity focus on price, a judgmental and negative using shame around consumption, etc. But probably the biggest driver is that people's values are not aligned with the messaging and offering, meaning that the current approach to policy and the market ("one size fits all") is not emotionally connecting with people as individuals or communities of people that share common values. In short, consumers do not see a lot of personal value in taking action yet.
Q: You talk about consumer confusion around green terminology. Why are consumers so confused?
A: People are confused because oftentimes the terms and concepts used by the media and industry are engineering-driven or political in nature. Due to a dearth of market research, education and outreach, there has been little attempt to involve consumers in the discussion from the beginning. It is almost like the stakeholders are having an entirely separate discussion than people around their dinner tables.
Q. Was there anything totally surprising that you uncovered?
A: An interesting finding is that the intensity of green communications (all of the media reports, commercials and communications over the past two years) has not increased consumer understanding – and even may have created more confusion. Sometimes, like with climate change, this has been done on purpose. But mostly, there has been a very top-down type of conservation going on that is more abstract than personally relevant to most folks. Also, the findings on smart grid were interesting. The industry and consumers have very different conceptions of the value proposition. There is a lot of work to be done there.
Q: What general lessons can be drawn from the report? Any lessons for eco-entrepreneurs?
A: There are a lot of recommendations in the report. But let me summarize by stating that eco-entrepreneurs need to really think about who there customers are, how their offering creates value for those customers, and even, basic questions around what they are selling and the currency used to do so. For example, energy efficiency could be viewed as a home improvement or comfort enhancement and that the currency is one of status or community recognition.
Q: Any words of wisdom for eco-entrepreneurs?
A: Let me offer some basics: 1) words matter, 2) customer research matters, and 3) marketing/communicating to people as individuals matters. Emotional connections (developing and nurturing brands) are how premiums, customer engagement and loyalty are derived. Lastly, I understand that eco-entrepreneurs are strapped for capital, but don't get cheap on how you present yourself to the market. From an investor perspective, higher valuations come to those companies that have something which is a demonstrable competitive differentiator, including a brand connected to market share and recurring revenue. From a customer perspective, they expect nothing less since their expectations are based on all service providers, and increasingly they expect personalized, easy service and products that work as advertised. Something I learned from going to door-to-door when I was young, it is not a matter of selling product or services – your job is to provide a reason and/or context for people to buy, and buy from you.
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