企业低调环保的苦衷

    而另一方面，该公司的广告则只介绍其生产的波旁威士忌酒。萨缪尔斯说：“一直以来，我们每天都是这样生活和经营的。”

    粘土瓷砖公司（Fireclay Tile）使用再生材料手工制作瓷砖，该公司同样也没有大肆宣传公司的环保诚意。

     该公司联合创始人埃里克•埃德尔森称：“我们大多数的环保举措对于消费者来说并没什么意义。我们采用的是订单式经营模式，大多数消费者看重的是外观、价格和购买时机的选择。”

    他认为，公司使用再生玻璃就像服装制造商使用再生塑料生产绒布一样：无论材料来源是什么，它都是出色的产品。

    面对采购的话题，消费者或许会双眼呆滞无神，毫无兴趣；但埃德尔森发现，公司的绿色环保举措在另一个方面很有帮助：招聘。

    “它是招聘的重要组成部分，”他说。“我们曾聘请了一位营销经理，面试的时候，她第一句话就是，‘我是个环境保护主义者。’”

    十年来，高端设计材料制造商Kirei公司的创始人约翰•斯坦因一直在探索如何将自己的绿色环保材料推销给不同的消费人群。“这就像走钢丝，”他说。“如果锁定的是绿色环保人群这个市场，那么在公司的名字里加上‘生态’或‘绿色’可能有好处，但它也可能将更广阔的主流市场挡在门外。”

    Kirei公司的产品——高端设计和建筑的材料，都是可持续的，且无毒无害。但是一些像赌场这样的客户只想要“最好的材料”，而不是最环保的材料；这样的客户走进门时，斯特恩知道该怎么说，他会向客户介绍公司产品的创新性。

    但他表示，即便是面对于那些愿意为最环保的产品多付钱的客户，也要斟酌自己的信息。绿色认证行业几乎没有监管，因此，即便是像乙烯基壁板这样非常不环保的产品，也能获得绿色认证。

    斯特恩称，成功在于保持信息的灵活性，同时在推销之前研究消费者。质量好的产品有许多卖点，成功的企业知道该突出哪些卖点，而绝对不会同时兜售所有卖点。

    “市场是一个饼图，”斯特恩说。“需要考虑清楚，多大比例的市场会将绿色环保作为一项重要的购买决策因素。如果只有20%，那么强调绿色环保就无异于将另外那80%的市场拒之门外。”

    译者：qian

    Maker's advertising, on the other hand, features only information about its bourbon. "It's always been the way we've lived and operated on a daily basis," Samuels says.

    Fireclay Tile, which builds hand-made ceramic tile using recycled material, also doesn't boast his company's green bona fides.

    "Most of our environmental initiatives are fairly meaningless to our customers," says co-founder Eric Edelson. "Most of them are guided by look, price, and timing, since we are made-to-order."

    He compares the company's use of recycled glass to clothing makers' use of recycled plastic for fleece: It's a superior product regardless of where the materials come from.

    Customers' eyes may glaze over during conversations about sourcing, but Edelson has found one place where the company's green initiatives help: in its attempts to hire people.

    "It's a key component of recruiting," he says. "We hired a marketing manager, and her first line during her interview was, 'My license plate says "tree hugger.'"

    John Stein, the founder of Kirei, a high-end design materials manufacturer, has been exploring how to market his green materials to different constituents for a decade. "It's a tightrope," he says. "Naming your company 'eco' or 'green' could be good if you are going after the green market, but it could be a turn-off to the wider mainstream market."

    Kirei's products, materials for top-of-the-line design and architecture, are all sustainable and non-toxic, but when a client like a casino, which cares only about having the "most fabulous materials" and not the most green, walks in the door, Stein knows which story to tell, the one about how innovative the products are.

    But he needs to hone his message even for those who are willing to pay more for the most environmentally friendly products, he says. There is little regulation in the green certification industry, so even something as environmentally unfriendly as vinyl siding can be certified as green.

    Success, he says, is found in keeping the message nimble and researching customers before pitching to them. Quality products have numerous aspects that sell, and a successful company will know which ones to brag about while never touting all of them at once.

    "The market is a pie chart," Stein says. "You need to think about what percentage of the marketplace considers green as a major decision. If it's only 20%, you're shutting yourself off as not accessible to 80% of the market."