Michael Kempner is CEO and president of MWW Group.

He blogs at Straight Talk.

MWW Group launched a sustainable technologies practice, which focuses on “marketing eco-responsible technologies and in effectively positioning technology companies for which environmental sustainability is a key tenant of their R&D regime and product set” in November 2006.

What is the easiest thing a client can do today to kick start a green image?

There’s a basic cost of entry in the green game – [you must] strive to manage your business in an energy-conscious, conservation-minded manner and steadily improve on your environmental record over time.

Claim to be green but pollute, waste energy, consort with companies known for poor environmental records, exclude recyclable materials from your supply chain, and never improve your record, someone will call you on it - often loudly and always publicly.

In other words, if you’re not really committed to going green, then don’t. Demonstrate value elsewhere.

However, if your “green fees” have been paid and your organization is truly committed to a green culture, yell it from the mountaintops. Jump start your green image by engaging your constituencies via new media channels – a Web-based sustainability report, an eco-focused micro site, a podcast series highlighting conservation tips for the home and office, a syndicated sustainability blog, etc. These tactics are inexpensive, easily implemented, and global. The number of people you reach with your green message and the impact it has on your corporate reputation is only limited by your imagination.

What is the most important thing a client could do tomorrow to maintain serious green credibility?

Maintaining credibility and advancing corporate reputation in any arena requires favorable momentum. Keep executing on the green front but raise the volume over time.

In that vein, many organizations are content to join associations, donate money, volunteer time, and join the cacophony…and for some that’s just fine.

For my money, and for my clients, the counsel is often to create a leadership vehicle that closely ties together the organization’s core business with their environmental values, and that draws other companies and external constituencies into their cause. Utilize new media channels to inform your constituents of your leadership activities, growing third-party support, and overall good works in the green arena, then you have the makings of a strong green marketing initiative.

Engage… Lead…Report…Repeat!

What NGOs are good partners for a solid green initiative?

I wouldn’t recommend being overly focused on NGOs. Sure, organizations such as the Sierra Club, Environmental Working Group, and National Resources Defense Council get lots of airtime when it comes to environmental protection. They do a great job. In fact…that is their job. And yes, they can even lend credibility at the outset of a green campaign. That said, the vast majority of companies are not in the business of raising awareness of public interest issues. Instead, they exist to deliver needed products and services and return investor value.

Identifying how your organization’s core business, products, and daily operations can be “greened,” and then executing those changes effectively, is a far greater use of time. NGOs will take note of companies that “walk the walk.” They will approach you with partnership opportunities laden with implied, or even outright, endorsements. Aggressive alignment with an NGO early in a green campaign strikes many as marketing-driven greenwashing…public recognition by NGOs of the work you’ve already accomplished is significantly more powerful.

What is your agency doing to become greener?

Simply put, MWW Group has gone green and has become carbon neutral.

The environment has long been an MWW Group focus area, and in an industry where results matter, we’ve put our money where our mouths are. A formal recycling and energy conservation program is in place across our 11 offices, with additional program elements regularly being added – incentives for employees who utilize mass transit, incentives for purchasing hybrid vehicles, etc.

In addition, we’ve partnered with Carbonfund.org, a nonprofit organization that supports renewable energy efficiency and reforestation projects that reduce and offset carbon dioxide emissions. As a result of the firm’s contribution to projects that offset its carbon foot print, MWW Group became a carbon neutral company on March 1st.

Furthermore, last year MWW Group launched a Sustainable Technologies Practice, designed to help market companies and products that enable others to be green. Communicating that energy can be saved by turning out office lights when you leave is one thing… communicating the details of a new solar technology enabling organizations nationwide to dramatically limit their carbon footprints is a whole new ballgame.

What company (non-client) do you think is doing an exemplary job of promoting its green status?

I’ve been extremely impressed with the work Timberland is doing across all aspects of corporate social responsibility, particularly in the environmental category. The company clearly has a cultural commitment to being a green organization and all aspects of their business are increasingly reflecting that principle. Go buy a pair of Timberland shoes and look at the side of the box – outlined, like a nutrition label on a box of cereal, is data on the energy and resources utilized to manufacture that pair of shoes. Strong, honest green programs make for the best marketing initiatives.

How should companies avoid the label of “greenwashing”?

Simple – act first, talk later. Align your campaign with your core business, drive employee engagement at the cultural level, monitor, record, and report progress, and then consistently improve on your performance. It also helps when your green campaign is managed by the president or COO, and not by the CMO.

What regions around the world are doing the most to advance environmental innovation?

When governments and the private sector are on the same page and working in unison towards any goal, the opportunity for success is significant. An excellent example is the public and private work being conducted in the UK in response to Tony Blair’s Renewables Obligation – a vow that at least 40% of the UK’s energy will come from renewable sources by 2020. Significant funds have been poured into making the Obligation a reality with extensive work on wind, biomass, and tidal energy production going on across the UK. The businesses involved in this initiative are just beginning to bring their technologies to the US, leaving the playing field wide open. The opportunity for growth is immense – more proof behind the adage “doing well by doing good.”