GCI (which announced last week that it had merged with Cohn & Wolfe) recently released its first global study of IT decision-makers and found that some regions and companies still need to be convinced to carry a green message. Paul Walker, the agency’s EVP of digital media, talked to Target Green about the survey and the agency’s proposed next steps.

Target Green: What prompted you to do this study?

Paul Walker: We felt like there was a lot of money being spent in green by enterprise IT brands. But a lot of them were asking questions about how strategic to be and whether they were going to get a return, and whether it was sustainable.

TG: What were you ultimately trying to learn from the survey?

Walker: The question was, is there a profit potential for green products in the IT space?  We wanted to get a global perspective on that because our hypothesis was that this was not a one-size fits all question or market. The way that someone looks at the environment in North America is wildly different to how they might look it in China, India, or Italy.

So, we knew there were some global considerations that really weren’t being taken into account because of lack of research. We wanted to be able to create a roadmap to being successful by understanding the executives that are more open to green products and what media channels are best to reach them. And we found executives that are more open to the green message and more willing to adopt green products do depend on different channels to get their information.

TG: Your findings were not a one size fits all, but was there a consistent thread of information for those in green IT?

Walker: First, there is a great opportunity here. Clearly, companies in different markets around the world are willing to pay a premium for green products. If you get really smart about how you go after those markets there is a chance for a company to increase its profits from its green offerings.

But the PR function has to work very closely with the chief marketing officer and the entire marketing department to exploit it. This is partially because of point number two - “one size fits all” doesn’t work. We see a lot of technology brands try to do dry, global, green programs that are really North American-centric. But the payoff will only come if the companies get really smart about how they implement these as global campaigns. For example, India is hot. India is open to green products and they are willing to pay a significant premium for those.

TG: The survey finds that nearly 25% of Germans believe buying “green” products has no real impact on the environment, generally twice that of any other country. Because Germany is often considered a green-friendly market, did these results surprise you?

Walker: Well, in Germany is where the green bar is set. They’ve legislated so many green standards and companies have to meet so many requirements that those in German market have just come to expect that if you’re going to do business in Germany you’re going to [have to meet stringent requirements]. But Germans don’t feel like they should have to pay for it because it’s a way of life. I think Germany might foreshadow the way this practice goes over time. Eventually brands and companies in various countries are going to come to expect that you’re living up to certain green standards.

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A report released on Earth Day estimated that 1.35 billions of gasoline could be saved each year if American employees worked from home about one-and-half days a week. It’s no secret that many PR agencies use flextime to lure and retain talent. But to honor Earth Day at least one agency used this policy to make statement about its eco-friendly workstyle.

Last week, Manning, Selvage & Lee allowed the 45 employees in its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices to work from home. The agency has also created a “green team” that is focused on making the firm’s daily business operations more environmentally-friendly.

Environmental (and retention) benefits aside, working from home can pose drawbacks. The kind of collaborative chemistry that transpires during face-to-face contact is not easily replicated through the telephone, instant messaging, or e-mail.

PR firm Capstrat took a different approach to Earth Day, and launched Green 365, which highlights its commitment to year-round eco-friendly practices. The site was promoted with a so-called “P.S. campaign,” in which employees included a tag at the end of their e-mails with a p.s. encouraging readers to visit the new site.

Any thoughts on how PR agencies should promote their own green initiatives?

By David Swain
Text 100

In 2007, mainstream communications professionals and reporters got acquainted with green technologies and sustainable business trends. Much of the year was spent covering hype and one-off announcements from VCs, green tech companies, and organizations making themselves more “green.”

In 2008, we’ll see organizations get more aligned and start to make more substantial (and possibly less sexy) changes to their products and how they run their businesses. We’ll also start to see the beginnings of green tech exits and market consolidation in areas like solar; similar to ethanol in 2007, these market changes will create another news cycle where skeptics and advocates come out swinging. What’s exciting is that better educated PR people and journalists should lead to a healthy amount of skepticism that will allow the real stories to rise to the top. Greenwashers will be called out quickly as the year progresses. Lastly, PR people will be increasingly challenged by the global aspects of green business and technology; green-tech competitors will come out of the woodwork in unexpected places and the media will catch on.

Swain is co-clean tech lead and account director at Text 100.

WASHINGTON, DC: Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chairman, Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will serve as morning keynote PRWeek’s Target Green conference, on October 3^rd in Washington, DC.

Beth Lowery, VP energy, environment, and safety policy, General Motors is the afternoon keynote.

Remarks from the 16^th-term congressman and GM’s “chief environmental officer” will highlight the day-long event, which also features speakers from Procter & Gamble; Gap, Inc.; Discovery Communications; Treehugger.com; Canon; the US Green Building Council; AMD, Clear Channel; and the Environmental Protection Agency. To register, click here. To read more about the conference, click here.

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Val Fishman is the Green Marketing Specialist at Clear Channel Radio Bay Area. She combined her career experience in advertising sales and management, with her passion to protect the environment by creating a program to green Clear Channel Radio’s Bay Area offices and business practices. A few intentions for the program include: bringing the San Francisco building up to LEED EB standards; implementation and management of waste reducing programs across each department; employee education and participation; and public messaging. The program is serving as a pilot for Clear Channel corporate, and the Bay Area group intends to create a successful program that will inspire nationwide compliance.

BALTIMORE: Imre Communications has launched a green practice, which will help clients establish environmental positioning and increase awareness of environmentally friendly products, practices, and services. Imre has already worked in the green arena with clients including The Home Depot, Travelers, and CoreNet Global and has internal enviro-friendly practices. They’ve just signed a new client to the practice, Green Builder Media, a company that provides information and services about green building in North America.

Are there any green trends that we should be looking into for either PRWeek or this particular blog? Comments via comments or e-mail are much appreciated.

MWW announced, via press release, that it has launched a campaign to create a “green company.”

As an important part of the “Take Charge, Initiate Change, Get Green”
campaign, the firm has partnered with Carbonfund.org, a non-profit
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 will offset its carbon foot print,
MWW Group is now a carbon neutral company.

The firm is also instituting a number of new administrative protocols
concerning energy use and environmental responsibility. Among the new
policies, MWW Group will now require that all offices recycle aluminum
cans, plastic and glass bottles, and where possible, the agency will
continue to recycle the hundreds of pounds of newspaper received by its
offices. The firm is also changing all bulbs in its offices to Energy Star
fluorescent, which use 2/3 less energy than standard incandescent bulbs.

It will be interesting to hear more from the agency, when we get their answers back for our Agency Q&A series.