Here’s a quote noting the perspective of Rear Admiral David Titley – a sea warrior, passionate scientist, and… the U.S. Navy’s chief oceanographer and director of its climate change task force:

As a military strategist, Titley is planning for this. But he also fears a warmer world. He fears more failed states, chaos if the monsoon switches off and hundreds of millions of Asians go hungry, and rising sea levels resulting in millions of angry migrants washing round the planet like environmental flotsam.

He said all this in the U.S. government pavilion during the climate negotiations in Cancun earlier this month. The U.S. Navy top brass showed up in force in the Mexican resort.

Whatever sceptical Republicans back in Washington may think, the Pentagon is deadly serious about global warming. It even has its own targets for cutting emissions of the greenhouse gases. Titley says he is fighting a new war  -  to protect America from climate change.

Somehow, that is reassuring. At least someone in authority seems to be taking climate change seriously  -  because over two weeks in Cancun, the diplomats charged with putting together a new UN climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol’s current emissions targets, which expire at the end of 2012, seemed to be living in a cocooned universe, where words were all that were needed to save the world.

If even the idea of U.S. Navy and climate task force got you scratching your head, here’s the way Daily Mail writer Fred Pearce put it:

Yes, the U.S. Navy has a climate change task force. With 450 staff.

{editorial note 1/18/11: This number was clarified for me by the Rear Admiral’s office today, and I quote: the task force “interacts” with about 450 people from various federal offices and research organizations.  The number of Navy personnel involved in the task force is much smaller.}

Social media expert Mitch Joel recently spoke to a business lunch audience here in Burlington, and one big point he made may have burst a little bubble for many a company considering a jump onto Facebook or Twitter because “everyone’s doing it.” In fact, I’d argue strongly that the point Joel made in the form of a one-word question should also, and always, be applied to any discussion of sustainability as well.  That magic word is “why.”  And, what a telling starting point for any company’s sustainability commitment asking that question would be!

Back to the social media example for a minute: It’s pretty common for a brand to enter into it by sitting down with their marketing team and asking “What’s our Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn strategy?”   Think about it.  Especially when it should be about building strong, authentic relationships with consumers, shouldn’t the first discussion really answer this question instead: “Why be on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn?”  From there, Joel argues, and I agree, you can back up into your strategy and tactics.

In the same way, sustainability has a “why” problem.  Any marketing tactic that comes off as greenwash, for example, is likely something that started with, for very generalized example, the question: “what’s our sustainability strategy,” and not “why are we pursuing sustainability?”  Instead, think about some of the answers that might have come up if “why?” was asked first:

• Our particular customers expect it.
• Our facilities and fleet will function more efficiently and save us money.
• Our mission from the start has been to serve our local community responsibly.

Going backward from there, you might get to “how”/”what”answers like these:

• Let’s audit our processes and products, and start to communicate where we are on our sustainability path- and where we plan to go.
• Let’s audit our processes and reward stakeholders, employees included, for making suggestions we can use.
• Let’s form an advisory board of community members, even the ones who may not be our direct customers, and see what their concerns are and how our company can do a better job addressing them.

In the above examples, starting with “why” has helped keep sustainability front and center – as it should be.

So, here’s the thing: sustainability is an investment, not a quick-fix or sexy sound byte.  Asking “what’s our strategy?” before “why?” may well deliver that short-term, looks-good-on-paper ROI.  However, in order to deliver a return that endures, whether we’re talking about social media connections or sustainability interconnections, the “what” must be founded on “why.”

Image source: Benoît Stella alias BenduKiwi

Just as is the case with well produced PSAs, what those of us who provide sustainability content intend to do is modify public attitudes by raising awareness. Much as I wish everyone could get as geeked out as I do by new solar panel technology, smart grids or “green building,” for example, a lot of people don’t share my enthusiasm.  One reason they don’t: they are not as exposed to reasons WHY they should be excited.

But, here’s something to consider: what about being the first in your industry to address this?  And, you don’t have to start from scratch!  Instead, take part by helping to develop and disseminate the words and videos of the many talented writers who are already knowledgeable and passionate about sustainability.

I see huge opportunity for brands or organizations on the sustainability journey to be more intentional with their “broadcast” information.  This is NOT about having your public relations staff write pages and pages of  “look at us” web site copy, however.  It IS about becoming known as a go-to resource, or for supporting the wealth of existing sustainability knowledge and content.  That may mean identifying and building a relationship with an individual content provider/editor to publish on your own site.  Or, it may mean sponsoring a variety of blogs, video channels and the like, to reach your own customers – as well as those reading the content provider’s work already (who are significantly predisposed to wanting to hear about sustainable innovations, by the way).

“Uncertainty” and “similarity” are two conditions that apply to the “social proof” theory (read more in Robert Cialdini’s book, INFLUENCE: The Psychology of Persuasion).  With particular regard to sustainability, there are still many consumers and business decision-makers that need to be made more certain. Furthermore,  as human beings, those people are also looking for similarity -or to see what their peers/colleagues/industry leaders are already doing/thinking.

Both of those groups need a bridge to that certainty and to being “in the know.” Sustainability content can be a great way to connect a brand’s products or services to the existing relevant cultural and technology trends in a consumer’s mind.  Brands that want to highlight their sustainable and socially responsible steps would do well to make that bridge easier to cross.

Sustainability not only breeds business innovation, it also breeds whole new ways to communicate those innovations and to a broader audience.

Changing public attitudes about sustainability on the whole, and about your corporation’s steps in that direction, comes from raising awareness.   Partnering with or sponsoring sustainability content providers who LOVE what they do and are dying to engage more people on the topic seems pretty obvious to me (but, yes, I am biased). So, consider leveraging sustainability content to help your customers feel more certain about sustainability and be inspired to join their friends and colleagues who are already participating in the movement.  The result will be social proof enough for you.

*If you are interested in exploring sustainability content possibilities: you may want to follow my sustainability-csr Twitter list (quite a few content providers are included, and many also have great lists to explore), or simply follow me on Twitter @AndreaLearned (I regularly pass along links to great work from talented sustainability/social responsibility minds).  If all else isn’t quite enough – feel free to contact me to discuss ideas about working together or how to go about finding the perfect fit for your content-providing effort.

This “follower split” suggests that women are driven less by followers than men, or have more stringent thresholds for reciprocating relationships. This is intriguing, especially given that females hold a slight majority on Twitter: we found that men comprise 45% of Twitter users, while women represent 55%.

Men are more likely to enter into a communication via status/positioning, according to Tannen’s research (so this is not a judgment, guys).  In the case of Twitter, that would mean that men tend to be interested in “the numbers,” and the higher the better. Whether or not any of the people they are following, or who follow them, are people they might like to get to know better is not the point.  Having an astounding “followers” count is.

Women, on the other hand, are perhaps more likely to be looking for connection based on common ground (as per Tannen, again).  For women on Twitter, that may mean actually taking the time to look at the profiles of each person who is newly following them to see if there’s enough reason to follow said person back.  Women have ways of connecting lots of information into one cohesive “it all matters” picture, and so more readily give themselves a reality check of how much time they might have for Twitter and how they’d best use it for their own purposes (and no one else’s).  It’s not the numbers, it’s the relationships that may potentially result for them.

Now, I’m not saying that this holds true for everyone, but Tannen is pretty smart and her insight gives us, as Twitter users (I’m @AndreaLearned) and marketers a lot to think about.  If we admit it, the Twitter phenomenon pointed out by these HBR folks does demonstrate an intriguing gender difference in human behavior, and in the whys and wherefores of interpersonal communication.

The insights therein may help you or your brand decide: 1)if a woman or man should do the Tweeting, 2) what to include in your account profile to inspire more people to want to connect with you, and 3) what sorts of things you should be pollng your followers about in order to do a better job connecting with everyone!

If there is a gendered pattern to human behavior in social media, don’t fight it and don’t judge it.  Men like to follow and be followed, and women need more than that to establish a real relationship.   Twitter is just a microcosm of humanity, after all.

I got to thinking about it, yet again, as I delivered a presentation to the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility conference recently and had a planning call for a building industry storytelling panel.  Because it was so on my mind, an interesting idea floated up:  Should brands hire “storytelling auditors?”

I think so – and here are two reasons:

One – terminology and imagery: While I know the “brand manager” should serve as the storytelling auditor, it is never quite written into the job description or committed to seriously.  Furthermore, the imagery of “storytelling” seems to humanize that responsibility a bit, which could be a very good thing.  Where “brand” seems corporate, “story” seems like something neighbors might tell each other.  And, isn’t THAT ideally what marketers are now striving for in all their efforts?  To get consumers to pass the tale around – one email, voice or Twitter at a time.

Two – walking the talk: The creation and development of story, chapter by chapter, reflects the long term investment marketers should be putting into better serving their customers – especially if women are a focus.  Story is what can link ad campaigns over the years and give marketers something visual and creative in which to “hold” their work.  It is an easy question to keep asking: Does this promotion, ad, cause, or business practice really fit into our story?  For example, is it a natural for a residential developer to support the breast cancer cause, or would a families-in-need effort be more resonant within a community creation story line?

Things to consider:

Externally: What makes your brand and product incredibly unique,and much more inviting to consumers?  What makes them see you as an information or solution provider, rather than a hard sell?  Story.

Internally: What gives employees and management an easy reference point and some structure to build upon? What helps a corporation interact more naturally with its consumer base at every level?  Story.

Boiling a process down to its essence is often the key.  A storytelling auditor should maintain an overall awareness of all output or customer-brand interaction, so he or she can filter out the unimportant characters and plot lines.  I don’t see this as a complex new task so much as a finer tuning of that which exists and a raised engagement with what may “happen” next.

All of which makes me think that a brand or business mind is perhaps not the best suited for this role, while a fiction writer may be.  (And, I’m guessing there are many underemployed fiction writers out there about now).  That talented, objective someone will have an eye and an ear for catching inconsistent tone/irrelevant elements, and he/she will know how to identify and develop those pieces that will really matter throughout the brand tale.

Transforming brand management into storytelling, or adding storytelling in to the brand management mix, may not be a huge change.  But, such a shift could be the edge your brand needs in this new, more conceptual, story-expecting age.

Let’s get one thing straight: There is nothing “typical” or easy about defining your core customer.

If you really want to tap the power of consumer common ground – you’ve got to sever from your emotional attachment to the same-old demographics orientation and instead seek out the similarities among the humans you serve – men and women. One way is using stories, which I’ll go into below, and another is considering your market from a psychographic perspective, which I will cover in a Part II post to follow.

Storytelling: In both a recent web-radio interview and a private corporate presentation last week, I brought up storytelling as an incredible method of making linear bullet points into rich, resonant brand messages. In those discussions, my point was that it wasn’t about marketing to women per se, so much as it was about marketing to humans leveraging what has traditionally been considered a “woman’s way.” Stuart Elliott just wrote about Epoch Films, partner Kirt Gunn, and their new approach to brand storytelling under the company name of Dandelion (seeds that spread.. get it?). Here’s an excerpt:

Selling by telling also has benefits in an economic downturn, to hear the executives of Dandelion tell it.

“We’re in a time when brands have to be more efficient with money,” Mr. Gunn said, “and more considerate of people’s time.”

That means marketers telling sponsored stories must be more careful not to breach the fine line between content and commercialism, he added, because “if we just stick products into content, that has the same feeling to consumers as driving down the road and seeing a billboard.”

Brand or product messages made into stories, or integrated into existing story lines, appeal to a mindset, not a specific, traditional demographic. Stories get to the universally human Truth (with a capital “T”") in life, as famed screenwriter/storyteller Robert McKee might put it, much beyond what is visible or factual.

Humans see more benefit to identifyng and sharing such common ground than marketers may have previously given them credit for – and it goes beyond regions, age ranges, gender, income, education and the like. Even a bit before things reached such an economic low, consumers were already starting a movement toward cozy, comfortable and home-like. I see storytelling – picture a family around the fire – as an obvious way to align your marketing efforts with that sensibility.

***

Part II of Finding Consumer Common Ground – Psychographics is to come…

In the meantime, here are two must-have resources on storytelling: Robert McKee’s Story and Annette Simmons’, The Story Factor.

From earlier concepts like eq-Life to their “Jill” stores, Best Buy has just kept on tweaking, and their process has become are a great example for brands in any industry to follow. Women don’t need you to make changes and understand them thoroughly overnight, but they really appreciate knowing that you are continually trying to get there.

Interestingly (and wisely, I believe) it sounds like the Colorado store is not labeled as “for women,” but that Best Buy is using the women-guided angle in its initial public relations efforts. In a way, the retailer is bridging the old ways of marketing to women – where publicizing the gender-specificity of a project was almost the point of the exercise, with the next generation ways- where publicizing the gender-specificity of a project will be irrelevant, as long as the brand/product serves consumers in significant new ways.

Evolution becomes revolution. Congratulations to Best Buy.

But, what is one thing that can be done with little or no budget to keep a high profile and gain some goodwill in these downtimes? Present your brand’s knowledge and experience in a way that makes it the industry’s obvious marketing to women resource.

I recently wrote on what this might look like for eBrandMarketing:

Given the bulk of great general marketing to women information out there, all it would take is a commitment to sorting, compiling and packaging the files your marketing department may well already have on hand. The content exists, and with a little industry filter, the why and how of applying the latest knowledge becomes that much easier – and sharing that creates powerful community goodwill.

Could such an effort be the ultimate win-win? I think so.

Others may make the same products or sell the same services, but the brand that takes the steps to lay out all that they’ve compiled on marketing to women will be noticed and praised by competitors and other interested parties (future customers) alike. A willingness to risk competitive vulnerability to this extent will go a long way toward making that brand the most trusted and turned-to expert on marketing to women.

Andrew Ettinger also addresses this shared information = advertising/marketing concept in a recent MediaPost column

If a brand provides relevant information, it mitigates the need to advertise. Instead, consumers will seek it out. The product becomes less of a commodity because it serves a larger purpose. People want solutions to their problems, not sales pitches. Ultimately, they migrate to credible information sources.

Brands need to be thought leaders.

It may sound insignificant in comparison to the glam and buzz of, say, a huge Olympics campaign, or great coverage in the business press about your clever new social network initiative, but thought leadership can position your brand so uniquely that the competition won’t know what hit them.

Thought leadership simply breaks the marketing mold. By developing, curating and sharing quality information, thought-leading companies can both gain industry credibility and get the positive attention of existing and new customers.

Times are indeed trying, but what do we all have? Files upon files of marketing to women information we’ve gathered while doing our own research over the years. If those otherwise occasionally used files can be leveraged for good among our peers and our customers – for a very small compiling/editing budget – why wait another day?

This storytelling, once removed, is a great approach. It opens up so many more chapters (as it were), and can give amazingly effective extra depth to Walmart’s corporate green narrative. Here’s an excerpt about their strategy (from the AP piece):

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is telling its suppliers that it’s not enough to simply provide eco-friendly products. The world’s largest retailer wants to be able to tell its customers the stories behind the products, of how they came to be and how sustainable they are.

Rand Waddoups, senior director of corporate strategy and sustainable development, said the company has a strategy with four points of emphasis for its sustainability marketing. Wal-Mart wants to promote waste reduction and recycling, natural resources, energy and social or community impact.

“We need to fill the pipeline with products,” Waddoups said. “Not only do we need more innovative products, but we need to be able to tell a story around that product.”

In a world, or store, of so much abundance, how will consumers increasingly make their decisions? In this particular case, consumers are telling Walmart that they need to see a deep commitment to the environment, including the whys and hows behind each decision. That could cover everything from the retailer’s mission to build stores in a more sustainable way to its selection process for the apparel, tool and garden supply (and so much more) products it sells.

Will the average shopper read a bullet pointed list about those things? No. That’s where story comes in.

2) Does it make you a teeny bit crazy that your daughter likes pink and princesses no matter how much time and effort you put into giving her a gender-balanced upbringing? Brett Berk wrote an interesting piece for Babble on how strong the social pressure is for girls and boys to act their gender. Here’s a quote to which many might be able to relate:

Biology’s reins on our kids’ destinies have certainly slackened. Yet, that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to figure out how to raise a healthy “boy” or “girl.” Even if you grew up with many of the choices available to kids today, responding to your child’s individual actions and desires can remain challenging: your daughter’s narcissistic obsession with her hairbrush; your son’s maddening drive to turn every object he picks up into a weapon. Things can become confusing for parents when their children exhibit “gender-variant behavior.” When her daughter asked for a pair of frilly Barbie slippers for her fourth birthday, my friend Clarisse responded with a Women’s Studies dissertation, ranting on about how she didn’t approve of Barbie because “she doesn’t look like a real woman.” Her daughter cocked her head. “She isn’t supposed to be a real woman, mommy. She isn’t a woman at all. She’s just a Barbie.”

Can’t you just hear that coming from your daughter or niece? Next door to me, 5-year old Lily carries around pink purses filled with lip gloss and has a variety of My Little Pony toys (oh, the joy – you can braid their manes!), all in the midst of her “guys-guy” father and two “boys-boy” brothers. Fascinating.