I shared my thoughts on President Obama’s comments first in a VPR commentary (you can read or listen), and then posted the text on HuffingtonPost.  Here’s a clip:

Whether we like to admit it or not, as the privileged citizens many of us are, we choose where we live and how our on- and off-line social communities are built.  It’s easy to think that racism, age-ism or sexism doesn’t have much to do with our own lives. But not engaging with the idea of the other can lead to long-term misunderstandings and crossed human connections.

Consider the systemic premise of sustainability.  All things are interconnected systems.  All decisions affect other decisions.  What you do today actually does affect the lives of people you will never know generations from now.  Oh, yeah…

Operating only in our small personal and business worlds hinders a truly holistic perspective and stunts our own growth as productive citizens.  My own professional challenge is a good example.  I study and interpret how consumers engage with sustainability.  What draws them in, how will they stay interested in sustainability?

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You can’ t really begin to understand why people engage with sustainability unless you first understand where they are coming from – left or right, blue state or red, privileged or disadvantaged background, to name a few possibilities. This is certainly true of marketing, in general, but with sustainability the stakes are that much higher.  To get to a more holistically functioning world and economy, we’ve got to think and act more holistically ourselves. Seeing through a new lens can help.

In any industry or expertise, there are those working to SHIFT, and there are those working to SHOW.  I see value in both.  We need the high profile names, so that the New York Times or Fast Company will cover and promote the power and innovation of a sustainable business approach.  But we also need lots of smaller stories of quiet shift to catch the imagination of the masses.

We have the power to be, and to share, the stories that combine as greater social proof that sustainability is worth the effort.  If you can help via your Twitter and Facebook feeds, or through your own blog posts – spread the word of the “shifters” you know.

• A woman’s awareness of her own journey toward sustainable or “green” living, and how she allows for a brand to take steps toward sustainability rather than expecting absolute green perfection overnight.
• Even the toughest critics or greenest mom bloggers remain  open minded and see the greater good in what Walmart and Clorox are doing with their corporate and brand steps toward sustainability.
• There can be huge differences in brand perception versus reality on the sustainability front.  Some brands spend big bucks for mass market ad campaigns but may not really be doing all that much, and other brands can’t afford the big campaigns but are really integrating sustainability throughout their business.  Effectively communicating your brand’s sustainable development along the way may be the biggest opportunity out there!

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At the root of it all, the results of our study made it clear that it is worth the time for a sustainably-oriented brand to get to know – and gain the trust of – green mom bloggers.

Here’s a clip from my VPR commentary on the topic (and yes – we recently did have a 59 degree day here in Vermont!  Talk about visible, immediate and personal…):

Essentially, the idea is that, if climate change were visible to the naked eye, people would feel threatened enough to act.  Instead, climate change is invisible.  Unless, of course, we consider an early December 59 degree Vermont day to be a neon sign, as some of us do.

The VPR link for both the text and audio format is here.  I’d love to hear your thoughts (or examples of how such topics are being brought “home” for consumers).

What I’ve seen in my years of studying consumer behavior is that people generally like to feel “in the know.”  They respond to the idea that they can make wise decisions with their money if they just pay a little extra attention and educate themselves.  These days companies are being forced to decide how to manage this new, more demanding consumer.  Will they hide behind the same old business practices, hoping no one looks behind the curtain?  Or will they invite prospective customers in to see what really goes on in operations and product manufacturing?

And -

So, it boils down to empowerment.  Sustainable and socially responsible businesses are educating us in entirely new ways as we sort and learn and decide to purchase.  We can use that new-found information to buy somewhere else; but isn’t it human nature to reward the provider that informed you in the first place?

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A point for marketers to ponder? Start tending to your sustainable development in all things, share your learning along the way with your customers, and get those rewards. 

A few of the things I say:

The key point I took from the survey included in the [Time magazine] article was that consumers are starting to look at provenance: where the products come from and how they get to the marketplace.

The consuming public has really come a long way.  It was not that long ago that corporate responsibility was defined primarily in terms of the stockholder, and it was focused mainly on increasing profits.  These days, however, consumers have forced the corporate collective hand and now expect the brands they buy to reflect a triple bottom line of responsibility to profit, planet and people.

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I imagine many of you have seen the truth in this lately.  If consumers “rise up,” then marketers have to, as well.

I concluded my commentary with this thought:

Everyone knows significant change takes time, but if we walk side by side and encourage one another on this path to sustainable living, the journey itself will change us.

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This piece bubbled up after I heard Van Jones, the Obama administration’s green jobs czar (he has a much more official title), speak at a lunch in Vermont in May.  His words made me think how exciting it was that the “green expertise” of this state could do so much good for the nation -  especially by way of collaborating with the expertise, workforces or manufacturing facilities of neighboring states.

In my recent interview on Purse Strings Radio, I talk about why more brands shoud be moving away from visibly “pink” campaigns toward marketing to women under-the-radar in order to appeal to a 21st Century gender-converging marketplace.  Listen to my conversation with Purse Strings host, Maria Reitan, to learn more about why I feel this way and how brands can use their marketing to women savvy to reach a more gender neutral consumer.

[Editorial note: As of 4/20, the podcast is up and I've gotten great feedback.  The interviewer did a particularly good job guiding me to share my marketing to women journey: from co-authoring Don't Think Pink in 2004 and starting this blog, to my more recent research for "Beware The Gender Trap" into how men are starting to buy using their more "feminine" brain traits.]