Page 350 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

328 CHAPTER 10

In the early years of Green, Inc., the company focuses its marketing efforts inter-
nally: holding a retreat built around the communication of core values, developing col-
lateral materials that support work done at the retreat, creating a website that expresses
the values of the company. Also early on, the company makes a multi-year commitment
to support the capital fund drive of an important local environmental group. Senior
management chalks this up to youthful exuberance on its part, identifies the financial
commitment as cause-related marketing, and makes the decision that in future years,
the company should shy away from cause-related marketing in favor of direct philan-
thropic giving. Another early move was a multi-year commitment of advertising sig-
nage at the local airport, something Green, Inc. is uncertain it will continue once the
contract expires. The original intent of this ad was to make a statement linking Green,
Inc. closely with its hometown. It’s virtually the only advertising Green, Inc. engages
in, and senior management wonders if it should renew the contract.
After the first few years of devoting its overall communication budget to market-
ing, Green, Inc. begins to focus more and more of its efforts on PR, primarily on out-
reach, advocacy, and education as it relates to green building practices. Several staff
members get invited to speak on panels or to make keynote addresses at conferences,
first locally and in the region, then nationally. From doing about two dozen talks
annually after its first two green projects are completed, staff members at Green, Inc.
evolve into doing about fifty per year, which entails a significant amount of travel
time and expense. The company also begins to get involved in local, regional, and
state political issues, things like curbside recycling, municipal commitment to ICLEI
(International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) standards, a statewide
comprehensive water plan, and state subsidies for use of alternative energy. The over-
all breakdown of communication expenses for Green, Inc. over a ten-year period can
be found in Table10.1.
There are a few things worth looking at in this ten-year spend on communications.
First, the initial spend in Year 1 is devoted largely to internal communication, as well
as the company’s main vehicle for expressing itself to the outside world (its website).
Advertising amounts to about one-sixth of the total spent. Early commitment to cause-
related marketing tapers off once a large multi-year commitment is paid off. And while
the majority of early year dollars is devoted to marketing line items, as the company
matures, more and more resources are devoted to communicating what the company
knows and cares about to the outside world. Average annual spend on communica-
tion is above industry standard, at 1.3 percent of gross revenues (instead of 1 percent),
amounting to approximately $36,000 a year more ($156,000 versus $120,000) than
is typical.
Every company will, of course, judge for itself not only the amount it will budget
for overall communication needs, but also how it will allocate this overall amount to
specific categories (e.g., advertising, cause-related marketing). It’s difficult even for us
to analyze critically the expenditures provided by Green, Inc., since it is rare for out-
side agencies to be included in a client’s budgeting process. We do feel that this type
of budget, weighted toward sharing information with the outside community, fits the
mission-driven nature of this particular organization.