Green Goes Mainstream

By Glenn Croston of Entrepreneur.com

People often believe that green products are a niche. There is some truth to this, but more and more businesses are breaking out of the niche and going mainstream. Here's how they're doing it, and what it means for your business.

How Sustainability Goes Mainstream
Although surveys commonly report that a huge majority of consumers will buy eco-friendly products, most will not pay a lot more for them. For most consumers the environment is a secondary factor, and scolding doesn't sell at all.

"The real question is 'How does green equal better?'" says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com and author of Strategies for the Green Economy. "That is, how does making the green choice become a no-brainer, because it's just clearly the better choice. You buy the green car because it's more fun to drive or a better deal. Until it's about that, it's going to be a niche audience."

When eco-friendly products do cost a little more, communicating their added value becomes paramount. "The challenge facing green-product companies going mainstream is how to motivate consumers to shop value and not simply price. The key is to define and present both the product and green value in one marketing message," says David Mleczko, co-founder of Signature Green Marketing.

Eco-friendly Cleaning and Babies
Eco-friendly cleaning products is one sector going mainstream, with Green Works from Clorox (CLX Quote) sitting on the grocery store shelf right next to conventional products. Clorox developed Green Works products to reach a broader market by making sure they clean well at a competitive price. The environmental benefit of natural ingredients such as coconut is the green icing on the cake.

Other eco-friendly cleaning products are also going mainstream, driven in part by health concerns about chemical exposure. Seventh Generation, a pioneer in sustainability, is launching a new line of disinfectant cleaning products using thyme. The direct-sales company Only Green has begun manufacturing its own line of cleaning products to lower their cost and attract a broader customer base.