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Building Green in a Black and White World-- Chapter 5

The following is an exerpt from the book Building Green in a Black and White World. Section 3; Chapter 5; Introduction to Marketing Strategies

David Ritchey Johnston
January 1, 1900
HousingZone

Marketing Green in a Black and White World is an opportunity to reinvent the relationship of your company with your community. You are making a statement that you have a commitment to something greater than the bottom line. You care about the impact of your homes and are willing to publicly put your values in front of your potential market. Not only can you change the way your community views your work, but you can help change the perspective that builders don’t care about anything but selling more homes.

"I don’t think you can market green buildings, I think you have to market the benefits of green buildings. Buyers make decisions based on benefits, no matter what they’re purchasing. You’ve got to figure out what the need of that buyer is. Whether you are in the business of building custom homes or a development, customers are not buying the home, they are buying the benefits."
--John Knott, Developer
and CEO of Dewees Island, South Carolina.

Marketing green is an opportunity to conduct a promotional campaign in unique and fun ways. By setting yourself and your company apart from the other builders in your area, you step into a new world of recognition and media attention. Your homes draw the public’s curiosity and interest, and you have a story to tell that is attractive to the media. By thinking outside of the traditional marketing box you can engage more of the public than you may have thought possible. People start to remember the name of your company as the builder who cares. Many builders have pursued this image through involving their company in community activities. Some have taken leadership positions within their local building industry associations using green building to enhance their careers.

This chapter explores a variety of marketing approaches that have proven successful for builders across the country. There are few renown marketing gurus in the home building business, but several people have risen to the top because of their creativity and sales success. Whether it is through politics, or just throwing the best party in town, these approaches have brought recognition, referrals, and return customers to their businesses.

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