Buying green is one thing. Living it quite another.

Which is why we were delighted to see that Richard Louv’ s recent talk at Seattle’s Town Hall drew a standing room only crowd. It was 7:30 on a weekday evening, but the enormous auditorium was filled, and the standing ovations were many. With the publication of Last Child in the Woods two years ago, Richard Louv touched something very deep in the American psyche. By coining the phrase “nature-deficit disorder,” he encapsulated the epidemics plaguing many children today — attention disorders, obesity, and depression. One need not be a parent to be concerned about these alarming societal trends, but one of the reasons that Louv’s book has sold so well is that he does speak directly to parents, who are viscerally aware that something is missing in their children. Louv’s ideas are not new — the fields of media ecology, deep ecology, and ecopsychology have been making the same pleas for years, but Louv has brought together current research and statistics with the fundamental tenets of deep ecology and a wonderful storytelling style to say, quite baldly, that our children are suffering because we are depriving them of an all-important nutrient: free play in a natural environment.

Louv’s talk was both hopeful and unsettling. He talked of wonderful cultural shifts, such as recent “No child left inside” legislation that provide funding for nature education programs. He spoke of the groundswell of support that he’s gotten for his book, and how he can unite people across political and demographic categories by asking the simple question: “Did you have a special place in nature that you went when you were young?” But he also spoke of reality: natural spaces are vanishing, people are afraid to let their children play outside, and people’s day-to-day lives are more scheduled and overbooked than in any period throughout history.

But we must be hopeful here. We have no other option. As Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus write in their classic essay, The End of Environmentalism, “Imagine how history would have turned out had King given an ‘I have a nightmare’ speech instead.” As Louv reminded us, it’s never too late to begin connecting with nature again. No matter how scheduled our lives, we must still make the time to get outside.

We’ll all be the better for it.

In Saturday’s New York Times, Louise Story reports of the discovery by major marketers that the new trend in “user generated ads” may be neither as economical nor effective a way to get your brand out there as some might think. But the idea that the non-advertising-professional public could create ads for a brand isn’t so far fetched—Wieden and Kennedy in Portland is even respected in some circles for its unconventional approaches to hiring, looking for raw, unpolished talent in other fields like animation and sculpture. Says W&K’s head of client services in London, Sam Brookes, “We think there are plenty of people with the talent and enthusiasm to make it in advertising that lie outside of the usual accepted channels. And we want to give these people that chance. W+Kside is our way of opening up the advertising industry because we feel that the best agencies aren’t just staffed with people who only know advertising.”

But unleashing the general public on your brand and letting them have their way is very different from methodically searching for talent-in-waiting. Because of the appearance of success that a few brands have had with this tactic, namely Converse and Doritos, what’s to stop a brand from giving it a try? Well here at least, Story negates any presumption that it’s cheaper. In fact, it can be more of a pain than anything else. And in the end, do you really get good ideas? Maybe one in a hundred thousand. (We actually thought Dan Burke’s idea was pretty good here, except perhaps not working too strongly on appetite appeal.)

Missing for us here was that Story neglected to probe the true motivation behind this trend, which is that companies believe by relinquishing control of their brand to the public, a populist bottom-up spin will add another attractive dimension to the brand. You know, advertising made by you and me (or you, and you, in this case, unless you are another ad professional reading this), instead of by the big corporate advertising puppeteers who so manipulatively tug at our emotional consumer strings. The added dimension of making the whole endeavor into a contest is just another promotional ploy, adding even more value to the brand.

Brands have learned to let go, but remaining in control while letting go is the key insight to this strategy.

Bosch has come out with some new green TV spots for their BSH Home Appliances to push its environmentally friendly major appliances. This is the broadcast component in a rebranding for the company started earlier this year that uses a tree-frog icon for its green products.

The new campaign extends that brand imagery with TV ads that end with their new tagline, “Invented for life.” These two spots show an owl and a deer quietly approaching and communing with a Bosch appliance placed out in a stark natural environment, emphasizing how they help preserve nature–and don’t disturb it either, when they are operating. While most will miss the idea that this means they don’t harm nature because they use less energy and therefore create less harmful emissions, the average viewer will simply associate the company with being “friendly to nature”. That’s the goal here. And perhaps a bit heavy handed–unbelievable even, dare I say? For a better job of emotionally engaging consumers with the whole “brand-communing-with-nature” thing, see GE’s Ecomagination spot with the dancing elephant. It has a magical quality to it, even if it is far fetched. But far fetched is what people like, as long as there is a some magic. I’m missing the magic here.

Interesting that Bosch would basically re-use an idea for their new tag line that already seems well-worn. Volvo introduced “For Life” to communicate safety with their brand several years ago. Now, it’s not an uncommon tagline used to communicate a company’s committment to (fill in the blank) + their commitment to social responsibility. Most recently Safeway uses, “Ingredients For Life”. Regionally, in the Northwest, there is The Environmental Home Center, which uses “Building Materials for Life”. On quick review we counted about 30 or so different companies using this idea. It’s only a matter of time before we see “Get Out The Gray for Life”.

Seems like the brand is missing an opportunity here to really connect with consumers and present a meaningful and emotional sell.

It’s all the rage in Europe.

All the coolest people are doing it.

Even Rupert Murdoch is giving it a try.

Carbon neutral — chosen as The New Oxford American Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2006 — is the new carbon indifferent, and we at egg are thrilled to witness this cultural shift. We’ve been taking measures to reduce our carbon footprint for a few years now, but last week we called in an expert to help us get to the next level. Our goals: full carbon neutrality for our agency, and carbon-neutral print advertisement and website development options for our clients. Kevin Wilhelm, of Innovative Strategies, a sustainability consulting firm, paid a visit to our offices and walked our entire staff through the basics of the carbon footprint calculation process. We discussed transportation, energy, materials, waste, and the crucial issue of reducing our footprint rather than just buying offsets. We talked about shady offset shops, the efficacy of planting trees, and the fact that you could negate the impact of an entire year of carbon-righteous living with a single long-haul airplane trip. We also got into the interesting (and loaded) issue of personal choice vs. the common good — we touched upon the idea of financial incentives for collectively reducing the agency’s carbon footprint. It’s a tricky balance, wanting to do good in the world, but knowing that our industry — any industry — has an environmental impact that may be less than beneficial. We can but do our best.

Our next step is to fill out comprehensive personal surveys and subject every part of egg’s operation to rigorous scrutiny. Innovative Strategies will crunch the numbers for us, and we’ll be able to stare down at our footprints and see exactly where we are.

Will our water cooler be revealed as an energy sink? Will our lunch habits be called into question?

Will the bicyclists at egg begin to taunt the bus-takers with looks of smug superiority?

Stay tuned for the next installment of “Running the Talk,” and all will be revealed.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution today brings news of the greening of corporate America to the South. Having gone to school in the region and lived there for 10 years, we can understand the slight delay in timing for this news to make it front and center in the southern rags. And yet, one shining star in the region has led the rest of the pack in this now illustrious movement towards corporate social responsibility. Interface carpets has become a champion amongst the green set for its progressive stand on environmental issues. And considering the industry and the region, that is truly a monumental achievement. So yet another round of props go out to Ray Anderson.

Of most important note here though is the delicacy required by companies in the smash and grab of “green” for gain. It simply isn’t as easy as changing the incandescent light bulbs for the twisty ones, and then changing the color of the logo to green. The PR opportunities are so juicy that it is easy to mistake an action for an opportunity. The disingenuous of this kind of action followed by ensuing communications tactics for short-term gain will backfire in the long run. Consumers are too smart and the transparency afforded them today with the web reveals all in due course.

Paul Dusseault who handles the Novelis account at PR firm Fleishman-Hilliard says his role is to personalize numbers by “telling stories” that might attract media coverage. As we were so candidly reminded in the now infamous New Yorker article about PR firm Edelman’s “handling” of the greening of Wal-Mart, emphasizing the good news and spinning the bad is what PR does best.

Therein lie the shortcomings of the approach that many companies take to this here greening trend. First, they don’t go far enough. Secondly, they don’t (re) position the brand to accurately reflect the (new or existing) green components, and then communicate this aspect effectively. While earned media through PR is considered more credible and potentially more affordable, it has a very limited ability to build brand without ground cover from paid media (advertising). Essentially, the first step is determining whether you are a green brand (unlikely), or simply a brand with green components (more likely). Creating an effective brand platform that captures the truths of the brand (with green possibly playing a now more important role, but still less so than those all important primary attributes like performance, quality, style and taste), and then using the best channels to communicate and connect with customers is the green fleece.

A new addition to the Worn Again range from Terra Plana has some forward looking paw covers made from 99% recycled materials. A collaboration between Terra Plana and the environmental action group Anti-Apathy, these shoes are made from e-leather, t-shirts, jeans and recycled rubber soles. And in case you have a beef with the fact that they are made overseas, a donation from every pair goes to Climate Care to help off set the carbon produced in the manufacture and transportation of the shoes.We are fond of both their approach and styling except the button over-top look might not get much further than with the 7% Advocates.

Terra Plana is a good example of what we at egg consider a brand that offers consumers “enlightened self-interest”, even inching towards enlightened hedonism, by combining luxury shoes with a real ethical policy. The trend with eco shoe brands has been taking off lately with good looking togs from Patagonia, Mion, and Keen, to name just a few.

So try one, or try them all, but try them.

Interesting piece in the Sunday Times on organizations that are emerging which converge for-profit money-making with a nonprofit mission.

Referred to as the “fourth sector” because these hybrid organizations are distinct from those operating in the government, business and nonprofit sectors, these are organizations driven by both a social and financial bottom line and meld the models of the traditional company and that of the charity.

Proponents argue that current laws, tax structures and definitions of fiduciary responsibility encourage companies to shift costs onto society. “We have created cheap food by investing in huge agricultural conglomerates — but is it really cheap?” says Cathy Berry, an angel investor in a socially responsible business. “No. Look at the pesticides those businesses use and then look at the cleanup costs to society. Look at the health costs.” And people are making the case for tax breaks to offer incentives that compensate businesses for absorbing the social costs of their activities. (What a concept!)

While I was expecting to read of a new model here—one which is driven more by social mission than financial—they include several companies in this new list of “fourth sector” organizations which are merely more traditional businesses that have a social responsibility component, like General Electric — Jeffrey Immelt notably takes every opportunity to remind investors of the purpose behind the “good” in the Ecomagination strategy for GE: shareholder returns.

The article blends its discussion of for-profit organizations that are also doing some good, with the for-profit organizations that exist to do good. You could say its splitting hairs, but is it? What is the motivation behind the company’s board and its managers, and how do these differing approaches affect strategy and outcome? Is one inherently more socially responsible? This is quite arguable. Is it about doing good and doing well, or doing well and doing good? In other words, is the ultimate mission one of making profits, within the context of making positive social and/or environmental impacts along the way, or vice versa—doing well enough with the traditional bottom line that it drives the overall organization’s mission of doing good things in society?

All in all, we are so pleased to see what is becoming true integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into corporate strategy. From the early 90’s, when CSR was in its “donating” stage of generating goodwill among employees and customers through corporate contributions, to the late 90’s, when CSR was used as a marketing tool to promote the company brand by linking corporate identity to desired qualities of the non-profit, CSR has truly come of age and now represents a holistic strategy to improve competitive position.

As Heerad Sabeti, co-founder of TransForms in Raleigh, N.C., says, “We want social responsibility to be completely embedded in everything we do, not something that occurs as a sort of sideline,…It has to be an integral part of our business.”

Praise the fourth way, or whatever you want to call it. We call it due.

This Sunday was the event we have been waiting for. And waiting for. And waiting for.

Hungrily, we might add.

It is the event that symbolizes the start of our fresh food year–the be all and end all of the culinary calendar. The quintessential milepost of local larder fare.

Ladies and gentlemen start your biodiesel engines and grab your cloth sacks. The 2007 Seattle farmer’s market season has officially begun in West Seattle!

We spied most of our regulars with early and modest fare like wonderful morels from Jeremy Faber at Foraged and Found Edibles which we quickly took home and sautéed with some spectacular asparagus from our friends Ben and Gretchen at Alm Hill Gardens. We picked up some oregano and chive starts at Billy’s, the most unbelievable dry roasted hazelnuts in the Pacific Northwest, if not the planet, from Brian Holmquist out of Lyndon, WA, and of course our favorite goat cheese to accompany those hazelnuts from Steven at nearby Port Madison Farm on Bainbridge Island.

Wade Bennet of Rockridge Orchards is yet to roll out his luscious medley of Asian greens and tomatoes but he beamed proudly from behind an array of apple and pear ciders. And we couldn’t leave without our fix of Skagit River Ranch bacon and eggs from George and Eiko, and Shelley’s radicchio and chard from Whistling Train.

All in all, it was pretty good market day considering how early in the season it is. However, we were chagrined to read a day or so later that the farmers markets, while growing rapidly in popularity, are not rooted so well on the ground. There is a reliance of community good will to a large extent for hosting of the markets and there are no real permanent or secure sites for them. Without more formal arrangements with landlords and leases, we worry that the markets represent only a temporary solution. Institutionalization of the Seattle farmers markets is a push that we feel is necessary for the future long term health and welfare of the communities they support.