Copy Brighter

As it says in the Cluetrain Manifesto: markets are conversations. If you go to a marketplace and listen in on all the different dialogues... you'll be surprised how much you learn about sales and consumer psychology.

And marketing – the art of gracefully entering into the conversation and making a good impression. If you want to want to be a highly-effective marketer, it's best to listen before you speak. The late, great copywriting guru Eugene Schwartz warned:

"You can never lose touch with the people of this country. No matter how successful or potent you are, if you don't spend at least two hours a week finding out where your market is today... you are finished. You'll have a career of three blazing years and be finished... Rule Number One: be the best listener you ever met."

As a green marketer who cares about the Earth as well as my bottom line, my goal is to penetrate far beyond the hip, environmentally conscious consumers who already "get it." To make a big impact, I've got to strike a chord with the biggest polluters, wasters, consumers, legislators and developers. You can't get so wrapped up in green values and causes that you lose touch with the reality of where most people are at... Nor can you preach or make people feel guilty about consumption or waste - or you will quickly lose them and leave them with a yucky feeling about you and your message. You've got to find out where people are at now and connect with them there. To gather intelligence, I like to put on my "undercover marketing detective" hat and ask random people about global warming, energy, pollution. And I listen. Deeply. After my workout at the local YMCA, there's usually several naked guys sweating it out in the sauna. Some read wrinkled newspapers. Some drape moist towels over their head. And they talk things over. I find there's something about sweltering heat and lack of clothing that makes the male ego mostly evaporate.

Whenever the there's a lull in the conversation and the moment feels right, I'll drop the bomb by bringing up global warming. I've found an 180-degree room is an excellent location for an impromptu focus group on the subject.

"So what do you guys think about that whole global warming theory? Is there anything to it?" I'll meekly ask.

As the sweat oozes out of their pores and drips onto the benches (that once belonged to Scandinavian old-growth forest), the guys come up with some compelling insights.

I'll find out that one guy loves fishing but is concerned that the waters are getting polluted and fished out. That's what green means to him; it's his emotional trigger and frame of reference.

And there are thousands just like him. And if I can speak to them in their own words, I might be able to reel them in.

I listen to a garbage man who is concerned about how much waste is being generated, but is dismayed at the level of consciousness of some of his "redneck" coworkers. I hear Bush bashing and praises of "that Al Gore movie." I hear hardcore doomsday prophecies from people who think Earth will get destroyed by a nuclear Armageddon in Word War III - the Oil War - within 20 years max.

I hear out some people who believe climate change is a massive hoax.

And I listen - deeply. I resist the temptation to speak or interject my opinion. I just focus on them and pretend like they are enlightened and I am not – while I take lots of mental notes.

The more I understand how people really think, the more powerful of a marketer I'll be.

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