United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
NCEI
NATIONAL CENTER FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION
Guidelines for Marketing
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The National Center for Environmental Innovation wishes to thank the members of the Innovation
Action Council's EPA Partnership Programs Workgroup, many EPA Partnership Program managers,
and other EPA contributors who assisted us in this effort.
This document was developed for EPA managers and staff and their contract consultants to use as
they develop EPA Partnership Programs.
These Guidelines are not regulations and do not change or substitute for any legal requirements, as
indicated by the use of non-mandatory language.They provide non-binding policy and procedural
guidance and are therefore not intended to create legal rights, impose legally binding requirements
on EPA or the public, nor to contravene any other lega requirements that might apply to particular
Agency determinations or actions.The Guidelines outline recommended best practices and poli-
cies for marketing EPA Partnership Programs.The information provided in these Guidelines does
not constitute an endorsement by EPA or of any non-Federal entity or its products or services, nor
does it recommend for or against the purchase of specific products.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Innovation (I807T)
Washington, DC
December 2007
NC[
NATIONAL CENTER FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Purpose
Strategic marketing and branding of EPA
Partnership Programs are essential to
achieving EPA's mission. In order to pro-
vide stronger and more strategic marketing and
branding of EPA Partnership Programs, EPA's
Innovation Action Council's Workgroup on EPA
Partnership Programs and EPA's Partnership
Programs Coordination Team have identified
best marketing practices for EPA Partnership
Programs.These guidelines take best practices
and policies and organize them into a step-by-
step format to help all EPA Partnership Program
managers effectively apply principles of market-
ing and branding. EPA staff are experts on many
topics, but this expertise does not automatically
translate into skills in marketing, which is a criti-
cal component of EPA Partnership Program suc-
cess. EPA Partnership Programs that adopt these
best marketing principles are better positioned
to achieve greater environmental results.
The term "target decisionmakers" is used
deliberately instead of the more common
marketing term "target audience" because it
more helpful in program design and marketing
strategy work. The term "target decisionmak-
ers" conveys the idea of real individuals with
actual titles and roles within a company, orga-
nization, or household who have actual deci-
sion-making authority to participate in an EPA
Partnership Program. By contrast, the term
"target audience" conveys the wrong image,
that of a large, nameless and faceless mass of
people who are passive in terms of program
participation.
What is marketing?
Chapter 2 explains what marketing is and what
it isn't, including myths about market!ng.This
chapter will help you understand how market-
ing is more than a logo, tagline, name, or mission
statement.
How do you market an EPA
Partnership Program?
Chapters 3-9 take you through a step-by-step
process in applying marketing principles to your
program:
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Chapter 3. Define the Scope ofYour
Program.This chapter helps you establish
the scope of your program and formulate
clear environmentally linked marketing goals
Chapter 4. FocusYour Program Based
on the Value It Delivers to External
Parties. This chapter helps you take a
potentially very large pool of people in your
market and narrow it down to the segments
of the market that will help your program
best achieve its long-term goals.
Chapter 5. Understand Your "Target
Decisionmakers." (Often Referred
To As "Target Audience"). This chapter
helps you identify the specific decisionmakers
who will be the priority for your program.
By knowing your target decisionmakers and
their needs, you can apply the principles of
marketing to meet those needs.
Chapter 6. Develop Your Program's
"Positioning Statement." This chapter
helps you develop a brief statement describ-
ing what your program is, what it does, what
it offers people, and how to differentiate it.
Chapter 7. Recognize Strong Environ-
mental Performance. This chapter helps
you weigh the use of recognition as an incen-
tive and ensure recognition strengthens your
program and other EPA programs as well.
• Chapter 8. Develop Your Program's
Trademarks—Name, Logo, and Tag-
lines. This chapter explains how to work
with OGC to select the most appropriate
name, logos, and taglines for your program
from a legal standpoint and ensure they will
be effective in terms of marketing.
• Chapter 9. Promote Your Program.
This chapter helps you develop clear; consis-
tent, cohesive, and effective communication
strategies.
What resources can you use to mar-
ket an EPA Partnership Program?
Appendices A - G contain a wide range of ad-
ditional tools, checklists, samples, and resources
that you can use as you market your EPA Part-
nership Program.
For additional information please visit the
EPA Partnership Programs Intranet site at
or contact
Stephan Sylvan, the EPA Partnership Programs
Coordinator; at or
(202) 566-2232.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
Why is marketing important to EPA? 1
Strategic marketing goals for EPA Partnership Programs 1
What is marketing? 2
What is a brand? 2
What will these guidelines help you do? 3
Who should use these guidelines? 3
What is the goal of this document? 3
What sources were used in producing this document? 4
Chapter 2. Understand What Marketing Is and Isn't 5
What is marketing image? 5
What are the myths of marketing? 6
How do you create a marketing strategy? 7
Chapter 3. Define the Scope of Your Program 8
Identify what your program represents 8
Define the market for your program 9
Define your program's scope 9
Build your program and its marketing strategy around core competencies 10
Create a marketing goal 11
Create marketing objectives 12
Chapter 4. Focus Your Program Based on the Value it Delivers
to External Parties 13
Focus your program 13
Criteria for segmenting 14
Chapter 5. Understand Your "Target Decisionmakers" 16
Understand your target decisionmakers 16
Create a vivid profile of a single target decisionmaker 18
Define EPA's image among the target decisionmakers 19
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Chapter 6. Develop Your Program's "Positioning Statement" 20
Use a template to create a positioning statement 21
Make sure your statement matches EPA's mission and values 22
Leverage cultural values 23
Incorporate relevant customer service and accessibility standards into position ing statement.. 23
Gain buy-in from program staff and allies on your positioning statement 24
Consult with your office's communications staff 24
Consult with the Office of Public Affairs on possible positioning statement 24
Chapter 7. Recognize Strong Environmental Performance 25
Select the number of levels to recognize 25
Recognize strong environmental performance—Select the level to recognize 26
Adhere to compliance screening guidelines 28
Chapter 8. Develop your Program's Trademarks—Name, Logo, and Taglines. . 29
Create a name and logo 29
Create a program tagline 31
Work with the Office of General Counsel to select and protect your marks 31
Test program name, logo, and tagline 33
Create guidelines for appropriate use of trademarks 33
Chapter 9. Promote Your Program 35
Identify your touch points 35
Reinforce the positioning statement 36
Work with a "creative team" to create materials 37
Use EPA name, seal, and logo appropriately in materials 38
Adhere to EPA's "endorser branding strategy" 38
Make sure your materials are accurate, consistent, and accessible 39
Submit communication materials to PROTRAC 39
Ensure communication channels are on message 40
Train staff to communicate about the program 40
Appendices 42
Appendix A: Senior EPA Leadership Marketing Checklist 43
Appendix B: Program Manager's Marketing Checklist/Worksheet 44
Appendix C: Key Definitions 54
Appendix D: Program Marketing When Decisionmakers Are Household Consumers 56
Appendix E: Program Marketing When Decisionmakers Are in the World of Business 58
Appendix F: Suggested Reading 59
Appendix G: Suggested Web Sites 60
IV
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Chapter 1:
Introductioi
Why is marketing important to EPA?
Do any of the following statements sound famil-
iar to you?
• My new program needs just a name and a
logo. Why bother with marketing?
• My program already has a name and logo so
I don't need to worry about marketing.
• If a marketing issue comes up, I would just
bring in a communications specialist to
resolve it.
• At EPA we are primarily scientists, engineers,
attorneys, and policy analysts. Why worry
about marketing?
• My program doesn't advertise so I don't
need marketing.
You may have heard these statements, and you
may have even said them yourself.To a large ex-
tent, they reflect some of the myths of market-
ing EPA Partnership Programs.
Marketing is critical and central to the success of
every EPA Partnership Program.The effective-
ness of a program's marketing frequently deter-
mines whether a program will achieve significant
environmental results and thereby contribute
to the Agency's many other activities to protect
public health and the environment. Just like the
world's most successful companies, well-de-
signed EPA Partnership Programs apply the prin-
ciples of marketing to everything they do.
At the same time, the EPA name has come
to represent a highly respected and valued
brand—built up over decades of hard work by
thousands of people.1 Its value to all of us in
the Agency in fulfilling our mission of protecting
public health and the environment is immea-
surable. Protecting the EPA name is therefore
critically important, especially by EPA Partner-
ship Programs that tend to be highly visible to
outside parties.
Strategic marketing goals for EPA
Partnership Programs
n June 2004, then Deputy Administrator and
now Administrator Steve Johnson signed the
Charter for Coordinating and Managing EPA's
Partnership Programs.This charter called on
EPA Headquarters and Regional Offices to
Roper (2002). Green Gauge 2002: Americans Perspective on Environmental Issues: New York, NY 2001 showing that
66% of Americans believe EPA is fulfilling its responsibility to protect the environment very/moderately well.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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improve the design and coordination of EPA
Partnership Programs, enhance their customer-
orientation, and ensure delivery of meaningfu
environmental results.To assist the Headquar-
ters and Regional Offices, this charter directed
the Office of Policy, Economics, and Innova-
tion to develop guidelines for EPA Partnership
Program design, measurement, and branding, a
central component of marketing.
Stronger and more strategic marketing of EPA
Partnership Programs is critical to achieving
EPA's mission.The Agency is currently sup-
porting a growing number of EPA Partnership
Programs, which often operate independently in
terms of communications and market!ng.These
guidelines call on all EPA Partnership Program
managers to take the necessary steps to ensure
the Agency moves towards fewer but stronger
programs linked to each other and the Agency's
brand and mission. It is critical that EPA pro-
grams targeting similar outside groups appear to
be as coordinated as possible in all marketing,
branding, and communications.2
What is marketing?
For our purposes, marketing is the process by
which EPA convinces outside actors—compa-
nies, governments, individuals—to voluntarily
take actions to protect public health and the
environment. Marketing is about increasing the
receptivity of the target decisionmakers (see
Appendix C: Key Definitions for a definition
of target decisionmaker). Perhaps more than
anything else marketing will determine the likeli-
hood target decisionmakers will take the action
steps EPA is asking them to take.
The most obvious EPA Partnership Program
marketing activities are producing and distribut-
ing brochures, producing Web sites, organizing
recognition and media events, and sending let-
ters to potential partners inviting them to join
programs.There are many other less obvious
marketing activities that EPA Partnership Pro-
grams conduct that are just as important—de-
ciding who the program will target for joining,
developing persuasive messages to deliver to
them, identifying the most valued incentives,
selecting who would be best to deliver these
messages, and determining the most effective
channels to deliver these messages (e.g., bro-
chures, e-mail, phone calls, trade magazines, let-
ters). All EPA Partnership Programs make these
decisions but perhaps not always as strategically
as they could.
What is a brand?
Branding is a component of marketing. A brand
is not merely a logo, icon, tagline, slogan, name,
or mission statement. Rather; a brand is about
a relationship between a particular group
of people—target decisionmakers—and the
value they perceive in a particular product,
service, company, or organization as symbol-
ized by a name. Simply put, a brand is about a
promise (or "value proposition" as described
in the Guidelines for Designing EPA Partnership
Programs') symbolized by a name. A company
uses a name to represent a promise it makes to
target decisionmakers, a promise that its prod-
ucts will consistently solve one of their pressing
problems. A strong brand is perceived positively
by target decisionmakers and represents some-
While this document focuses on strategies, it is important to remember that these strategies are used to promote an
EPA Partnership Program that is based on achieving environmental results.These Guidelines should be read and used in
conjunction with other guidance regarding the design and measurement of EPA Partnership Programs.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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thing they believe will deliver significant value in
solving these problems both on a rational and
emotional level.
The EPA name can be seen as the brand rep-
resenting the promise the Agency makes to the
American people to ensure they are properly
protected from environmental risks.
EPA's Office of Public Affairs is responsible for
the Agency's brand through the concept of
"One Agency, One Voice." OPA is charged with
ensuring that all EPA Partnership Programs
communicate consistently about the Agency's
promise. While many principles of branding ap-
ply to EPA Partnership Programs, the EPA brand
is paramount. It is critical that EPA Partnership
Programs take steps to ensure they are fully
integrated with the EPA brand.
What will these guidelines help
you do?
These guidelines are the third part of a set
including Guidelines for Designing EPA Partnership
Programs and Guidelines for Measuring the Per-
formance of EPA Partnership Programs.The entire
set of guidelines should be used in developing
and operating EPA Partnership Programs. See
the following EPA internal Web site:
By using marketing principles, your program
will better deliver environmental results—and
positive experiences—to target decisionmakers.
Applying these guidelines will help ensure your
program is positioned for success and con-
tributes to the EPA mission.The guidelines are
designed to:
• Help managers and staff understand and ap-
ply principles of marketing.
• Ensure that programs are scoped to deliver
on the expectations of target decisionmakers
and stakeholders.
• Help programs create a cohesive and com-
pelling image and communicate it effectively.
• Protect and enhance EPA's credibility and
reputation.
Who should use these guidelines?
We developed these guidelines primarily for the
following audiences:
• EPA Partnership Program Managers
and Program Staff can use these Guide-
lines to plan and design new, improved, or
expanded EPA Partnership Programs.
• EPA Managers and Senior Decision-
makers can use these Guidelines to assess
existing, new, improved, or expanded EPA
Partnership Programs.
• Consultants to EPA Partnership
Programs can use the Guidelines to better
assist the EPA staff members they work with.
What is the goal of this document?
The primary goal of this document is to help
you develop a strategic program "market posi-
tioning statement" that will serve as the "DMA"
for all your interactions with outside parties.The
following is an example of a positioning state-
ment template (adapted from one by Geoffrey
Moore).
Positioning Statement Template:
. For .
2. Who .
3. Our program is a .
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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4. That provides .
5. Unlike .
6. Our solution
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Chapter 2:
Understand What Marketing Is and Isn'
What makes people want to
participate in your program? Is it
the services or recognition you
offer; is it how they feel when they make posi-
tive environmental decisions, or a co-benefit like
cost savings?The answers to these questions
point to your program's marketing strategy and
activities. Strategic marketing is focused heavily
on the perceptions of the target decisionmak-
ers. It involves how they perceive your program
and the value they believe it provides, including
everything they experience, see, hear; and think
about your program.This perception influences
their receptivity to taking the action steps you
want them to take.
This chapter answers the following questions:
• What is marketing image?
• What are the myths of marketing?
What is marketing image?
For these guidelines, we will use the following
definition for marketing image:
• The program's marketing image can be seen
as the sum total of what target decisionmak-
ers think about your program and organiza-
Even a relatively small Partnership Program can
have a significant impact—positive or nega-
tive—on EPA's name and reputation.
tion and especially what they think about the
value your program promises to them.
• Your program has a strong marketing image
if these individuals have heard of your pro-
gram, understand it, and believe it can offer
significant value, the kind of value you want
them to see in it.
• If these individuals haven't heard about your
program, misunderstand it, or don't value it
in the way you want them to, your program
still has a marketing image. It's just a weak
marketing image.
• If your program confuses people, frustrates
them, or upsets them, you not only have a
weak marketing image, you may have one
that undermines not only your program but
the Agency's overall effectiveness.
^ Example
A recent phone company campaign em-
phasizes the need for a strong marketing
image.The phone company conducted
research and found that its customers
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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had a very negative perception of the
brand, or marketing image.They felt that
the company was slow, unresponsive, and
out of touch with their needs.To rem-
edy this situation, the phone company
launched a new marketing campaign fo-
cusing on the company's commitment to
customer service. But the company didn't
do anything to improve its internal opera-
tions including customer service. Because
the company didn't live up to its market-
ing promise, it lost even more credibility
with its customers.
What are the myths of marketing?
I. MythrYou only need marketing when
you deal with the household consum-
er market.
Marketing is not just important when dealing
with the household consumer market. Some
people mistakenly believe they don't have
to worry about marketing if their program
targets the business community or other
governments. Lack of a solid marketing
strategy and implementation will reduce the
environmental impact of your program even
if it targets the business community or other
government agencies.
2. Myth: Providing information is the
most important thing, more impor-
tant than marketing.
Many environmental professionals would like
to think people, organizations, and companies
will do the "right thing" if only they had more
information or the right kind of information.
Unfortunately, the research shows that just
providing information rarely has a significant
environmental impact3
3. Myth: Marketing is not something a
program manager needs to worry
about (just leave it to the communi-
cations person).
Marketing is an activity that requires the
work, experience, and skills of your entire
program staff. But it also requires at least
one individual with strong strategic market-
ing and marketing expertise to lead the
effort, someone respected by the team. If
your team doesn't have such an individual,
consider training opportunities and enlisting
a highly skilled marketing consultant (see the
EPA Partnership Program Coordinator for
suggestions on how to secure these skills).
4. Myth: Marketing is too expensive for
my budget.
In short, marketing does not need to be
expensive. Marketing is rooted less in expen-
sive, splashy campaigns than it is in making a
clear and valued promise to target decision-
makers and then consistently communicating
and delivering on it. One thing is certain: not
thinking about marketing is far more expen-
sive in the long run than making an upfront
investment in it. Lack of strategic marketing
could mean that your program wastes valu-
able resources targeting people or organiza-
tions that will never take the desired action
3 See Schultz, RW (2002). Knowledge, information, and household recycling: Examining the knowledge-deficit model of
behavior change. New Tools for Environmental Protection: Education, information and voluntary measures. T. Dietz and R
C. Stern. Washington, D.C., NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS: 67-82. See also Fostering Sustainable Behavior An Introduc-
tion to Community-Based Social Marketing by Doug McKenzie-Mohr and William Smith. New Society Publishers 1999.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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steps, or it wastes resources by using mes-
sages or incentives that won't motivate them
to act.
How do you create a marketing
strategy?
Marketing strategy is a dynamic process that
focuses on elements from scoping your program
to communicating about it effectively. All of
these elements interact dynamically, and all affect
how others will perceive your program.Together,
they create a strong marketing strategy.
These marketing guidelines focus on each of
these elements—helping you create a strong,
effective program, and as a result, an effective
marketing strategy.
Chapter 3. Define the Scope ofYour Pro-
gram
Chapter 4. Focus Your Program Based on the
Value it Delivers to External Parties
Chapter 5. Identify Your "Target Decisionmak-
ers"
Chapter 6. Develop Your Program's "Position-
ing Statement"
Chapter 7. Recognize Strong Environmental
Performance
Chapter 8. Develop Your Program's Trade-
marks—Name, Logo, andTaglines
Chapter 9. Promote Your Program
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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hapter 3:
Define the Scope of Your Program
f you don't know where your program is
going, then how will you know when it gets
there? Marketing strategy is the outgrowth
of scoping your program and then formulating
clear environmentally linked marketing goals
based on that scope. Defining the scope of a
program can be tricky. One danger is creating
a marketing strategy that is too broad in scope
and tries to be too many things to too many
people. Another danger is creating a marketing
strategy that is so limited in its scope that it has
no connections to other EPA Partnership Pro-
gram efforts or room for future growth. With a
clear sense of your program's marketing goals
and objectives, you can help ensure the long-
term success and survival of your program.
This chapter will help you:
• Identify what your program represents
• Define the market for your program
• Define your program's scope
• Build your program and its marketing strat-
egy around core competencies
• Create a marketing goal
• Create marketing objectives
Identify what your program repre-
sents
The first step is formulating a clear sense of
what your program represents to others. A clear
marketing strategy starts with clear thinking
about the program.
As you begin formulating your program, think
about:
• What does my program stand for?
• What am offering target decisionmakers?
• Is the promise of my program compelling
enough for target decisionmakers to re-
spond?
• What do I want people to walk away think-
ing about my program?
• What words would use to describe my
program?
• What are all the ways my program will inter-
act with others?
• How will program interactions create value
in the minds of target decisionmakers?
As big picture as these questions seem, they
are critically important in applying marketing
principles to your program. Unless you clearly
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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articulate your program's value and promise, you
can't expect others to understand or value it.
Define the market for your program
Before you can define your program's marketing
goal, you should define the market in which it is
operating.Your program's market is the category
of people, consumers, producers, organizations,
and professionals that the program will be tar-
geting. Your subsequent marketing strategy relies
on knowing this market well.
Define your program's scope
Once you have defined the market in which
your program is operating, the next step is nar-
rowing the scope of your program within that
market.To create a strong marketing strategy,
scope your program carefully—what it will
do and how it will provide service. If it is too
general, then it won't provide value to anyone;
if it is too specific, your program could become
isolated and might not be able to grow.
I. Focus your program
A focused program equates to a more
powerful marketing strategy.Why? Market-
ing professor Michael Ryan illustrates this
point using the example of "warm tea." Many
people love hot tea. Many also love to drink
iced tea. But demand for warm tea is nearly
zero.A common mistake by Partnership
Programs is trying to be too many things to
too many different people. By doing so, you
will end up offering the equivalent of "warm
tea," delivering little value to anyone.
The same is true for your program. If you
focus on satisfying a particular need for a
particular group of people, your program has
the chance of becoming known as the solu-
tion that truly satisfies that need.
A more focused program and marketing
strategy also means your resources do not
have to be spread across such a large and
general marketplace. Attempting to be too
many things to too many different target
decisionmaker groups (or too large a group)
is a recipe for failure, yielding few, if any, envi-
ronmental results.
2. Don't make your program so focused
that it has nowhere to go
The other extreme—a too narrowly fo-
cused program that does not plan for future
expansion—also has risk. Be sure to consider
ways your program can satisfy a similar need
of other target decisionmaker groups once it
has established itself and achieved its objec-
tive with the first target decisionmaker group.
^ Example
Consider the ENERGY STAR® Program
as an example.The first ENERGY STAR
Program targeted key manufacturers and
consumers of personal computers. Once
the program was firmly established as the
respected resource for cutting com-
puter-related energy waste, the program
pursued something akin to a "brand ex-
tension.'The "brand extension" extended
the ENERGY STAR labeling concept
to copiers, fax machines and eventually
dozens of other product markets.The
brand extension allowed EPA to lever-
age the relationships, exposure, meaning,
and value the ENERGY STAR name had
for personal computers into these other
markets. By doing so, EPA saved significant
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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time and money, reduced the risk of fail-
ure, and increased the chances of success
and program effectiveness.
3. Create a plan to extend into addition-
al initiatives
Be forward thinking when you develop your
program's marketing strategy and name.
One danger is creating a program name that
can't easily move into other markets or be
extended into other initiatives. As you plan
your program and its name, be sure to plan
for future growth.
^ Example
Let's assume for a moment, that EPA did
not launch the ENERGY STAR program
for computers back in 1992. Let's also
assume instead that EPA was thinking only
in terms of computer equipment and
launched a program called the "Comp-u-
fficiency Program" or some such name.
The poor program name notwithstanding,
EPA might have had a very difficult time
extending the program into houses as it
did with "ENERGY STAR Homes," into
commercial buildings as it did with "ENER-
GY STAR Buildings," or even space-heating
products or consumer electronic products
like "ENERGY STAR-labeled TVs" or"EN-
ERGY STAR-labeled furnaces."
EPA would face a different decision: Es-
tablish an entirely new name that would
take years to establish or invest heavily
in changing and explaining its new name.
Long-standing partners in the computer-
related program might not understand
why the EPA is suddenly moving into
home electronics.
In the world of marketing, this issue can be
described as leveraging existing "brand equity"
through the process of "brand extension."
4. Explore opportunities to coordinate
program design and marketing strate-
gies with other government programs
EPA Partnership Program developers should
consult with OGC and the IAC Partnership
Program Workgroup on opportunities to
coordinate with other programs within the
Agency or the federal government. In some
cases, sharing program concepts and extend-
ing a program name and marketing strategies
to include these new ideas may be the best
way for enhancing Agency effectiveness and
saving government resources.
Build your program and its
marketing strategy around core
competencies
After identifying your market and focusing the
scope of your program, you should ensure
that your program has the means to fulfill the
promise you are making to customers.The best
way to do this is to build your program solidly
around both the Agency's core competencies
and your program team competencies.
Identify Agency core competencies
Your task will be identifying those Agency core
competencies that best support your program,
particularly those that are unique to EPA. (In
some cases it will be critical to also identify
and recognize EPA weaknesses as perceived by
outside parties.)
To help you produce a market positioning state-
ment described later in this document, consider
10
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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the following core competencies often consid-
ered unique to EPA and general points of differ-
entiation from other agencies and organizations:
I. EPA is one of the most visible, widely known,
and respected environmental organizations
in the United States (high nationwide "name
recognition" outside the Washington Beltway,
which few other organizations enjoy).
2. EPA is often considered to be among the
most technically skilled environmental organi-
zations in the United States.
3. EPA has significant technical, analytical, and
communications expertise.
4. EPA is a very large environmental organiza-
tion and one of the few with national reach
(given the EPA regional offices, labs, etc).
5. EPA has the ability to bring a wide variety of
stakeholders together and significant experi-
ence balancing the perspectives of a wide
variety of stakeholders.
6. EPA is one of the few organizations in the
United States with environmental regulatory
powers at the federal level.
Identify program team core
competencies
Your program team's core competencies are
also important to the long-term success of your
program.To build a strong marketing strategy,
take an honest look at your team's skills and
experience. Make a special effort to identify
areas of expertise within your team that other
potential players in your "market" may not have.
Or identify areas where your team is much
stronger than other players. Consulting firms
are also available through the new GSA sched-
ule approach to federal contracts.Through the
new GSA schedule approach to federal con-
tracts, program offices can quickly and easily tap
national and world experts in a wide variety of
subject areas (including marketing and branding).
Don't forget to consider the expertise available
through OGC. OGC has trademark experts
and is the only appropriate source for trade-
mark searches, opinions on availability or the
risks associated with your choice of trademarks,
or applying for registrations.
^ Example
IfVolvo, for example, built its marketing
strategy and brand around product safety
but lacked the expertise to deliver on this
"promise," it would not be the successful
brand it is today.Volvo succeeded as an
"excellence in safety" brand because cre-
ating safe vehicles is a core competency
of the company, supported heavily by the
Swedish government, and demanded by
the Swedish public.Workers at the com-
pany have both the strong commitment
to safety and the expertise to deliver it.
Create a marketing goal
One of the most important steps in creating a
program marketing strategy is clearly identifying
its marketing goals and objectives. Every decision
you make as you develop, market, and commu-
nicate about the program should be designed to
accomplish these goals and objectives.
Marketing goals are broad.Think of your goal as
a long-term vision statement of what you want
the program to accomplish in five to 0 years.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
11
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Create marketing objectives
Marketing objectives are specific and measur-
able. Objectives map the steps you need to take
to accomplish your marketing goal. Marketing
experts define objectives in the following ways:4
I. Measurable. Usually this means it's
quantifiable.
2. Time delimited.
3. Single minded. Your objectives need to be
single-minded enough to help you choose
between competing actions.
4. Realistic and achievable.
5. Integrated. All objectives should link natu-
rally to higher and lower-level objectives.
Example
A hypothetical EPA Partnership Program
might be one designed to reduce the
environmental impacts associated with
government-related air travel (note that
the Guidelines for Designing EPA Partner-
ship Programs has a chapter dedicated to
this hypothetical program).This program
would be designed to get U.S. govern-
ment employees to take the train or bus
instead of an airplane for "short haul"
trips when traveling on official govern-
ment business. Using the hypothetical
green travel program, the program's
marketing objective might be:
Increase the market share of green busi-
ness travel (e.g., train vs. air travel when
it's time- and cost-competitive) by federal
employees from 5 percent to 20 percent
by 20 0.
12
Nordhielm, C.L., Marketing Management: The Big Picture (John Wiley & Sons 2005).
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Chapter 4:
Focus Your Program Based on the Valu<
it Delivers to External Partie-
A strong marketing strategy generates the
interest of target decisionmakers by
focusing on what they want and need.
It promises only what it can deliver and does so
without diluting itself. Since most EPA Partner-
ship Programs have significant resource con-
straints, focus on only those target decisionmak-
ers you can realistically reach with the resources
you have.This step helps you take a potentially
very large pool of people in your marketplace
and narrow it down to the segments of the
market that will help your program best achieve
its long-term goals. In the field of marketing this
is called segmenting the market or just
segmenting.
This chapter will help you:
• Identify what constitutes a good market
segment.
• Segment your target decisionmakers.
Focus your program
Segmenting is a tool that allows you to focus
your efforts on a particular; highly receptive, and
reachable decisionmaker group, saving your pro-
gram resources and increasing its effectiveness.
If you segment properly, the size of your target
decisionmaker group shrinks and your probabil-
ity of appealing to this group increases.
Consider the hypothetical example of an EPA
Partnership Program that promotes a voluntary
standard for "green airports." If the program is
typical, it will not have sufficient staffer budget
in any given year to reach and convince more
than a fraction of the managers of the 20,000
airports in the United States.
Let's assume the program can reach 00 airport
managers in a given year Should the program
randomly select the I 00 airports it can reason-
ably reach over the next year? Should it simply
select the largest 00 airports?
The answer is neither Segmenting is the act of
strategically selecting which 00 to target. If, for
example, the program can offer substantial cost
savings to airports, one segmenting approach
might be to find and target the 00 U.S. air-
ports undergoing major cost-cutting initiatives.
The managers of this airport "segment" may be
more receptive to the program since the pro-
gram aligns with their goals.They are more likely
to join the program and therefore increase the
program's environmental impact. Note, however;
that this one of many ways to segment the mar-
ket of U.S. airports.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
13
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Another effective segmenting approach is by
stage of behavior For example, it may make
strategic sense to target 00 airports that have
adopted at least some environmental measures
due to their likely receptivity. (See the Chapter
5 reference to stages of behavior: Awareness,
Understanding, Relevance,Trial behavior; Satisfac-
tion, Loyalty/long-term engagement).
^ Private Sector Example
In the fast food category, companies have
focused on taste (Wendy's), freshness/low
fat (Subway), and customization (Burger
King) to "steal" customers from the mar-
ket leader (McDonalds). Note that these
companies deliver not just on these spe-
cial benefits of taste, freshness, or custom-
ization; they deliver at some level on the
main benefit of this market emphasized
by the leader: convenience.They rely on
McDonalds to attract consumers to the
category of fast food based on their need
for convenience and then "steal" some
of McDonald's customers who highly
value one of these benefits, like taste, by
emphasizing that benefit.
Criteria for segmenting
You know you have a good segment of decision-
makers to target if:
I. The segment contains decisionmak-
ers most likely to value what's offered
by your program. If the segment contains
decisionmakers who are not among those
who would value your program the most,
consider another segment.You want the
most receptive decisionmakers you can find.
2. The segment is small enough for your
program to reach with the resources
it has. If there are too many decisionmakers
for your program to reach by calling, mailing,
or meeting with them, you need to narrow
your segment.
3. The segment is large enough to make
a significant environmental impact.
If your segment is so small your program
wouldn't have a significant environmental
impact even if you convinced the entire seg-
ment to join your program, you may need a
larger segment.
4. The segment is accessible to your
program. If you don't have a communica-
tions channel to effectively reach decision-
makers in the segment and expose them to
your program, then you need to consider a
different segment.
Consider Subway, from the example above. It is
very likely the marketing strategists at Subway
know that their marketing/advertising budget is
too small to reach all consumers of convenient
"quick-service," or "fast food" as it is commonly
called.They probably don't have the market-
ing budget nearly as big as the market leader;
McDonalds. Besides, not all fast food consumers
would be interested in the kind of food offered
by Subway. So Subway marketing strategists are
likely to segment the fast food market of con-
sumers according to value they place on health,
fitness, and freshness. Subway marketing strate-
gists then look for some practical ways of divid-
ing up or segmenting consumers based on their
values of health, etc.Through market research,
they may have determined, for example, that the
group of people who exercise at least twice a
14
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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week I) values health and fitness sufficiently to
place a high value on Subway food, 2) is a small
enough group that their marketing/advertising
budget can reach it, 3) is large enough to draw
enough customers to their stores to make them
profitable, and 4) is reachable through theTV
programs, radio programs, magazines, etc. that
are viewed heavily by this group.
EPA Partnership Programs target businesses,
schools, nonprofits, individuals, and other gov-
ernments. Marketers generally use four types
of segmentation5 to narrow down household
consumer decisionmakers: I) demographic, 2)
behavioral, 3) attitudinal, and 4) aspirational.
Demographic segmenting is done with an attri-
bute of the target group such as their geographic
location (e.g., Midwest vs. West Coat or urban vs.
rural), education level, or family status (e.g., par-
ent, married, single), etc. Behavioral segmenting
is done with a particular behavior by the target
group. For example, Subway may target people
who exercise at least twice a week. Attitudinal
segmenting is done with attitudes. For example,
Subway marketers may target people who
believe, based on market research, that exercis-
ing and nutrition are important.Aspirational
segmentation refers not to current attitudes
but to wishes, hopes, and dreams of the target
decisionmakers. Aspirational segmentation has
been used in weight loss marketing, playing on
people's inner desires to become thin, active,
and/or healthy.
Example
A hypothetical EPA Partnership Program
to green federal employee business travel
could segment by desire to be better
environmental stewards (focusing on
employees who wish they were better
environmental stewards).
Marketers and branding specialists today
rely less on demographic segmentation
and more on the qualitative types of fac-
tors that you get from behavioral, attitudi-
nal, and aspirational segmentation. Market
research shows that a simple demograph-
ic screen (e.g., age) is much less likely to
predict the behavior of a group of people
than it was 20 years ago.
Note that the household consumer
market is the most challenging in terms of
segmenting, n most cases, an EPA Part-
nership Program will not have sufficient
resources to reach and influence more
than a tiny fraction of household consum-
ers on its own. If meaningful environmen-
tal results depend on reaching more than
a few hundred thousand household con-
sumers, you will probably need to partner
with an entity with greater capacity to
reach and influence them.
5 Nordhielm, C.L., Marketing Management: The Big Picture (John Wiley & Sons 2005).
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
15
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Chapter 5:
nderstand Your "Target Decisionmakers"
Your program's marketing image doesn't
exist on paper It exists in the minds of
your customers or target decisionmak-
ers. For a program to be successful, it is criti-
cal that the program's marketing image—the
promise of what it can do—resonates with the
target decisionmakers.And you can't influence
someone you don't know very well. So who are
they?This step is about identifying the specific
decisionmakers who will be the priority for your
program's marketing strategy.You need to know
who they are, what they need, and what pro-
vides value to them. Once you know, you can
continue building a program—and a market-
ing strategy—that is effective in meeting those
needs.
This chapter will help you:
• Understand your target decisionmakers.
• Create a vivid profile of a single target deci-
sionmaker
• Define EPA's image among target
decisionmakers.
See the Guidelines for Designing EPA Partner-
ship Programs for additional suggestions on
how to develop a deep understanding of target
decisionmakers.
Understand your target decision-
makers
Once you've segmented the market of potential
decisionmakers and identified a general sense
of your audience, get specific: develop a clear
understanding of their current practices, needs,
and how they think.This information is essential
in developing an effective program.
Surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one conver-
sations can be important. But a few conversa-
tions with the target decisionmakers or even a
few good surveys or focus groups often do not
provide the depth of understanding necessary
to build a strong marketing strategy and effec-
tive program. Like a good anthropologist, you
need to spend considerable time observing their
behavior in their "natural habitat" (where they
work, live, or play), talking to the target decision-
makers, viewing the world through their eyes.
16
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Consider the following ideas for gaining access
to their "natural habitat":
I. Offer to meet potential target decisionmak-
ers at their offices and facilities (instead of
yours).
2. Ask for a tour of their offices and facilities
and if anyone would mind if you chatted with
people along the way.
3. Ask if you can attend gatherings for their
industry, profession, etc.
4. Invite people to meet informally for coffee
instead of only in formal office settings.
5. Read their trade publications or other ma-
terials when insiders are speaking to other
insiders.
6. Review materials used by companies with
a successful track record in selling to your
target decisionmakers.
7. Find a few knowledgeable and respected
"insiders" willing to spend extra time to edu-
cate you on their world. If you have trouble,
investigate whether a consulting firm can
identify and give you access to such individu-
als.
8. Ask questions like "How did you get started
in this field?", "How would you describe the
organizational culture in your field, company,
industry, etc?","How are decisions about
environmental matters made in this field,
industry, company, etc.?
During this observational process, do your best
to eliminate your cultural and professional biases.
For example, if you are an environmental scien-
tist by training, you will have to leave this world
view "at the door" unless the target decision-
makers happen to be environmental scientists.
To build an effective marketing strategy, you
should be able to answer questions like:
. What is the practice or attitude am trying
to change with my target decisionmakers?
2. What is the aspiration that I am appealing to
in target decisionmakers?
3. What are their current practices, attitudes,
and environmental practices?
4. What needs of theirs are being satisfied by
their current practices?
5. What are the barriers to their changing their
practices?
6. What benefits or incentives could I offer
that would convince them to change their
practices?
Marketing campaigns typically aim to move tar-
get customers through the following stages:
. Awareness
2. Understanding
3. Relevance
4. Trial behavior
5. Satisfaction
6. Loyalty/long-term engagement
Each of your program's target decisionmakers
might be at a different stage on the continuum.
It is important to understand where they are in
terms of these stages so you can move along
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
17
-------
the model towards behavior change and loyalty.
In order to change practices, they need to be
aware of the issue, program or product being
promoted. Once they are aware, they need
to understand enough about the program's
marketing image to begin to believe that it is
relevant to them. Once relevance has been es-
tablished, the target audience is likely to try the
behavior Assuming that they are satisfied with
the experience, they are likely to become a loyal
supporter of the program (yielding meaningful
environmental results).
Create a vivid profile of a single
target decisionmaker
The purpose of this step is to create an image
of an individual target decisionmaker that is so
vivid and concrete that everyone on your team
will understand who you are targeting. Knowing
this target decisionmaker will help your entire
program team be customer-focused when cre-
ating communications materials and interacting
with others about the program.The profile will
help them better deliver on the promise of your
marketing image.
Marketing experts tell us that generic statisti-
cal profiles of target decisionmakers tend not
to encourage the creative, customer-focused
thinking as a vivid profile of an individual target
decisionmaker who your team can relate to.
The kinds of questions that you want to ask to
develop this profile include:
I. Do the target decisionmakers do anything
similar to the desired action steps you are
seeking? Why?
2. What kinds of issues do they worry about
most?
3. What do they feel are their greatest accom-
plishments?
4. What kinds of principles, individuals, and
organizations do they respect and value?
^ Example
The following is a hypothetical, generic
profile based on market research:Your
target decision makers are mid-level
manufacturing executives between 45
and 55 years old.
A more vivid profile might be: Jane Smith.
She's 53 years old, worked for Acme
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for 0 years, most
recently as vice president of manufactur-
ing. She received a bachelor's in mechani-
cal engineering from the University of
Michigan and her evening MBA from
Rutgers. She is most proud of playing a
role in helping provide new medicines
to people that need them. At work she
faces continual pressure to reduce the
time-to-market of two new drugs while
also rapidly increasing production of the
company's old blockbuster drug. She has
two kids in high school and a husband
who works from a home office.
18
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Your program's team will have an easier time
developing a strong marketing strategy and mar-
keting image if they have a vivid profile like the
second one. Give this description to your entire
team, especially those developing communica-
tions materials and those developing or provid-
ing services for target decisionmakers and other
outside parties. Note that this profile is not
intended to represent all target decisionmakers
but rather; a profile of a single target decision-
maker plucked from the middle of the group.6
Define EPA's image among the tar-
get decisionmakers
For many, if not most, target decisionmaker
groups, EPA's name will be one of your team's
most valuable assets.What's most important
during this step is to be sure your program
team understands what EPA's image is among
your target decisionmakers. By understanding
how EPA is perceived, you can build a program
marketing strategy that leverages its strengths
and avoids any weaknesses.
Example
Many potential target decisionmaker
groups believe EPA is the ultimate na-
tional authority on what defines an envi-
ronmentally safe product, company, facility,
etc. Some potential target decisionmaker
groups may believe EPA "goes too far" in
what it defines as environmentally friendly.
Other potential target decisionmaker
groups may believe EPA "doesn't go far
enough," allowing "green washing" to oc-
cur Still others may have no experience
or feelings about EPA. Whatever image
they have will have strategic implications
for your marketing strategy, indicating
whether it should build upon or mitigate
this pre-existing image (including the pos-
sibility of forging and leveraging strategic
/ o o o o o
partnerships).
6 Nordhielm, C.L., Marketing Management: The Big Picture (John Wiley & Sons 2005).
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
19
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hapter 6:
Develop Your Program's
''Positioning Statement"
A market positioning statement is a brief
statement that describes what your
program is, what it does, what it offers
people, and how it is different from similar play-
ers in your market or field/The market posi-
tioning statement serves as the "DMA" for your
program marketing strategy and will help dictate
your program's name, logo, tagline, communica-
tion materials, media statements, and more.Your
program's positioning statement is linked to the
value proposition you created as you designed
your program. It should accurately reflect the
scope of your program in the marketplace, and
it should reflect the marketing "promise" your
program plans to communicate to target deci-
sionmakers.
This chapter will help you:
• Use a template to develop a positioning
statement.
• Ensure your positioning statement comple-
ments EPA's mission and values.
• Incorporate EPA's customer service and
standards into your positioning statement.
• Gain buy-in from program staff and allies for
your positioning statement.
• Consult with the Office of Public Affairs and
your office's communications staff on your
positioning statement.
A positioning statement is a brief, but very accu-
rate, statement that explains what your program
is, what it does, what it offers people, and most
important, how it's different from similar players
in your market. Philip Kotler defines a position-
ing statement as:
'The act of designing a company's offering
and image so that they occupy a meaning-
ful and distinct competitive position in the
target customer's m/'nds."8
A positioning statement is externally focused.
A positioning statement:
. Places the program within context of the
market.
7 Adapted from the Web site of Beaupre & Co. Public Relations, Inc.
3 Kotler; Philip, Marketing management I I edition (May, 2002); Publisher: Prentice Hall; ISBN: 01 30336297. Kotler is pos-
sibly the most widely respected and published marketing expert in the world. Many of his books are worth reading for
branding insights.
20
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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2. Describes how the program relates to the
existing offerings by both the public and
private sector
3. Is brief.
4. Describes strong rational and—if pos-
sible and appropriate—emotional benefits.
(For example, when you purchase a hybrid
car you experience the rational benefit of
saving money in fuel. But you may also get
emotional benefits such as feelings of pride
if your friends or co-workers perceive you
as an innovative or more environmentally
responsible person after the purchase).
Use a template to create a posi-
tioning statement
As mentioned at the beginning of this document,
the following template will help you produce a
program market positioning statement:
I. For .
2. Who .
3. Our program is a .
4. That provides .
5. Unlike .
6. Our solution .
I. Create your positioning statement as
a team.
One of many advantages of a positioning
statement is that the program team, in order
to produce such a statement, should have
reached consensus about how it views and
talks about itself. If your program team can't
agree, you will have little chance of convinc-
ing target decisionmakers to respond favor-
ably to your program.
2. Describe the value and promise of
your program.
The positioning statement describes the
actual or potential value of your program to
the target decisionmakers. It should clearly
relate to the behaviors, attitudes, or aspira-
tions that you've identified as important.
3. Directly relate the position statement
to your value proposition.
Note that items #3 through #6 in the po-
sitioning statement template relate directly
to the value proposition described in the
Guidelines for Designing EPA Partnership Pro-
grams. The value proposition describes both
"what the target decisionmaker gets out
the deal" and "what EPA gets out the deal."
The market positioning statement is focused
on the first part of the value proposition or
"what the target decisionmaker gets out of
the deal."
Examples
Got Milk Campaign
. For American consumers.
2. Who count on milk to accompany
various foods.
3. Our product should always be avail-
able in their homes.
4. This will provide a sense of security
that they will not run out when they
most want it.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
21
-------
5. Unlike other beverages.
6. Our beverage solution provides a
healthy comfort to consumers.
Or to put this market positioning state-
ment into one sentence, "If I always make
sure that have milk at home, I will feel
good because will never be caught with-
out milk when want it."
FloridaTruth Campaign
I. For teenagers.
2. Who might start thinking that smoking
is cool and is a way to address their
need to connect with their peers and
rebel against authority like parents and
teachers.
3. Our program shows the coolest
teenagers banding together against big
O O O O O
tobacco companies trying to manipu-
late them into smoking.
4. This will provide teenagers with the
desire to say no to cigarettes as an
act of rebellion against authority and a
way to connect with the coolest teens.
5. Unlike other anti-smoking programs
that focus on the health issues of
smoking or have messages delivered
by authority figures (e.g. the health
department).
6. Our message is delivered by teens
and addresses fundamental needs of
teens to feel cool and rebel by taking
a stand against big tobacco.
Make sure your statement matches
EPA's mission and values
It is critical that your program's positioning state-
ment supports the mission of EPA:
"... to protect human health and the envi-
ronment. Since I 970, EPA has been working
for a cleaner, healthier environment for the
American people."
Likewise, any potential conflicts between your
program's positioning statement and the Agen-
cy's mission must be avoided. Consider an ex-
ample of how a potential conflict was resolved:
/* Example
If your program addresses one environ-
mental issue but potentially exacerbates
another environmental issue, your pro-
gram could be in conflict with the EPA
mission. ENERGY STAR has tackled this
situation in the case of energy-efficient
home electronic products. On the one
hand, EPA wants consumers to upgrade
their home electronics to more energy
efficient products that have earned the
ENERGY STAR label.This, however,
means that old products need to be
disposed of and the disposal of electronic
products has the potential impact of put-
ting hazardous wastes into the environ-
ment. ENERGY STAR works with EPA's
Plug Into eCycling program to make sure
that proper disposal is part of the mes-
sage strategy.
22
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Leverage cultural values
Identifying and tapping the cultural values of the
target decisionmakers can dramatically improve
your program's ability to encourage environ-
mental stewardship behavior In his book Social
Marketing: Improving the Quality of Life9 marketing
guru Philip Kotler applies this concept to public
health campaigns. An effective environmental
example is the Don't Mess with Texas anti- itter-
ing campaign; the program's name leverages the
great pride manyTexans feel about their state in
achieving environmental stewardship behavior
Incorporate relevant customer
service and accessibility standards
into positioning statement
EPA established standards for customer ser-
vice, Partnership Programs, and public access
that apply to the marketing of EPA Partnership
Programs. Good customer service can go a long
way towards building a program's marketing im-
age in terms of positive feelings target decision-
makers and others will feel about your program.
These standards can be found at:
www.epa.gov/customerservice/standards.htm
www.epa.gov/customerservice/standards/
public.htm
www.epa.gov/customerservice/standards/
partnership.htm
Several EPA statements point the way towards
developing and implementing effective position-
ing statement and program marketing strategy:
We will proactively provide our customers accurate, up-to-date, and reliable
information, products, and services, including high-quality documents and publica-
tions.
We will recognize and publicly acknowledge the accomplishments of our cus-
tomers who achieve success in EPA Partnership Programs.
We will make every effort to streamline and make customer reporting require-
ments as practical and least burdensome as possible.
(EPA will) make clear; timely accurate information accessible.
We will strive to make information available through a variety of channels, includ-
ing electronic media and intermediaries, such as community organizations and
local libraries.
Where it comes from
Partnership Program standards
Customer service standards
Public access standards
Kotler; Philip, Ned Roberto, Nancy Lee (2002), Social Marketing. SAGE Publications; 2nd edition (March 19, 2002);
ISBN: 0761924345
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
23
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Gain buy-in from program staff and
allies on your positioning statement
If you or only some members of your program
team "buy into" your proposed positioning
statement, your program is likely to suffer A po-
sitioning statement is not just a document used
by those creating the program's name, logo,
print materials, and Web site. It should be the
guiding document for all program activities and
decisions where an external party is involved.
Therefore all program staff and allies who do
anything with an external party, which is typically
everyone, should be committed to the position-
ing statement or at least be willing to support it.
Consult with your office's communi-
cations staff
Your office employs a communications staff
responsible for coordinating the communica-
tions by your office and between your office
and other EPA offices. It is therefore strongly
recommended that you consult with them at
the early stages of marketing strategy develop-
ment. Because your office's communications
staff might insist on coordinating your program's
interactions with the Office of Public Affairs,
please consult with them before the Office of
Public Affairs.
Be sure to contact EPA Office of Public Affairs
(OPA) before releasing a marketing positioning
statement
Consult with the Office of Public Af-
fairs on possible positioning state-
ment
The EPA Office of Public Affairs (OPA) has re-
sponsibility within the Agency to ensure that all
EPA programs, including Partnership Programs,
create communications products that are:
"accurate, timely, and targeted to appropri-
ate audiences, while minimizing redundancy
and conflict between products."
Your program's market positioning statement
will drive all decisions on the print and elec-
tronic materials produced by your program. By
consulting early with OPA on possible program
market positioning statements, you can help
optimize your program and OPA's time, energy,
and resources. OPA should be able to give you
a preliminary signal as to whether it believes
communications materials developed to fulfill
your proposed program market positioning
statement will be timely and appropriate for
the audience and will minimize redundancy and
conflict.
We request that you notify the EPA's Partner-
ship Programs Coordinator within the Office
of Policy, Economics, and Innovation (OPEI) to
ensure that you are following the best practices,
taking advantage of prior research and resourc-
es, and following the applicable guidelines.
24
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Chapter 7:
Recognize Strong Environmenta
Performance
Recognition can be a powerful motiva-
tional tool. As the lead federal agency
for environmental protection, EPA is in
a unique position to recognize the strong envi-
ronmental performance of American products,
services, companies, governments, nonprofits,
buildings, and factories. EPA's recognition is
valued; however, because it is valued, it needs
be protected. As an EPA Partnership Program
manager you need to ask: when does recogni-
tion build the brand and reputation of EPA
and its programs and when does it undermine
them?The following guidelines are designed
to ensure such recognition strengthens—and
doesn't diminish—the brand and reputation of
EPA and its programs. Since many of the issues
in this chapter are program design issues as well
as marketing issues, they are also covered in the
Guidelines for Designing EPA Partnership Programs.
This chapter will help you:
• Determine whether a multi-level or single-
level standard of environmental performance
is appropriate.
• Select the number of levels of your program.
• Select the appropriate level of environmental
performance for recognition.
Select the number of levels to
recognize
As you set up your program and identify action
steps, be careful when thinking about defining
multiple action step levels of participation (e.g.,
Gold, Silver, and Bronze levels of participation).
A single level of performance is recommended
for most EPA Partnership Programs (e.g., a
company or a product either meets the single
performance level or it doesn't).
Some state leadership programs have used this
multi-level approach, and been successful, as
has the U.S. Green Building Council. It can allow
programs to give different support and recogni-
tion to different kinds of partners.
From a program marketing perspective, how-
ever, this approach can be risky, resource-inten-
sive, and time-consuming. A new program or
program with limited resources should generally
avoid multiple levels.The following are some
marketing risks and resource challenges associ-
ated with multiple action step levels:
I. Loss of producer leveraging. Product/
service producers rarely, if ever, promote
claims about their products being "second
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
25
-------
best" or "third best" as the Silver and Bronze
levels would indicate.Thus the program
will not be able to leverage the marketing
resources of product/service producers.
2. Loss of market identity. Multiple levels
of performance are not the way most buy-
ers/consumers make their buying decisions.
Most do not make significant efforts to
accumulate additional information or investi-
gate multi-level indicators of product/service
performance.
3. Lack of resources. Few EPA Partnership
Programs will ever have sufficient resources
to adequately define and communicate
multiple levels to a reasonable number of
target decisionmakers (e.g., manufacturers,
retailers, consumers). Every additional tier or
level requires ) data, time, and resources to
propose, negotiate, and define it (with stake-
holder input); 2) additional time and expense
to explain in communications materials; 3)
additional time and expense answering ques-
tions that arise from stakeholders (inside and
outside EPA) about it; and 4) additional time
and resources to revise it once it becomes
obsolete.
4. Added complexity. Most EPA Partnership
Programs struggle to maintain a single stan-
dard of performance or level of participation.
Multiple levels of participation/performance
add complexity few programs can afford.
Recognize strong environmental
performance—Select the level to
recognize
The Guidelines for Designing EPA Partnership Pro-
grams discuss how aggressive the environmental
action step should be, or, put another way, how
much should you be asking of the target deci-
sionmaker in terms of environmental improve-
ment.This is not just a program design issue but
a critical marketing issue. If recognition is given
to entities not widely perceived as better or it's
given to a group of entities widely perceived
as excessively e ite, or if it's given in a confusing
manner; that recognition can damage the brand
and reputation of the Agency and the program.
The decision on recognition can be tricky due
to the competing pressures to specify either a
very "tough action step" or a very "easy action
step.'Tou might think that a very tough action
step will protect the program's image of en-
vironmental excellence, but the actions might
be so hard that few will take this step.This will
diminish environmental results but also hurt the
program's reputation and marketing because
participation will be so low that few will have
heard about the program.
On the other hand, excessively easy action steps
may be so obvious or simple that your program
will get a lot of participants, but the action may
not have a significant environmental impact
unless very large numbers take this step. It may
attract more participants, but make no real, sus-
tainable changes, which could also diminish the
program's environmental impact and damage
the program's marketing effort.
Neither extreme—excessively tough action
steps nor excessively easy action steps—is typi-
cally appropriate when developing a program.
A far better approach is to begin your program
with an action step already taken by a small
share of potential target decisionmakers—the
"doers"—who make up perhaps 5 percent
26
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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of the market you are targeting. In subsequent
phases of the program when the "doers" have
increased from, say, I 5 percent to 50 percent or
60 percent of the total, the action step can be
adjusted so it once again represents approxi-
mately 5 percent.
Recognition comes in many forms: eco-labels on
products or buildings; award ceremonies; desig-
nation of an organization or company as being
clean, green, a leader; a star; smart, sustainable,
wise, and so on. When does such recognition
build the brand and reputation of EPA and its
programs and when does it undermine them?
The following criteria are designed to ensure
such recognition strengthens the brand and
reputation of EPA and its programs. A Partner-
ship Program should only confer recognition on
an entity—a product, service, facility, company,
government, or other organization—when:
I. Recognition is given to meeting what most
experts in the field would consider to be
better than average (top 50 percent) envi-
ronmental performance within the particu-
lar environmental category (or categories)
in question or implied by recognition. For
example, if EPA qualifies a certain airport as
a "water efficiency star airport," then water
efficiency experts would generally agree
the airport is at least more water efficient
than average. If EPA qualifies an airport as
a "green airport", then experts in all the
implied fields—energy efficiency, water effi-
ciency, water quality, solid waste, etc.—would
generally agree the airport is at least better
than average in these areas. (Note that it is
often preferred that entity being recognized
qualifies not just as above average but in the
top I 5 percent of its category).
Or:
2. Recognition is given for the implementa-
tion of "beyond compliance" environmental
management measures such as adopting an
Environmental Management System (EMS)
implementation, completing a facility-wide
or enterprise-wide environmental inventory
(e.g., greenhouse gas inventory), publicly
committing to and publicly reporting prog-
ress towards environmental "stretch goals,"
and/or assigning staff with responsibility for
implementing beyond compliance measures.
Plus:
3. The company or organization affiliated with
recognition has not been cited by EPA for
significant failure to comply with environ-
mental laws and regulations.
4. n the case of products, the qualifying prod-
uct generally performs at least as well as
conventional products (e.g., recognition is
not given to a water-saving toilet that fails to
flush properly).
5. The requirements for receiving recognition
are accessible to all interested firms or orga-
nizations (e.g., posted to an EPA Web site).
6. All reasonable steps have been taken to
eliminate bias in the requirements (e.g., small
firms are not at a disadvantage).
7. It is clear that EPA is only recognizing the
strong environmental performance but not
endorsing a particular product, service, or
company.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
27
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Adhere to compliance screening
guidelines
Note: Before recognizing a company or other
outside party, please see the following docu-
ments (available on the EPA Intranet site at
):
• Guidance on Compliance Screening for EPA
Partnership Programs (1999) issued by the
Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance (OECA) and Office of Policy,
Economics, and Innovation (OPEI)
"Primer" on EPA's 999 Compliance Screen-
ing Guidance and Updated List of contacts
(November 2006) also issued by OECA and
OPEI.
28
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Chapter 8:
Develop your Program's Trademarks-
Name, Logo, and Tagline:
You or your managers may be tempted
to create a name, logo, and tagline
(slogan) almost the moment you envi-
sion your program. However; there are many
considerations that need to be weighed before
deciding on the trademarks to symbolize your
program. For example, the program's positioning
statement, a well thought out understanding of
the potential program expansion, current and
future program resources and all likely uses of
the program marks are big considerations in
selecting the trademarks for the program.The
Office of General Counsel can assist you every
step of the way in the selection and protection
of your trademarks to ensure you do not waste
time or risk starting over because of a bad
choice.
This chapter will help you:
• Create a program name and logo.
• Create a program tagline.
• Work with the Office of General Counsel to
select and protect your marks.
• Test your program name, logo, and tagline.
• Create guidelines for the appropriate use of
trademarks.
Create a name and logo
The trademarks you choose will be the most
identifiable aspects of your program. Likely,
the name and logo will follow your program
throughout its existence, so it is important to
choose wisely. In se ecting a name and logo,
consider the following:
. Select a program name and logo distinctive
enough to be protected legally and easily
remember by target decisionmakers.
2. Work with the Office of General Counsel
to ensure your selected name and logo does
not infringe a third party's mark.
3. Develop a program name and logo that
won't be confusing or misunderstood by
target decisionmakers and other key stake-
holders.
4. Test draft program name and logo options
with members of the target decisionmaker
group.
Contact EPA's Office of General Counsel if you
have questions about how your trademark can
be protected legally.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
29
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The book Marks of Excellence offers a strategic
and comprehensive set of criteria for designing
and selecting trademarks. See the "Suggested
Reading" section of this document for the full
set of criteria. Here are some that apply to
names and logos:10
See the Guidelines for Designing EPA Partner-
ship Programs for information and guidance
about trademarks in Chapter 7 and Appendix
D. Read these guidelines and then contact the
trademark specialist in the EPA's Office of Gen-
eral Counsel (OGC).
Visibility
Application
Competition
Legal protection
Simplicity/brevity
Culturally appropriate
Color and black and white reproduction
Description
Timelessness
• Is the logo graphically recognizable? Graphic qualities must ensure
the mark distinguishes itself from its surroundings so that consum-
ers can easily identify it.
• Where will the name/logo be used? Investigate the circumstances
and contexts under which they will be used.
• Can the name/logo be used in all desirable applications?
• Where will the name/logo be used? On letterhead, on TV a Web
site, etc.?
• Does the name/logo distinguish itself from other marks used in the
same market?
• Can this name/logo be protected legally?
• Is the name/logo simple in its concept and therefore easy to
understand?
• Is the name/logo culturally appropriate for purposes of EPA and
your program?
• Does the name/logo consider all the cultures that may be exposed
to it?
• Does the logo use standard colors to reduce the cost of
reproduction?
• Does the logo work well in black and white?
• Does the name/logo reinforce — or at least hint at — the nature of
the program or its offering?
• Is the name/logo durable?
• Will the name/logo stand the test of time?
30
10 Marks of Excellence by Per Mollerup; Publisher: Phaidon Press (March I 8, 1999)
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Create a program tagline
For program taglines or slogans, the program
should weigh, in addition to the above consider-
ations for names and logos, the following:
Poor taglines can hurt an otherwise strong
program.
Do target decisionmakers understand
it?
Does it inspire your target decision-
makers to take the actions you want?
Is it non-offensive?
Does it reflect the positioning state-
ment?
Have you used professional judgment
vs. personal preference as the decid-
ing factor?
Is it distinctive?
The program taglines should...
• Have meaning for decisionmakers.
• Demonstrate how the program delivers value.
• Be clear to all target decisionmakers and other key stakeholders.
• Be written in plain language.
• Guide decisionmakers to action.
• Show the desired outcome.
• Engage decisionmakers.
• Appeal to a cross-section of target decisionmakers.
• Show an awareness of cultural norms.
• Avoid being too cute or juvenile.
• Include the key words, phrases, and ideas of the positioning statement.
• Stay "on message."
• Reflect the best thinking of the program team and not one or two
individuals within EPA.
• Not be based on what EPA personnel "like" (vs. strategic).
• Memorable for target decisionmakers.
• Be distinctive and unique enough to be protected legally
Work with the Office of General
Counsel to select and protect your
marks
The Office of General Counsel (OGC) has ex-
pertise in the selection and protection of trade-
mark rights. Working closely with OGC from the
beginning of this process can save your program
money, time, and the frustration of needing to
choose a new trademark after investing resourc-
es into one you can't use. OGC, not contrac-
tors, are the appropriate office for providing
trademark searches and legal opinions based on
those searches as to the availability of a mark for
your program's use. OGC also can advise your
program on the type of mark your program is
using, the restrictions on its use, if any, as well
as its strengths or weaknesses for protecting it.
Along with actually filing for registration of the
marks, OGC also reviews partnership agree-
ments involving the licensing of the marks, as
well as any trademark use guidelines. So once
your program has some ideas for names, logos,
or taglines, it should proceed as follows:
Read the Guidelines for Designing EPA Partner-
ship Programs to get information and guid-
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
31
-------
ance about using trademarks.
2. Consider the intended purpose and pro-
posed uses of the name/logo/tagline.
• Who would you allow to use it, and why?
• How or where will it be displayed?
• Do you intend to monitor and stop unau-
thorized uses?
3. Develop a set of options for program name,
logo, or tagline concepts, generally a half a
dozen each. Weigh considerations set forth
earlier in this chapter for selecting a mark.
4. Contact OGC to discuss options. Work with
OGC on a preliminary screen for options.
OGC can identify trademarks that aren't dis-
tinctive or would encounter other obstacles;
run a Web search for each name to see if it
is currently being used; check within indus-
try/stakeholders to see if there is a similar
name/logo/tagline currently being used.
5. When the list of name/logo concepts has
been narrowed, test them on some typical
target decisionmakers. See section below
titled "Test program name, logo, and tagline."
6. OGC can enlist a professional name/logo
search company to help determine if final
name/logo concepts can be registered and
protected legally.
7. OGC files and prosecutes the trademark
application. It usually takes at least one year
to get a registration, provided there are no
objections from the Patent and Trademark
Office.
8. Before rolling out program, OGC advises
on partnership agreements and trademark
use guidelines, which are then drafted by the
program and reviewed by OGC.
9. While the application is being prosecuted,
OGC can advise on the risks or obstacles
that the program has or may encounter
Based on OGC advice, the program can de-
termine when to roll out the program under
the proposed name/logo/tagline.
Logos and names that the program does not
intend to monitor and protect may not need
to be registered, but should still receive OGC
review and search to ensure that they aren't
infringing on an existing mark. Moreover; pro-
gram marks, if distinctive, may have common
law trademark rights even if they are not a
registered trademark, because rights in the U.S.
are established by use of the mark, as well as by
registration.
The more unique and distinctive the mark
(name and logo), the more ikely it can be
protected. Consider the name "JiffyLube.'This
service mark not only conveys the value propo-
sition of quick and convenient oil change service,
it is also very unique since it is not a common
word but a new term made from two com-
mon and somewhat descriptive words. Since it's
an entirely new term, other companies would
not be able to claim that they need to use it
to describe their automobile service.There-
fore this mark, for trademark law purposes, is
not merely descriptive and is more easily
protected as a service mark. Had the company
named itself "Quick Oil Change" it may have no
32
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
-------
trademark rights to the name because the mark
would be considered merely descriptive of
the services offered.
If unauthorized use of the name or logo could
be damaging to the program or to the Agency,
it is recommended that they are registered,
monitored, and protected. For example, if the
program wants the consumer to associate only
certain products, services, organizations, or
buildings with the program name, the integrity of
the program is best preserved if the marks are
registered. However; if the program is not con-
cerned about limiting who can use the marks
and wants as broad distribution of the program
marks as possible, registering and protecting the
marks may not be cost effective. OGC can assist
each program in determining its strengths and
weaknesses, as well as the potential risks to the
program's integrity for determining whether to
register and protect a program's name, logo, or
tagline.
Test program name, logo,
and tagline
Test your program name/logo/tagline concepts
on typical target decisionmakers. Create a
research plan and conduct the test. It is always
a good idea to test multiple options so you can
compare how the target decisionmakers react
to various options. It is usually not very helpful
to simply ask if they like the concepts or not.
Instead, present the program name/logo/tagline
concepts to typical and representative target
decisionmakers and ask them first:
• Do these program names and /logos/taglines
convey any messages to you?
• What messages do these program names
and /logos/taglines convey to you?
What would be the dominant message they
convey?
• Are these messages clear or is something
confusing to you?
If they tell you that the intended message is
being conveyed clearly and strongly, you may
have a winner If not, consider asking them what
changes they would make to ensure your in-
tended message is communicated (but don't tell
them your intended message until after they've
answered the questions above).The ultimate
success is whether the target decisionmakers
(not EPA staff alone) believe the name, logo, and
tagline convey the positioning statement in the
most compelling way possible.
Note: An Information Collection Request (ICR)
approval issued by the White House's Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) might be
necessary to do this survey research.The EPA
Partnership Program Team can provide general
advice in this regard. OGC should be consulted
for a definitive determination on whether an
ICR is necessary.
Create guidelines for appropriate
use of trademarks
When partnership agreements involve the
licensing of the Agency's trademarks (which is
almost always the case), the program needs to
describe to those wanting to use its marks just
how, when, and by whom the marks can be
used.The documents describing the proper use
have often been referred as logo use guidelines,
but the document is also needed even when
only the name or protected tagline is used. Many
Partnership Programs in the Agency have logo
use guidelines on theirWeb pages and OGC
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
33
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Program
Performance Track
ENERGY STAR
Web site Containing Example of Logo Use Guidelines
www.epa.gov/performancetrack/members/membership/logo.htm
wwwenergystargov/index.cfm?c=logos.pt_guidelines
wwwenergystargov/ia/partners/logos/downloads/Brand Book_allpages.pdf
can advise each program as to which document When putting together trademark use guide-
is most appropriate as a starting point for devel- lines, consider including the following:
oping guidelines for the use of your program's
. Examples of acceptable uses of the
trademarks, bach Partnership Program needs to
trademarks.
customize their guidelines tor its specific pro-
gram and specific us of its trademarks. 2. Specifications on font type, sizes and colors
for the logos when used.
3. Basic information about different file types
and how to use them.
4. Conditions for use of the trademarks.
5. Details on who oversees use of the
trademarks.
6. Purposes of the trademarks—how to use
them correctly in different scenarios.
7. Examples of proper and improper
trademark use.
34
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Chapter 9:
Promote Your Program
~n
"ouch points" is a fancy term for the
ways target decisionmakers (and
other stakeholders) are exposed
directly or indirectly to your program (see Ap-
pendix C: Key Definitions). Because a marketing
image is based on everything decisionmakers
see, feel, experience, or perceive about your
program, each touch point represents either an
opportunity to strengthen your program's mar-
keting image or to damage it.To build a strong
marketing image, every touch point needs to
reinforce your positioning statement. As you
might expect, touch points include the pro-
gram's name, logo, and tagline. Additionally, they
also include print materials, Web sites, and slides
associated with your program.Touch points also
include, however; every e-mail and phone call,
and even how people speak on behalf of the
program. It is important to remember that even
the best marketing images, brands, and programs
can be damaged by a bad customer experience
or a public relations problem.This chapter helps
you develop clear; consistent, and cohesive com-
munication strategies that support the market-
ing image you are creating.
This chapter will help you:
• Identify your external program touch points.
• Ensure your program marketing image is
properly conveyed through all touch points.
• Work with a creative team in developing
materials.
• Use the EPA name and logo appropriately in
communications materials.
• Adhere to EPA's "endorser branding strat-
egy''
• Ensure accuracy, consistency, accessibility, and
relevance of all materias and language.
• Submit communication materials to PRO-
TRAC (EPA's Product Re view Tracking
System).
• Train staff to communicate effectively.
Note:The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) is
developing additional guidelines on the design
of communications materials (including sample
templates for EPA reports, fact sheets, slides,
Web sites, etc.). Please consult with OPA before
producing new communications materials for
use outside EPA.
Identify your touch points
Because a marketing image is based on ev-
erything your decisionmakers see, hear; and
experience concerning your program, you need
to identify all the ways you interact with them.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
35
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The table below identifies some of the touch
points between your program and your target
decisionmakers and other stakeholders. Each
of these touch points represents a chance to
strengthen—or undermine—your program's
reputation.
Program Area
External Touch Points Influencing Your Marketing Image
Program Identifiers
Program name
Program logo
Program tagline
Print Materials
Electronic Communications
Brochures
Fact sheets
Flyers
Frequently asked questions
Letters
Memoranda of understanding/partner agreement
Reports
Display booths
E-mail sent by EPA staff/contractors
E-mail sent by allies/partners in name of the program
Program's Web site (including text, navigation, speed, layout, colors, links)
Web pages by contractors/allies/partners that reference the program
News Coverage
Statements to news organizations
Statements by partners/allies to news organizations about your program
Press releases/packets by EPA staff
Press releases by partners/allies about your program
Press coverage (print articles,TV stories, online news etc.)
Phone Calls/ Conference Calls/
Meetings/Events/Training
Anything said by EPA staff/contractors/allies/partners over the phone or
conference calls
How EPA staff/ contractors/allies/partners answer the phone and the
general demeanor over the phone
Anything said by EPA staff/contractors/allies/partners during meetings,
training, or events
Responsiveness and tone when responding to questions or concerns
36
Reinforce the positioning statement
Every touch point—from name and logo to
every other form of written, electronic, and
verbal communication—needs to reinforce
your program positioning statement in content,
delivery, and tone.
Compared to private sector marketing, EPA
Partnership Program marketing is unique in at
least one very important way. A company has
the ability to exert a significant amount of con-
trol over its marketing image. Every aspect of a
private sector brand can be carefully planned
and managed. EPA programs often rely on
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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partners and other third parties to help carry
marketing messages to target decisionmakers.
This inevitably leads to less direct control on the
part of EPA over the marketing image.To man-
age this situation, work carefully with all partners
involved to make sure that a united marketing
image is being portrayed. Consider developing a
partnership agreement (MOU) with third party
supporters defining roles and responsibilities.
I. Content
Make sure that the content of information
stays "on message" and reflects your posi-
tioning statement.
X Example
Let's assume your positioning statement is
focused on reducing the costs for phar-
maceutical manufacturers as an incentive
to reduce the sourcing of toxic materials.
With few exceptions, every brochure,
report, and fact sheet your program
releases should emphasize early and
often the cost savings potential of your
program.
2. Delivery
Delivery is also critical, and you need to
ensure it is consistent with your program's
market positioning statement.
^ Example
Let's assume your program emphasizes
cost savings to the program participants
as an incentive to take certain action
steps. But your brochure is printed on
the fanciest of paper stock using fancy
embossed lettering, implying that your
program really doesn't care about cost
savings internally.Your choice of paper
and letter has undermined your market-
ing image because it conflicts with your
positioning statement.
3. Tone
If you've determined that target decision-
makers are more likely to join your program
if they believe you and program staff are seri-
ous minded, then all communications should
avoid a playfu .flippant tone. Or just the
opposite may be true. For another program,
target decisionmakers may be more likely to
participate if the program appears to be fun
to join. In this case, a bit of tasteful humor
during presentations, for example, may be
something you should consistently pursue.
Work with a "creative team"
to create materials
A creative team can help you bring a good
positioning statement to life through various
communications media such as print materi-
als, Web sites, PowerPoint presentations, public
service announcements, and conference booth
displays. A creative team may include a graphic
designer; a Web page designer; a copywriter; an
art director; and a creative director who directs
the creative process by these designers.Your
job is to find a good creative team, give them
your highly strategic positioning statement, and
tell them the communications media with which
you want them to "execute" that positioning
statement (or you may ask them to recommend
the communications media or channels).
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
37
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Use EPA name, seal, and logo ap-
propriately in materials
When appropriate, you should prominently dis-
play the EPA name and logo in EPA distributed
communications materials—electronic and print.
Before using the EPA name and logo, refer to
OGC for trademark and ethics (endorsement)
issues and to the following Web site for informa-
tion and guidance on proper use:
www.epa.gov/productreview/guide/seaLlogo/
index.html
Two special cases may prevent some EPA Part-
nership Programs from prominently highlighting
the EPA name and logo on its program materi-
als:
I. The program has strong evidence that doing
so would significantly diminish the efficacy of
the program. (One example of this occurred
during the first years of EPA's highly success-
ful Coalbed Methane Outreach Program.
EPA found that by initially downplaying the
EPA name, the target decisionmakers—own-
ers and operators of coal mines—were
more ikely to embrace new practices in
dealing with the methane leaking out of coal
mines).
2. The program is designed in a way that EPA
is just one of many members of a coalition
and doing so would require every coalition
member to include their name and logo.
In both cases, the program is expected to iden-
tify and pursue all reasonable opportunities to
highlight EPA's support and contribution to the
program.
When developing materias containing EPA's
seal or logo, you should remember that: I)
Partners may not be permitted to use the EPA's
seal or logo, so if the materias are template for
Partners, different rules apply: and 2) no one is
allowed to change the EPA seal or logo in any
way.
Adhere to EPA's "endorser branding
strategy"
Strongly encouraged by EPA's Office of Public
Affairs, the "endorser branding strategy" refers
to an Agency-wide branding strategy for EPA
Partnership Programs and how the EPA name is
used in program communications." Fortunately,
adhering to the "endorser branding strategy" is
relatively easy.The following words appear in a
reasonably prominent place near the program
name in most of your communications materials
and on yourWeb site:
"A U.S. EPA Partnership Program"
By "endorser branding strategy," we mean an
Agency-wide strategy that makes it clear that
all EPA Partnership Programs are connected to
and supported by the U.S. EPA. United Tech-
nologies Corporation (UTC) provides a good
example of an "endorser branding strategy."
The various business units of UTC all have
their own distinct names—Carrier (heating and
cooling equipment), Otis (elevators), Pratt &
Whitney (engines), etc. But these business units
The endorser branding strategy was carefully selected among the Agency-wide brand strategy options because it: (I)
makes clear all EPA programs belong to EPA, (2) prevents the EPA name from dominating and crowding out other im-
portant program messages when this is not strategically possible or wise, (3) helps ensure the value various stakeholder
groups perceive in some EPA program can be transferred to other EPA programs and to the Agency (4) allows EPA
programs to conform relatively quickly and easily to the strategy
38
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
-------
also make it clear in their communications that
they are part of UTC with a statement under
their names and logos, "A United Technologies
Company." For comparison, consider the "master
brand strategy" of General Electric in which the
distinctive name GE is given to all business units:
GE Lighting, GE Appliances, GE Plastics, etc. (If
EPA were to pursue this strategy for EPA Part-
nership Programs, all distinct EPA Partnership
Program names would be eliminated, replaced
by names like "EPA waste reduction program,"
"EPA energy efficiency program," etc.).
Make sure your materials are accu-
rate, consistent, and accessible
Few things can undermine the credibility of a
public authority more quickly than inaccuracy,
inconsistency, or inaccessibility in its communica-
tions.
I. Consistency
To ensure consistency in text (and even
format), try to develop one communications
piece (e.g., your program's Web site) and use
it as the master All others communications
pieces largely follow that master.You can also
create an internal style guide or graphic stan-
dards guide, often called a "branding guide"
to help staff members' create information
that looks and sounds similar
2. Accuracy
It's important to make sure that you avoid
using any unsubstantiated assumptions, facts,
or claims. EPA has a solid reputation for
providing accurate data and information.
If you borrow facts or claims from others,
make sure that you are comfortable with the
source and methodology used to create the
information. Ensure your master communica-
tions piece and all that follow are accurate
and consistent with messages delivered by
other parts of EPA. Advise other program
staff, consultants, and allies to use only
language and especially program "factoids"
found in that master
3. Accessibility
Use plain language.Your target decision-
makers should be able to read and easily
understand all of your materials. Achieving
this goal might mean producing your materi-
als in another language. One suggestion for
accessibility is to ask non-technical support
staff for your program to review all significant
communications materials.You should go
back and revise your materials if, for example,
these individuals don't know the meaning of
"non-point source pollution" or can't un-
derstand why the materials refer to "excess
nutrients" in the water supply as a problem.
Submit communication materials to
PROTRAC
EPA's Office of Public Affairs (OPA) has guide-
lines that apply to all media, including print, Web,
audio-visual, and displays. OPA ensures that in-
formation is accurate, timely, and targeted while
minimizing redundancy and conflict between
products.
See
www.epa.gov/productrev/ew
for guidelines on developing communications
products and getting them approved.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
39
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See for the
Policy and Implementation Guide for Communica-
tions Product Development and Approval. As part
of this process, print communications materials
need to be submitted to OPA through a system
called PROTRAC.
When reviewing material, OPA will consider the
following questions:
I. Is it appropriate?
2. Does it convey the correct message?
3. Does it have a good look and feel? (e.g.,
colors, shapes, words, images, common ele-
ments, graphics).
4. Will anything hurt EPA later?
5. Who paid for the design (are there legal is-
sues)?
6. Has the trademark been screened by OGC?
7. Is the message sensitive to all people?
8. Will the audience understand the terms?
9. Is the font printable by the EPA print shop
(or do we have to pay for a new font)?
Ensure communication channels
are on message
Choose communication strategies—includ-
ing partner organizations, events, venues, and
channels—very carefully so they strengthen, not
weaken, your program.
Consider the case of the U.S. Marines officer re-
cruiting campaign.This brand campaign worked
hard and invested heavily to strategically brand
position the Marine officers as "tough, smart,
elite warriors."'2The campaign was faced with
a major recruiting goal and what appeared to
be a great opportunity: market at a professional
wrestling event. Demographically the event
looked ideal, given the large number of young
American males drawn to this sport. In the end,
the campaign wisely decided to pass on this
marketing opportunity, believing the "elite war-
rior" brand positioning was in conflict with the
raucous environment of a professional wrestling
event.
Train staff to communicate about
the program
The good will built up over many years can
often be lost quickly if even one decisionmaker
touch point is poorly managed.YourWeb site
and communication materials might do a brilliant
job of bringing your highly strategic position-
ing statements to life, but if some e-mail sent
to your decisionmakers is confusing or conflicts
with the positioning statement, your overall
marketing image will suffer
The private sector often uses the term "cus-
tomer facing staff" when referring to staff
who interact with customers.To ensure that
you deliver on the promise of your program's
marketing image, all customer-facing program
staff, consultants, and allies should be trained in
the positioning statement. But you should also
ensure they are trained in the EPA standards
for customer service, Partnership Programs, and
public access discussed earlier in these guide-
lines.
The training would emphasize the importance
2 See < http://www.efRe.org/award_winners/images/3 17_200I .pdf>
40
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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of "staying on message" and how repetition and
consistency with this message is essential to
creating a strong marketing image.You may even
find it to your advantage to train program staff
that is not customer-facing. By doing so, they
may have an easier time supporting requests
and decisions by other members of the team
that are based on the positioning statement.
If your program staffer external supporters are
very new to marketing or struggle with some of
these concepts, consider having them trained in
public sector/social marketing.The EPA Partner-
ship Program Coordination Team can help you
find good trainers and courses.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
41
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• Appendix A: Senior EPA Leadership Marketing Checklist
• Appendix B: Program Manager's Marketing Checklist/Worksheet
• Appendix C: Key Definitions
• Appendix D: Program Marketing When Target Decisionmakers Are Household Consumers
• Appendix E: Program Marketing When Target Decisionmakers Are in the World of Business
• Appendix F: Suggested Reading
• Appendix G: Suggested Web Sites
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Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Appendix A: Senior EPA
Leadership Marketing
Checklist
The following marketing checklist has been
provided for senior EPA leaders when an EPA
Partnership Program is being developed or
significantly changed or expanded within your
organization.
Reviewing the Guidelines
[_l Has the Partnership Program Manager within
your organization read the Guidelines for
Designing EPA Partnership Programs and the
Guidelines for Measuring the Performance of
EPA Partnership Programs?
[_l Has the Partnership Program Manager within
your organization read the Guidelines for
Marketing EPA Partnership Programs?
Market Strategy and Coordination
[_l Has the Partnership Program Manager within
your organization produced a draft market-
ing strategy with a strong customer orienta-
tion?
Q Has the Partnership Program manager ex-
plored opportunities to coordinate program
design and marketing strategies with other
government programs?
Q Has the Partnership Program Manager
produced a draft marketing positioning state-
ment in a format similar to the following:
. For .
2. Who .
3. Our program is a .
5. Unlike .
6. Our solution .
Review by OPA, OGC, and the IAC
Partnership Programs Workgroup
Q Has the Partnership Program Manager pre-
sented the draft marketing strategy and mar-
keting positioning statement for review to
the IAC Partnership Programs Workgroup?
Q Has the Partnership Program Manager
presented the draft marketing strategy and
marketing positioning statement to OPA for
review?
Q Has the Partnership Program Manager
consulted with OGC and submitted the
marketing positioning statement and possible
program names, logos ortaglines to OGC
for trademark availability and protection
review?
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
43
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Appendix B: Program Manager's Marketing Checklist/
Worksheet
Marketing Question
Your EPA Partnership
Program (Fill in)
Checklist
Program Scope
What is the scope (or
"market") of your program?
Is the scope specific enough to allow you to
make an impact within the available resources
but also broad enough to allow future pro-
gram expansions?
Have you checked with key stakeholders
about the planned market/scope of the pro-
gram to make sure you have their support?
Have opportunities to
coordinate program design
and marketing strategies
with other government
programs been explored?
Q Check with OGC
Q Check with the Partnership Programs Coor-
dinator
Q Check with IAC Partnership Programs Work-
group
What are your program
team's existing and needed
core competencies?
Needed core competencies:
How will you get them?
Have you identified core competency sources
as follows?
I. From within your team
2. From within EPA
3. From potential partners
4 From contractors
If you need help identifying resources, contact
EPA's Partnership Program Coordination Team.
What are the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities
and threats facing your
Program?
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Opportunities:
Threats:
Remember that strengths and weaknesses
are internal to your program; opportunities
and threats are external forces affecting your
program.
44
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Marketing Question
Your EPA Partnership
Program (Fill in)
Checklist
Goals & Objectives
What is the program's
marketing goal?
Goal:
Management approval of goal?
Is your goal realistic in terms of the resources, staff
and time?
What are the measurable
marketing objectives of
your program?
Objective # I:
How will it be measured:
Objective #2:
How will it be measured:
Does each objective link to your stated goal?
Is each objective measurable, time-delineated and
single-minded?
Have you allocated resources for measurement of
objectives?
Target Decisionmakers
Who are ALL of your
target decisionmaker
groups? Identify if they are
primary influencers, or
gatekeepers.
Audience:
Role (primary, influencer
or gatekeeper):
Of these target decision-
maker groups, which will
be your programs priority
decisionmaker group?
Priority audiences:
Are the priority audiences chosen the ones that
can most quickly and in a resource efficient man-
ner get you to your goal?
What are the charac-
teristics of your priority
audiences?
Priority audience # I
characteristics:
Priority audience #2
characteristics:
Priority audience #3
characteristics:
Did you look for existing research sources from
within EPA?
If you need to do original research, are you fol-
lowing EPA information collection protocols (e.g.,
ICR)?
Did you include a mix of demographic charac-
teristics with behavioral, attitudinal or aspirational
information?
Write your vivid profile of
a single target decision-
maker in each priority
audience group.
Priority audience # I vivid
profile:
Priority audience #2 vivid
profile:
Priority audience #3 vivid
profile:
Does the vivid profile you created help you better
understand the values, beliefs and feelings of this
target decisionmaker?
Did you use research (either existing or original)
to develop and verify this profile?
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
45
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Marketing Question
Your EPA Partnership
Program (Fill in)
Checklist
Target Decisionmakers
What behavior do you
want your priority audi-
ences to change?
Priority audience:
Behavior change:
Is the desired behavior change specific and mea-
surable?
What are the barriers
and motivations for each
desired behavior change?
Audience:
Behavior change:
Barriers
Motivations:
Now that you have a full profile of each prior-
ity audience with the barriers and motivations
defined, are there any audiences that should be
removed from your priority list?
Program Marketing Positioning
What is your program's
marketing positioning
statement?
For
Who
Our program is a De-
scribe the solution
That provides
Our solution
Is your positioning statement consistent with EPA's
mission?
Does your positioning statement focus on ben-
efits, not features?
Have you consulted with your office's communica-
tions staff on draft positioning statement?
Have you consulted with the Office of Public Af-
fairs on your draft positioning statement?
Have you involved your program's stakeholders in
the process to develop your positioning state-
ment?
What are the name, logo,
and tagline planned for
the program?
Name:
Tagline:
Logo (if created):
Do all your name, logo and tagline options sup-
port your positioning statement and program
goals?
Have you consulted the Office of General Coun-
sel about trademarks issues?
Have you tested draft program name, logo, and
tagline with priority audience groups and stake-
holders?
Have you made sure that your name is not going
to compete with or cause confusion with other
EPA programs?
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Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Marketing Question
Your EPA Partnership
Program (Fill in)
Checklist
Program Marketing Positioning
How will EPA be incor-
porated into program
market positioning?
Recognizing Performance
Communications Planning
What materials do
you plan to develop to
support the marketing
strategy?
How do you plan to train
program staff and allies on
the marketing strategy?
Q Remember to submit materials to PROTRAC for
review and approval before publishing.
Q Remember to include the following language on
materials: "A U.S. EPA Partnership Program"
Q Remember that trainings should start with your
team and then move to partners and others.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
47
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Example of Completed Marketing Checklist/Worksheet
Marketing Question
Best Workplaces for Commuters (EPA and DOT)
Program Scope
What is the scope (or "mar-
ket") of your program?
Have opportunities to coor-
dinate program design and
marketing strategies with
other government programs
been explored?
What are your program
team's existing and needed
core competencies?
What are the strengths,
weaknesses, opportuni-
ties and threats facing your
Program?
BWC is an EPA and DOT partnership program created with the goal of reducing
single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) commuting trips in order to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and help relieve traffic congestion. The program scope includes
promoting a national standard of excellence in commuter benefits to employers to
make it easy for employees to change commuting behavior
Existing program: It All Adds Up to Clean Air Campaign led by U.S. DOT
Leverage potential: After extensive investigation, it was determined the Adds
Up campaign is targeting a different audience (commuters vs. employers) with dif-
ferent primary benefits/messages.
Needed core competencies: Recruitment support
How will you get them: Partnering with local Transportation Demand Manage-
ment (TDM) organizations, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and Chambers of
Commerce agencies; contractor support
Strengths: National program, ERA/DOT sponsorship, strong environmental
benefits/messages, off-the-shelf ready to implement program
Weaknesses: Funding constraints, staff levels, need a stronger business case for
commuter benefits, multiple decisionmakers within firms
Opportunities: Markets with emerging traffic problems, rising gas prices, com-
petitive labor market
Threats: Competing local brands/programs, America's love affair with their cars,
lack of transit for some employers
Goals & Objectives
What is the program's
marketing goal?
Goal: Make BWC the national program name or "brand" that makes excellent
commuter benefits a standard part of employee benefits packages
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Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Marketing Question
Best Workplaces for Commuters (EPA and DOT)
Goals & Objectives
What are the measurable
marketing objectives of your
program?
Objective #1: Partner with local TDM agencies in X markets to conduct local
BWC campaigns
How will it be measured: Number of local partnerships/campaigns
Objective #2:X number of employers join program representing X number of
employees
How will it be measured: Number of employers that join BWC and number
of employees represented
Objective #2: Establish BWC as a known and trusted name among priority
target audiences
How will it be measured: Name recognition amongTDM community name
recognition/demand for program by employers, marketing message exposure
measurements (volume of media clips, impressions etc.)
Target Decisionmakers
Who are ALL of your target
decisionmaker groups?
Identify if they are primary
influencers or gatekeepers.
Audience: Role (primary, influencer or gatekeeper):
Employers:
• Business owner/manager (primary)
• Transportation Coordinator (influencer)
• Human Resource Manager (influencer)
• Facilities Manager (influencer)
• Administrative Staff (gatekeeper)
Local TDM (Transportation Demand Management) Partners (influencer)
Employees (primary)
Of these target decision-
maker groups, which will
be your programs priority
decisionmaker group?
Priority audiences:
Employers:
• Business owner/manager (primary)
• Transportation Coordinator (influencer)
• Human Resource Manager (influencer)
Local TDM Partners (influencer)
Note: employees will become a priority audience for BWC once the name is
established and there is a solid base of organizations offering excellent commuter
benefits.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
49
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Marketing Question
Best Workplaces for Commuters (EPA and DOT)
Target Decisionmakers
What are the characteristics
of your priority audiences?
Business owner/manager characteristics:
President or chief-level title.Tend to commute in single-occupant vehicles to
work. Upper income. Busy people with many things competing for their attention.
Financial performance of company is the key focus of most decisions. Recognition/
leadership are often strong motivators for this group.
Transportation coordinator characteristics:
Mid- to low- level employee within their organization.Transportation responsibili-
ties are probably not their primary job function making being proactive about
these issues often a low priority.
Human resource manager characteristics:
In charge of employee relations, benefits, recruitment and retention. Reports to
company management/ownership. Wants company to offer the best benefit pack-
age possible to employees while also staying within the company's needed financial
parameters. Will advocate for new benefits if a case can be made that they are a
smart business decision for the company.
Local TDM partner characteristics:
Public sector employees working for local government or transit agency Usu-
ally mid-level employees that are personally committed to the goal of reducing
SOV commuting.They are often busy with many job responsibilities and have to
operate within tight funding parameters. Likely use alternate modes of commuting
themselves.
50
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Marketing Question
Best Workplaces for Commuters (EPA and DOT)
Target Decisionmakers
Write your vivid profile of a
single target decisionmaker
in each priority audience
group.
Business owner/manager vivid profile:
Jim Smith is the chief operating officer of a telecommunications firm with 200
employees in Los Angeles. He prides himself on the benefits package that his
company offers employees. He is in charge of overall recruitment and retention of
the workforce but is also very focused on his role in helping to achieve bottom-
line profitability for the company Jim commutes more than an hour each way to
work in his Ford Explorer While he believes that is important for other people to
use public transportation, he is too busy and has too much of an unpredictable
schedule to allow him to do so.
Transportation coordinator vivid profile:
Bill Neil is a facility manager and transportation coordinator for a grocery store
chain. He works at the downtown headquarters, while the company's employees
are spread throughout the region at various retail and processing locations. Local
government requires that companies of his size create a commute trip reduction
(CTR) plan and appoint transportation coordinatorThisjob duty was added to
his facility management duties two years ago. He believes in public transportation
as a concept, but feels that for many of his company's employees, the hours and
locations where they work make it hard for them to use. He resents the require-
ment to put together a CTR plan and feels that the reporting requirements are
burdensome.
Human resource manager vivid profile:
Theresa Jones is the HR manager for a private healthcare facility Her industry has
a high turnover rate, and she is constantly working on ways to retain existing em-
ployees and recruit new ones.The facility is on the outskirts of town with some-
what limited public transportation options. Her employees work round-the-clock.
The facility's top priority is patient care, meaning anyone proposing new programs
or benefits needs to prove to management that they will improve patient care
while steward ing the organizations limited resources.
Local Transportation Demand Management partner vivid profile:
Jane Mitchell is a transportation coordinator for the Clark County Transit Authority
She graduated three years ago with a graduate degree in urban planning. Her pri-
mary job function is to manage the sale of their universal transit pass to businesses.
She considers herself an environmentalist and is committed to the idea that reduc-
ing SOV trips is a better solution than building new roads. She lives downtown and
either takes the bus or rides her bike to work.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
51
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Marketing Question
Best Workplaces for Commuters (EPA and DOT)
Target Decisionmakers
What behavior do you want
your priority audiences to
change?
Priority audience/Behavior change:
Business Owner/Manager: Meet the national standard of excellence in commuter
benefits and become a BWC employer
Transportation Coordinator: Advocate for offering employees commuter benefits
and for signing their organization up for BWC.
Human Resource Manager: Advocate for offering employees commuter benefits
and for signing their organization up for BWC.
Local TDM Partners: Adopt BWC as a CTR program in their community and
recruit local employers into the program.
What are the barriers and
motivations for each desired
behavior change?
Audience: Business Owner/Manager
Barriers: Cost, other issues competing for their time
Motivations: Recognition, competitive edge (retention/recruitment), productivity
cost savings (in some cases, avoided parking, tax benefits etc.), leadership/being a
good community steward
Audience:Transportation Coordinator
Barriers: Lackof decisionmaking authority time constraints, implementation logistics
concerns, surveying and reporting requirements
Motivations: Employee satisfaction, doing a good job - recognition from manage-
ment, recognition for company
Audience: Human Resource Manager
Barriers: Perceived lack of demand by employees, lack of management support,
surveying and reporting requirements, implementation logistics concerns
Motivations: Retention/recruitment, recognition for company praise from manage-
ment
Audience: LocalTDM Partners
Barriers: Competing CTR programs in market, lack of time to implement, lack of
funding
Motivations: Existing program - ready to implement, being part of national EPA
program, opportunity for national recognition, ability to connect with and learn
from other BWC markets
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Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Marketing Question
Best Workplaces for Commuters (EPA and DOT)
Program Marketing Positioning
What is your program's
marketing positioning state-
ment?
What are the name, logo
and tagline planned for the
program?
How will EPA be incorpo-
rated into program market
positioning?
For employers
Who need to keep a motivated and productive workforce
Our program is a way to help their employees by offering options for commuting
to work
This will provide better retention, recruitment, and productivity for the organiza-
tion
Unlike organizations that do not offer commuter benefits
Our solution will provide valuable recognition that will position their organization
as a leader in their community
Name: Best Workplaces for Commuters
Tagline: Recognizing excellence in commuter benefits
TBD
Recognizing Performance
Communications Planning
What materials do you plan
to develop to support the
marketing strategy?
How do you plan to train
program staff and allies on
the marketing strategy?
• Web site
• Fact sheets
• Press materials
• Sharing of locally developed materials with other markets
• Web site
• Tele-seminars
• Speaking engagements at conferences
• E-mail communication
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
53
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Appendix C: Key
Definitions
• Brand, n the case of EPA Partnership
Programs, the brand and marketing image
conveyed will determine, perhaps more than
anything else, the receptivity of the target
decisionmakers to the action steps EPA is
asking them to take. Many textbooks on
marketing and brand management start by
saying "what a brand is not." A brand is not
a logo, icon, tagline, slogan, a program name,
or mission statement.A strong brand is like
an unwritten promise to a group of tar-
get decisionmakers that your program will
solve a pressing problem for them and then
consistently delivering on that promise.The
program name and logo are symbols of that
promise. Whether the target decisionmakers
believe you will deliver on that promise is
based on all of the experiences, information,
and observations they may have about your
Program and EPA.
• Positioning statement.A positioning
statement is a brief, but very accurate, mes-
sage that explains what your program is,
what it does, and most important, how it's
different from competitors13. A positioning
statement is externally focused. A positioning
statement needs to: I) place the program
within context of the external "market," 2)
describe how the program relates to the
existing offerings by both the public and
private sector 3) be brief, and 4) be entirely
defensible.
• Target decisionmaker. These are the
people an EPA Partnership Programs tries
to convince to take certain action steps to
protect human health and the environment.
In marketing publications they are often
referred to as the "target audience." For
purposes of this document, target decision-
makers is more appropriate because the
term implies the program is more highly
focused on fewer individuals with actual
decisionmaking authority instead of a mass
audience. Most EPA Partnership Programs
have resources sufficient to target a small
set of individuals and not a mass audience
directly (at least without the help of partner
organizations whose leaders then become
the target decisionmakers). For many EPA
Partnership Programs, target decisionmakers
are the people targeted for signing a memo-
randum of understanding (MOU) agreement
with EPA.
• Touch point. Touch point is a common
term in the fields of marketing and branding
to mean the ways outside parties—cus-
tomers, suppliers, stakeholders, sharehold-
ers—are exposed to anybody or anything
associated with a particular company.The
more obvious touch points are a company's
advertisements, Web site, press releases,
and products because outside parties will
be exposed to the company in these ways.
Less obvious but equally important touch
points include the company's customer
service people, technical support people,
product packaging, product manuals, training
courses, and speeches given by employees
of the company. A smart company (and EPA
Partnership Program) ensures their brand or
market positioning is reinforced—and never
3 Adapted from the web site of Beaupre & Co. Public Relations, Inc. See
54
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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compromised—through every interaction
outside parties have with the company (or
program) through every touch point. For
EPA Partnership Programs, touch points
not only include all of materials and human
interactions described above but also MOU/
partner agreements, logo use guidelines,
partner reporting forms, etc. (they all need
to support and not undermine the program's
reputation nor its marketing positioning
statement in the minds of stakeholders).
Trademark. The word "trademark" is an
umbrella term to refer to any kind of legally
protected mark used in commerce and
used to indicate the source or sponsorship.
Trademark rights give the owner of the mark
exclusive rights to use (or license) the mark,
but with those rights come obligations to
protect the mark from the unauthorized use
of it.This in turn protects the public from
being confused as to source or sponsor-
ship.Trademarks symbolize the goodwill or
"promise" the owner of the mark makes.
Other kinds of trademarks include service
marks, certification marks, collective mem-
bership marks and collective marks. Each
kind of mark has its unique purpose.
Value proposition. A value proposition
is the deal or promise you make with target
decisionmakers that articulates what action
steps you want stakeholders to take and
what value of benefits they will receive as a
result of taking those action steps.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
55
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Appendix D: Program
Marketing When
Decisionmakers Are
Household Consumers
The household consumer market is probably
the most challenging to pursue in terms of
segmenting and targeting. In most cases, an EPA
Partnership Program will not have sufficient re-
sources to effectively reach and influence more
than a tiny fraction of American household
consumers.Therefore, it usually is unwise for an
EPA Partnership Program to select household
consumers as the target audience unless it can
partner with an entity with sufficient resources
and commitment to reach and influence such a
broad audience.
That said, there are several good sources for
segmenting American citizens or household
consumers for environmental purposes: Roper
Starch Green Gauge, LOHAS, Cultural Cre-
atives, etc. One of the most useful segmentation
tools out there today is the Lifestyles of Health
and Sustainability (LOHAS) Consumer Report.
It segments the population into four groups
based on their receptivity to sustainability health
and lifestyle variables.The four segments are as
follows:
I. LOHAS. A consumer group whose at-
titudes, behaviors, and usage of goods and
services are significantly affected by their
concern for health - the health of their fami-
lies, the sustainability of the planet, their per-
sonal development, and the future of society
(this group represents about 32 percent of
the adults in the United States).
2. Centrists. An assemblage who congregate
toward the conservative end of the spec-
trum when it comes to dealing with health
and sustainability (this does not necessary
refer to one's political values and behavior
just behavior as it relates to their health and
the environment).They are more steadfast in
their attitudes, behavior; and usage of specific
products and services - regardless of their
impact on the planet and self (this group
represents about 25 percent of adults in the
United States).
3. Nomadics. A conglomeration of consum-
ers who are in search of their true "sense of
well being." As so, they tend to move from
place to place with regard to personal ideals,
environmental platforms, and the overall rel-
evance of sustainability (this group represents
about 39 percent of adults in the United
States).
4. Indifferents. A consumer group that
sees no need or recognizes no connection
between their consumption patterns and the
effect it has on resources.They are caught
up in the day to day challenges, not neces-
sarily looking out for tomorrow. (This group
represents about 4 percent of U.S. adults).
The LOHAS and other segmentation reports
are available for purchase either as a final report
or on a subscription basis.You can also contact
the companies that own this research to run
custom sorts within the segments defines. For
example, ENERGY STAR has done extensive
analysis of the LOHAS data, looking specifically
at behaviors that deal with energy use. Check
with the Partnership Program Coordination
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Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Team about sources of research within EPA
before you make your own purchase or sub-
scription.
It may not come as much of a surprise that the
greenest consumers in terms of attitude and
values tend to have higher incomes and educa-
tional levels (people at lower income levels are
often "greener" due to lower overall consump-
tion). Women also tend to have greener atti-
tudes than men, and East Coast and West Coast
residents tend to be greener attitudes than
other parts of the country. Children also tend to
have greener attitudes and also have influence
on the purchase and other decisions of their
parents.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
57
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Appendix E: Program
Marketing When Decision-
makers Are in the World of
Business
The Guidelines for Designing EPA Partnership
Programs encourages you to be strategic and
specific when defining your Program's target
decisionmakers. For EPA Partnership Programs
targeting businesses, marketing guru Philip Kotler
offers additional advice on precise and strategic
identification of decisionmakers in his classic
book Marketing Management14. For businesses,
o o
he describes the following roles:
I. Initiators.These are individuals who initiate
the process by asking that something be pur-
chased or some other organizational change
is made.They may be users or others in the
organization.
2. Users. These are individuals who will use
the product or service or most directly ex-
perience the organizational change.
3. Influencers. These individuals influence the
buying or other decisions.They often help
define specifications and provide information
for evaluating alternatives.Technical person-
nel are particular important influencers.
4. Deciders.These people decide on product
requirements and/or suppliers.
5. Buyers.These individuals have the formal
authority to se ect the supplier and arrange
the purchase.They often shape product
specifications, help select vendors, and nego-
tiate the deal.
6. Gatekeepers. These individuals have the
power to prevent sellers or information from
reaching other decision-makers.
It is important to note that in some cases an
audience group can play more than one of these
roles. In the case of EPA's SunWise Program, for
example, teachers are both a primary audience,
because EPA wants them to sign up for the pro-
gram, as well as an influencer audience because
EPA wants them to influence kids to practice
sun-safe behaviors.
Once you have brainstormed all possible audi-
ences and identified each of their roles as a
primary, influencer; or gatekeeper, you then need
to choose priority audiences for your program.
Priority audiences are those that can most
quickly deliver you to your goals and objectives
within the resources that you have available. As
mentioned earlier, Partnership Programs can
easily fail if they try to be too many things to
too many people. Strong marketing is focused
on the needs of its key target audiences.This
is where you choose which audiences are the
most important for your program's success.
For example, EPA's C2P2 (Coal Combustion
Products Partnership) program aims to help
create markets for coal ash in order to keep it
out of landfills. In order to be successful, C2P2
needed to target both the industry creating
the ash, the local regulators that regulate its
disposal, and the potential end users of the ash
(construction companies). All of these audiences
are a priority for the program because they all
need to change their behavior in order for the
program to be successful and achieve its goal
creating a market for the beneficial reuse of
industrial coal ash.
14 Kotler; Philip, Marketing management. I I edition (May 2002); Publisher: Prentice Hall; ISBN: 01 30336297
58
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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Appendix F: Suggested
Reading
• Academy for Educational Development
Social Marketing Lite:A Practical Resource Book
for Social Marketing. AED, 2000.
• Checco, Larry. Branding for Success:A Road-
map for Raising the Visibility and Value ofYour
Nonprofit Orgon/zot/on.Trafford, 2005.
• Colehour, Julie and Cohen, Bryan of. Plan-
ning for Effective Social Marketing Cam-
paigns: A step-by-step guide and workbook
Colehour+Cohen,2005.
• EPA. Using the ENERGY STAR Identity to
Maintain and Build Value. See
• Gilbert, Jill. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Pat-
ents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets &
Licensing. Berkley Trade, 2004.
• Haig, William L , L Harper The Power of Logos:
How to Create Effective Company Logos.Wiley,
1997.
• Kapferer, Jean-Noel. Strategic Brand Manage-
ment: New Approaches To Creating And Evalu-
ating Brand Equ/ty.The Free Press, A Division
of Macmillan, Inc., 994.
• Kempton.Willett, J. Hartley, J. S. Boster En-
vironmental Values in American Culture. Re-
bound by Sagebrush, 996
Kotler, Philip. Marketing management. I edi-
tion. Prentice Hall, 2002.
Kotler, Philip, N. Roberto, N. Lee. Social mar-
keting: Improving Quality of Life 2nd edition.
SAGE Publications, 2002.
Lodish, L.M., Morgan, H.L, Kallianpur A. Entre-
preneurial Marketing: Lessons from Wharton's
Pioneering MBA Course. John Wiley & Sons,
2001.
McKenzie-Mohr, D.,W Smith. Fostering
Sustainable Behavior. An Introduction to Com-
munity-Based Social Marketing. New Society
Publishers, 200 .
Mollerup, Per Marks of Excellence. Phaidon
Press, 999.
Nordhielm, Christie L. Marketing Manage-
ment The Big Picture. John Wiley & Sons,
2005.
Ries.AI, L. Ries. The 22 Immutable Laws of
Branding. HarperBusiness, I st edition, 2002.
Ries,AI,Trout,J. PositioningThe Battle forYour
Mind. McGraw-Hill, 2000.
Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations,
Fourth Edition. Free Press, 995
Roper. Green Gauge 2002:Americans Per-
spective on Environmental Issues:Yes ... But.
Roper-Starch. 2002.
Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
59
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Appendix G: Suggested
Web Sites
For a good summary of the major market re-
search studies on American citizen and consum-
er attitudes about the environment, see:
For a summary of the (somewhat dated) 2002
Roper Starch Green Gauge survey of American
environmental attitudes (more recent surveys
of this type may be available; Please contact the
EPA Partnership Program Coordinator):
To learn more about the LOHAS green con-
sumer marketing research and market segmen-
tation see:
To see how another federal agency has set stan-
dards for the look, feel, and style of communica-
tions products, see:
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Guidelines for Marketing EPA Partnership Programs
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