綠色先鋒的八大特征

????上周，我在加州拉古那尼克參加了《財富》雜志“綠色頭腦風暴”（Brainstorm Green）會議的小組討論。同時參加小組討論的還有Method的聯合創始人兼Greenskeeper亞當?勞瑞以及gDiapers 的聯合首席執行官杰森?格雷漢姆-奈爾。

????此次討論幫助我們理解了綠色先鋒意味著什么。當然，首先是提供挑戰主流的產品。Method顛覆了香皂、清潔劑等日用品的概念，將高性能的環保產品與時尚個性融合。gDiapers提供的可沖尿片阻斷了源源不斷的尿片垃圾，如今尿片已成為全球垃圾填埋第三大來源。我的公司受到矚目是因為我們提供低糖有機飲品，先是針對成人的Honest Tea，接著是面向更廣大人群的Honest Ade和Honest Kids。

????一旦我們的產品上市后，我們每家公司都主要通過草根營銷發展。說草根營銷是戰略決策或許好聽些，但事實上我們三家公司都沒有進行真正營銷推廣的預算。因此，我們依賴口口相傳。消費者用了我們的產品后，就成為我們的宣傳員——把我們的產品介紹給他們的朋友，有時還會騷擾一下店員，因為他們沒有及時補充我們的產品庫存。

????我們和消費者的關系都不同于一般產品買賣的交易關系。gDiapers把一次辦公室開放日活動變成了留宿晚會，很多母親和嬰兒從全美各地飛到俄勒岡州波特蘭，慶賀她們共同的堅持成就了環保事業。Method與成千上萬名、充滿激情的People Against Dirty宣傳者進行每日對話。近日，有一位宣傳者認為，向女朋友求婚的最佳地點是Method的舊金山辦公室，在整個公司面前（他求婚了，她答應了?。?。至于Honest Tea，4月30日我們將在紐約時代廣場舉行Great Recycle（完成30英尺高的回收桶）將吸引紐約市和全美數千位消費者，我們希望能提高回收率。

????絕非巧合的是我們在初創階段都得到了天使投資者的支持。這類耐心的、非侵入性的資本讓我們有信心繼續摸爬滾打，而大部分機構投資者會引導管理層走上更傳統的發展道路。如果我們給出更甜、更便宜的配方，Honest Tea本可以發展得更快，但因為我們堅持低糖、有機配方，我們給擁擠的飲品架注入了有意義的差異化。

????在某種意義上，我們都是競爭對手的非官方研發部門。繼Method之后，已有很多傳統清潔公司進入了綠色領域，正是由于Method的不斷創新，整個洗衣液產品變得更加綠色。gDiapers首創設計師尿布（正如澳大利亞人這么稱呼它們），幫寶適（Pampers）和其他公司群起而效仿。當我們的創新飲料開始流行，CapriSun將平均卡路里含量從100降至了75，支持飲料袋行業的創新變革。我們都相信，模仿不僅是一種認同，也符合我們更廣泛的目標，引導我們的行業向著更可持續的道路發展。

????Last week I participated in a panel on Green Insurgents at Fortune's Brainstorm Green conference in Laguna Niguel, California. My fellow panelists were Adam Lowry, co-founder and Greenskeeper of Method and Jason Graham-Nye, dad/co-CEO of gDiapers.

????The discussion helped illuminate what it means to be a Green Insurgent, beyond of course the obligatory funky job titles, (according to this TeaEO). Clearly, it starts with offering products that challenge mainstream offerings. Method hijacked the stale category of soaps and cleansers by combining fashion and style with high-performing, eco-friendly products. gDiapers changed the waste stream of diapers by offering a flushable alternative to a category that is the third largest contributor to landfills around the world. And my company rose to prominence by offering lower-sugar organic drinks first for adults with Honest Tea, then to the broader population, with Honest Ade and Honest Kids.

????Once our products were launched, we each grew primarily through grassroots marketing. While it might be quaint to think this was a strategic decision, none of us had the budget for a real advertising campaign. As a result, we grew through word-of-mouth. Consumers adopted us as their own and became advocates for us – forcing our products on their friends, and occasionally harassing store personnel who failed to restock our products.

????We've each taken the special relationships with our consumers beyond just the transactional relationship of selling and buying product. For gDiapers an office open house turned into a slumber party, with moms and babies, flying into Portland, OR from all over the country to celebrate their shared commitment to a lighter environmental footprint. For Method, it means a daily dialogue with thousands of their most passionate advocates, the People Against Dirty. Recently, one advocate decided the perfect place to propose to his girlfriend would be in Method's offices in San Francisco, in front of the whole company (he did, and she said yes!). For Honest Tea, our Great Recycle in Times Square on April 30 (complete with 30 foot high recycling bin) will engage thousands of consumers in NYC and around the country as we seek to boost recycling rates.

????Not coincidentally, we were all supported by angel investors during our start-up phases. This kind of patient, non-invasive capital helped give us the confidence to go out further on limbs, whereas the general trend of institutional investors is to steer management toward more conventional paths to growth. Honest Tea would have grown faster if we had created sweeter and cheaper recipes, but because we stuck to low-sugar, organic formulations, we developed a meaningful point of differentiation on congested beverage shelves.

????We have all served as unofficial R&D units for our competitors. Method has seen a wave of conventional cleaning companies enter the green space, and the entire laundry detergent category has now concentrated to a greener format in part due to method's innovation. gDiapers started the idea of designer nappies (as the Aussies call them), and saw Pampers and others follow its lead. And CapriSun lowered its average calorie count from 100 to 75, and supported drink pouch collection brigades, once our innovations started to gain traction. We all agreed that mimicry is not only a form of flattery, but consistent with our broader goals of steering our industries toward a more sustainable path.