[Special Report] Green Marketing

From fashion to home building, going “green” is hot and consumer preference for low-impact, sustainable products and services is growing. In fact, the Natural Marketing Institute predicts buying power of the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability market will reach $845 billion by 2015. Enter, “green” pest management. Some professionals say the service is far more than a market opportunity: It’s the industry’s future.

Both commercial and residential clients are pushing for green pest management. “In most cases in our industry, we don’t direct, we’re directed and business is directing us to go green,” said Dr. Austin Frishman, president of AMF Pest Management Consulting. Consumers concerned for their health and environment offer the greatest opportunity for growth, added green marketing guru Jacquelyn Ottman, author of “Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation.”

The number of consumers who use professional pest control could increase five percent, just by making them aware green services exist, said Eden Advanced Pest Technologies President Jack Marlowe.

Bobby Jenkins, president of ABC Pest & Lawn Services, agreed. Twelve years ago he formed Chem-Free Organic Pest & Lawn Services, a separate company providing reduced-impact, least-toxic pest solutions to the environmentally conscious Austin, Texas, community. “We thought there was a market out there that would use this approach that otherwise (wouldn’t) use a conventional pest control company,” Jenkins said. The company has grown to13 technicians and is a “very nice business.”

Suburban/Magic Exterminating Technical Director Lynn Frank said his “phone is ringing all the time” with customers requesting organic service. “I think there’s a tremendous amount of interest out there. I think customers have been looking for this for a while.” If given a choice, he said, customers would choose organic or natural pest control over traditional application methods “because they now believe that is going to protect their home environment and keep them safe and pest-free at the same time.”

Like many businesses, pest management may have to go green to survive, Frishman said. “There is no question. There is a surge in the industry of companies to develop a green approach to pest management.”

SHIFTING TO GREEN. Some firms have unveiled green services and many are testing their viability. Long Island, N.Y.-based Suburban/Magic Exterminating, which has used minimum- risk soaps and oils on trees for years, is running trials using boric acid and plant oil products. It plans to unveil its program as a premium service, then go totally green within six months. “We’ve found that economically it’s feasible, it’s comparable to conventional materials and the number of recalls is in line with conventional (pesticides),” said Frank. “We’re very pleased with the results.”

So is Dr. Pari Pachamuthu, entomologist for Anaheim, Calif.-based Western Exterminator Company, which is in its third year of green trials. In Western Exterminator’s current trial, which is running from May 2007 through May 2008, the firm’s “Reduced Impact” program will be used on 51 routes with more 100,000 service stops. “What we find…will dictate how we are going to approach this program,” Pachamuthu said. Stand-alone service centers in green-sensitive areas or replacement of its conventional program are possibilities. “Our thinking is to change our strategy company-wide and this might be a best-fit program.”

Jenkins’ Chem-Free Organic Pest & Lawn Services will remain a separate enterprise. “We’ll keep pushing the envelope” as far as product selections, treatment strategies and techniques go, Jenkins said. “I really want them to be cutting edge and be willing to try different approaches and try different products.” Chem-Free’s successes often find their way into ABC Pest & Lawn Services programs.

A green focus also is opening doors to new business. Olympia, Wash.-based Eden Advanced was selected to control mosquitoes at the City of Seattle’s catch basin due to the firm’s proven program that could stand up to environmental group scrutiny, said Marlowe. Green pest control for commercial clients is a “tremendous opportunity,” added Jenkins.

Corporations understand it’s in their best interest to be green and that includes the vendors they choose to do business with, he added.

One of the biggest challenges to going green is resistance from within, many pest management professionals said. “Some of the technicians are going to be very unwilling to give up the conventional big (pesticide) guns,” said Frank, whose team was divided 50-50 for and against the shift. “As they start to see how it works and how it stands up versus conventional (programs), they’re all starting to be convinced. But, it’s a work in progress.”

Western’s Pachamuthu said smaller companies may have an easier time switching to green because fewer technicians require retraining. And, young people coming into the industry often are more “green” than their supervisors, added Frishman. “Accepting this type of control is becoming easier,” he said.

GREEN PRODUCT CONSIDERATIONS. With the industry generally moving to an inspection-based, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach, the major difference between conventional and green programs is product choice.

Switching to green products is not a big leap, Frank said. Some products that are assumed to be “conventional” are on the EPA exempt list or approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute (www.omri.org), he said. Boric acid-based products and baits also may fit the bill.

“The selection of chemical is a very complex matter,” said University of California-Riverside Entomologist Dr. Don Reierson. Some materials are so biologically active, the amount of toxicant put into the environment is tiny, he said. Boric acid, on the other hand, normally is used at 10-, 100-, or 1,000-fold concentrations. A product’s formulation, volatility, persistence and the ability to remove it from unintended locations should factor into the decision-making process, he said.

This year Western Exterminator Company modified its strategy to give technicians more control tools. The program previously relied on plant oils and non-repellents, but now incorporates baits, granules and insect growth regulators as needed. Although some products contain synthetic chemicals, none contain pyrethroids, which are being reevaluated in California and could face use restrictions.

Chem-Free Organic Pest & Lawn Services also excludes use of synthetic pyrethroids. Jenkins said the industry must keep searching for alternatives, such as the stainless-steel mesh barrier installed during construction to prevent termites from entering structures and the cornerstone of ABC’s lawn care program: compost. Compost improves turf and soil health, reduces the need for herbicides and fungicides and conserves water. In fact, the City of San Antonio Water Department pays homeowners $150 to compost their lawns, Jenkins said. 

Current green services may need a boost from traditional or non-repellent control products, especially during periods of high pest pressure and 100-degree temperatures of summer, to meet customer expectations, said Pachamuthu. Clients familiar with traditional control products’ residual effect may notice outdoor pest activity sooner than before and “they need to accept” this fact as long as the pests don’t come inside, he said. Educating homeowners is “crucial,” he added.

A product’s complete ingredients also require thorough evaluation. Chrysanthemum-based pyrethrum, for example, often contains the synergist Piperonyl Butoxide. “You’re not permitted by local law 37 to use any material that contains Pip in any New York City-owned building,” said Frank. “If you look at all of the products that contain Piperonyl Butoxide, there’s a huge loss right there.”

Yet, some chemicals used in minute amounts as part of an IPM program are “pretty green,” said Marlowe.

As regulations, technology and society changes, “what’s green today won’t be green tomorrow,” said Frishman. “(Being green is) a moving target and the speed at which it moves is increasing.”

GREEN GOES TO MARKET. As the green trend has strengthened, so too have savvy companies’ ability to market the service, said Frishman. “It has become a business plus.” 

But it does require a different approach, Ottman said. Pest management professionals cannot just promote a service’s “green-ness,” but rather must communicate how it improves the environment and protects health without sacrificing the effectiveness customers have grown to expect. Consumers will choose green pest management if costs and results compare with conventional programs, Marlowe agreed. Pest management professionals recommend developing a green service agreement that gives permission to use conventional materials should green materials prove ineffective.

“If you don’t solve their problem, it really doesn’t matter what you call yourself,” said National Pest Management Public Affairs Vice President Cindy Mannes. (See related article on page 68 about NPMA’s Going Green: Marketing to the 21st Century Customer meeting next month in Denver.)
According to the June 2006 issue of Environment magazine, successful green marketing emphasizes the benefits of health and safety, performance, efficiency and cost effectiveness, convenience and symbolism, and status.

Such messages appeal most to educated women aged 30 to 44 with $30,000-plus household incomes, Ottman said. However, the service must withstand scrutiny, as green consumers rarely make purchase decisions based on advertising alone.

“Word of mouse” from Web sites, search engines, blogs, product ratings sites, podcasts and other digital platforms often guide green consumers in their decision-making process, reported Environment. In addition to traditional marketing efforts, creating engaging Web sites, online content and activities to attract and keep consumers talking are worth consideration.

HOW GREEN IS GREEN? But benefits without credibility fall on deaf ears, experts warn. “Credibility is the foundation of effective green marketing,” Ottman said.

“It is a huge issue for our industry,” agreed Marlowe, who feels a green certification, similar to the organic food label, eventually should be developed for the industry. “I think it would behoove our industry to define what green is and what it isn’t so we avoid confusion” before what has been a “great turn-on for our market becomes a turn-off.”

Third-party endorsements and seals of approval can help build credibility. Eden Advanced holds Green Shield certification from the IPM Institute. Suburban/Magic Exterminating is pursuing this same designation.

Potential legislation may push the industry to embrace the green concept, said Reierson. “We are advocating that the pest control industry be proactive in limiting the amount of synthetic chemical that might be found in water run-off,” he said, citing California lawmakers’ concerns of water quality. Laws that specify or constrain control measures will restrict the industry, said Frishman.

Yet, defining green pest management poses its own challenges. “We need to be very careful in that thought process,” Jenkins said. The industry would not want to imply conventional programs are wrong and green programs are right, he said. “Philosophically, I think our whole industry has moved toward positioning itself as a green industry,” Jenkins said. Reierson agreed.

Minimizing pesticide use and using low-impact toxicants has been an industry trend the last five to 10 years, he said.

Going green “is just not about the products you use,” Mannes said. “That’s only a small part of it.” Green can encompass hybrid service vehicles, a paperless office, business cards printed on recycled paper and hundreds of other initiatives. “All of those things show the consumer you’re a green company.” “Green” is what works for your company, she said.

Reierson likened the term “green” to a brand driven by consumers, municipalities, counties and states. He said UC-Riverside uses “low-impact” rather than “green,” which is “more marketing than science or research.”

One thing’s for sure, “green” — however you define it — is paying off for customers, the industry and environment. Suburban/Magic Exterminating saw this first hand when the company switched to a termite bait system from traditional liquid termite treatments seven years ago. Suburban/Magic’s Frank estimates the switch has prevented 1 million gallons of pesticide from being pumped into the ground by his firm. “We feel very good about that,” he said.

The author is a frequent contributor to PCT.