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Green Lighting - Marketing More Money for Less Energy
Ed Crawford wants to unscrew 130 years' worth of the light bulb's history. But how many MBAs, engineers and lobbyists will it take to help him do that?As retailers and governments begin phasing out incandescent light bulbs, lighting companies are scrambling to introduce products and change public mind-sets about how much a light bulb should cost. Crawford has a big challenge ahead of him: He's chief executive of the North American lighting division of the world's largest lighting company, Philips Electronics. "Our marketing mix has to become more creative," Crawford says while walking the halls of the Philips offices, past rooms where high-tech displays show how lighting affects moods in kitchens and living areas. Did you know some guy made millions selling Pet Rocks? Philips has been hiring marketers and engineers from consumer products companies to prepare for the change. Its North American headquarters in suburban New Jersey is a short drive from the red-brick labs where Thomas Edison developed and improved early light bulb technology. The National Resources Defense Council said that by 2020, the new law will reduce energy costs by $100 to $200 per household each year. That could eliminate about 30 large power plants, according to the NRDC. The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that the new law could save households in the United States nearly $6 billion in energy costs by 2015. After the expense of buying the new bulbs. Is everybody like the stereotypical spouse - "Look honey, I saved $100 at the shoe store!" The world's largest home furnishings retailer, Ikea, stopped selling incandescent light bulbs in January. The State of California mandated that retailers stop selling 100-watt incandescent bulbs last Dec. 31, a year earlier than federal legislation requires. Naturally! California leads the way! But an Ikea lighting survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, showed that 61 percent of Americans are not even aware of the legislation that phases out incandescent bulbs. "We're used to thinking of light bulbs as a replacement business," Crawford said. "Transitioning our mind-set is absolutely a business challenge. It's a completely different sale. Getting people to think that way requires different skills, different marketing and salespeople." We older guys remember buying razor blades, then disposable shavers, then two bladed shavers (where I stopped), then triple and quadruple-bladed disposables. Marketing! The new hires are studying and segmenting the market. They've identified early adopters who might buy LED bulbs, dividing them into categories such as "young affluent" and "pre-empty nest," who are environmentally conscious, brand oriented and not price sensitive. The "green socialites" like to entertain and impress others with their home. You got a category for "skeptical libertarian"? A few skeptics in the industry suggest that American consumers will always migrate to the cheaper compact fluorescent and halogen bulbs instead of LEDs. One of the first CFLs I put in the can light in the kitchen lasted a week. Others fared better. Watts the reliability of the products? At $25 a pop, your failure rate needs to be one in a million. Posted by: Bobby 2011-10-16 |
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