SAN DIEGO—Oster and Associates, Inc., a San Diego-based marketing agency, has announced a shift in agency branding to a focus on green marketing. “Being environmentally conscious is not a new philosophy for us,” says Bev Oster, the agency’s president. “It has been at the core of much of the business the agency has done over the past 21 years.”
“If we had announced that we were a ‘green’ agency five years ago, no one would have noticed,” she adds. “Today, green is attracting everyone’s attention. And that has triggered some significant growth for the agency.”
The agency’s green focus is dubbed The Green Solution. It’s about using available marketing tools to help consumers make more environmentally conscious choices. But the work of the agency also can help organizations understand what the market needs are for their “green” goods and services. Many large organizations are now making the person in charge of their environmental focus a “C” level manager, and regarding green solutions as a profit center rather than an expense.
Green marketing is a growing business category, and it includes both the marketing of organizations’ green initiatives and using environmentally conscious methods of marketing. Many Oster clients have an environmental basis to their organizations, such as Organics Unlimited—providing organic fruit and a program to help workers; SunOpta Fruit Group—a processor of organic and natural fruit products; and CA BOTANA—a developer of natural skin care products. At the same time, Oster partners with vendors who share the same concern for the environment, such as CPS Printing, which focuses on using recycled papers, soy inks, and wind energy to power their presses.
