Last week on the ABC show Difference of Opinion, the topic of discussion was Climate Change. Following the show the discussion forum was alive with varying opinions. Naturally there was the ‘left’ and ‘right’ discussions but the following really caught my eye and got me thinking as a marketing minded person:

User Builder wrote:

As a builder in the residential construction industry I see a massive potential for micro generation of power and water resources, ie all houses generating close to, if not more, than their needs. It is already being done to a very small extent. (currently very expensive) To me it seems the problem is marketing. We are currently being told you should do this, you must do that etc., but there is no real incentive for people to want to do it. It is a sad obsevation of our society but we need to appeal to peoples vanity. Over the last few years I have seen a large explosion in the Kitchen & bathroom design/renovation industry. Indeed there was no such seperate industry 10 years ago, it was a part of the construction industry. But some clever marketing has seen it become its own entity. The TV adds and the glossy magazines are all telling us we need to have such & such features in our kitchen/ bathrooms and because Joe Bloggs down the road has it so you need it too. I see this on a daily basis where people will spend $60 000+ on a kitchen but wont spend $1500 on a water tank unless they get a rebate from the govt. (sad but true) Get the people with extra disposable income to start requesting renewable technologies in their houses. This starts to drive the industry and investment/ research which then starts to make the technology cheaper and more people can afford it and so on. So my point is change the way the environment is marketed (make it cool and hip, not a moral crusade) and perhaps couple it with some tax breaks for those who do fit it to their houses and I think we will have a small part of the solution actually doing something relatively quickly. I hope this makes sense. Cheers.

User Naturalmiztic replied:

I agree, especially given the home renovation spending is so huge it makes sense to market more appropriately in order to channel this spending on more eco friendly products across all areas of home renovations. It seems the major aim of meeting baseload power needs is through centralised energy sources, but why not expand the diversity of energy sources and individualise, it’s totally in line with individualistic, independent, capitalist ecomony of Western society. It’s about the change in mind set about where people get their energy, and its inline with the current privatisation of the energy market. But its all about the marketing and advertising the rebates.

People could even make money from it, if they reduce their own power usage, and put power on the grid. That’s huge incentive.

Given that some home owners do home renovations to make their homes more comfortable for themselves to live in, most do it to improve their property values. So the market supply and demand can help with moving the trend and demand for more eco friendly housing to be worth more. Some real estate adverts are starting to show the energy ratings of properties. But consumers need to start asking and prefering eco friendly properties as well.

The technology and infrastructure is already there it’s just a matter of marketing, and consumers need to make their choices and preferences clear.

There’s little in mainstream renovation programs/marketing/magazine about the costs, what’s involved with installation etc.. It’s something you’d find in alternative or its a little special interest area one off within mainstream.

It’s sort of ironic though because when it comes to transport, there needs to be a shift in the opposite direction…from people using private modes to increasing uptake of shared modes and public transport. I think there’s little progress in increasing incentives and access to good public transport and reducing reliance on cars, eg grocery shops not delivering goods and groceries.

Enjoy!

Source: ABC