Clearly, I’ve been living in a cave…or working too many late nights. Has anyone seen the NBC/Universal (NBCU) “Green Is Universal” campaign? Apparently these efforts started in fall of 2007, with an entire “Green Week” dedicated to green-themed programming—with NBC’s full complement of channels in participation. Apparently, Sami and Lucas onDays of Our Lives even had a green-themed wedding. Where have I been?! 

Embarrassingly, I must admit that I first tuned in during the week of Earth Day ’09. Or, perhaps they increased their efforts to the point where it finally reached me (not a big Days fan). In any case, like little spring flowers, “Green Is Universal” ads started popping up all over…on the web, during NBC/Universal programming. Program sponsors tagged their spots with a “Green Is Universal” message. Even the Miss USA contestants got involved, sharing green testimonials. 

I thought, “Well, that’s interesting. NBC/Universal doesn’t have to do this—dedicate part of their programming (and their incredible reach) to raising green awareness. I haven’t seen any other network families doing this. That’s cool.” So, like any curious human, I Googled “Green Is Universal”…right after I checked the local weather…

That’s when I saw this ad on weather.com. 

The Weather Channel was recently purchased by NBCU. The pairing of Hummer and “Green Is Universal” was an unfortunate oversight. Soon, it was being mocked on Facebook. It was a feeding frenzy for green bloggers. I was ready to write the “Green Is Universal” campaign off as another case of greenwashing. 

And then I Googled it.   

It turns out that NBCU isn’t simply talking about green; they’re actually starting to walk it. With an organization this large, I imagine it will be fairly slow going. But hopefully baby steps will lead to bigger ones. Employees volunteered to hold several Earth Week projects in ten different cities. They’ve already made changes internally—using more recycled paper and replacing part of their fleet of cars with hybrids. The NBC Universal Foundation has even partnered with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to fund a “Green Your School” contest, offering the winning high school a $5,000 prize. 

All very cool ideas—but who knows about it? I didn’t. And I work in advertising. I specialize in green. It took me a couple hours of digging around online to learn most of this—and it was simply to satisfy my curiosity about the “Green Is Universal” TV tags. I’ll bet the average viewer clicked right past that. And even worse than dismissing it…they may have assumed it was greenwashing. Flashy tags on the ends of commercials during the week of Earth Day—and nothing more. 

Lesson: Talking about the honest, green efforts your organization is making internally and making that information readily available will strengthen your external green communications efforts and will give you green street cred. Personally, I was more inspired by what I learned about their internal efforts than by the The More You Know Jimmy Fallon PSA—and I Iike Jimmy Fallon.

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According to the site ecolabelling.org there are more than 300 labels a company can apply in order to certify its products or services “green”. Wow. As you read more from me, you’ll get an understanding of my desire to have a more universal labeling approach, so, as you may have guessed, this issue is a big issue for me.

Collectively, we have millions of products and/or services we ask our end customers to buy. We assure them the highest quality standards have been adhered to; we even strive for our industry’s seal(s) of approval.

But wait a minute, just when everything seemed in its rightful place, along comes green. What are we to do with the seemingly endless amount of green labels being created every day? What do they even mean, and how do you figure out which is the best one for you? For your customer? Seems there could be as many questions as there are labels.

Any way, while others debate who should determine the aforementioned “umbrella green” label, you should keep yourself ahead of things. Put your best green, carbon-reducing-foot forward and communicate your stance on the environment- assuming you have one, and you should have one by now. That way, it won’t matter the definition of green or the end result of the label issue, you will have your product/service offering up to snuff. And oh, by the way, you will also be keeping your bottom line in check. Not a bad result of greening up your business.

We have links to our thoughts on the best of the current labels in our “sites we love” section. Questions on what you should do to prepare your green message, or how to strive for your industry’s label? Let us know, it’s one of the reasons we’re here.

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According to Merriam-Webster Online, a hybrid can be a variety of things, including “a person whose background is a blend of two diverse cultures or traditions,” or “something (…a vehicle…) that has two different types of components performing essentially the same function.”

“hybrid.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 24 February 2009
<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hybrid>

Based on that definition, what is HY-brid? 

It’s Hoffman York’s (HY) more than 75 years of traditional advertising experience blended with its growing, in-house expertise in green marketing and messaging. 

What does this mean for our clients? 

HY offers an extensive range of services, from public relations to media placement to research, in addition to a team of people—HY-brid—who understand the delicate and evolving nature of green messaging. 

What does this mean for Hoffman York? 

It’s a really exciting time. For years, we’ve been helping clients promote their environmental efforts. However, what we recently realized is that green isn’t a standard knowledge set at many other agencies. 

Ah-ha moment: Our green expertise is a unique strength. 

Now known as HY-brid, this green expertise is the foundation for a new category of services being offered to clients. Since we began communicating this expertise, the level of interest has been eye opening. Suddenly, our knowledge of green is a competitive advantage. 

Basically, we’ve done for our agency what we’re promising to help prospective clients do: Recognize the ways your organization is already green. Learn how to be greener. Communicate your honest, green efforts/strengths to internal and external audiences. Turn your environmental awareness into a competitive advantage. 

I guess you could say Hoffman York (HY) was the first, full-fledged HY-brid client.

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