????而另一方面，該公司的廣告則只介紹其生產的波旁威士忌酒。薩繆爾斯說：“一直以來，我們每天都是這樣生活和經營的。”

????粘土瓷磚公司（Fireclay Tile）使用再生材料手工制作瓷磚，該公司同樣也沒有大肆宣傳公司的環保誠意。

?????該公司聯合創始人埃里克?埃德爾森稱：“我們大多數的環保舉措對于消費者來說并沒什么意義。我們采用的是訂單式經營模式，大多數消費者看重的是外觀、價格和購買時機的選擇。”

????他認為，公司使用再生玻璃就像服裝制造商使用再生塑料生產絨布一樣：無論材料來源是什么，它都是出色的產品。

????面對采購的話題，消費者或許會雙眼呆滯無神，毫無興趣；但埃德爾森發現，公司的綠色環保舉措在另一個方面很有幫助：招聘。

????“它是招聘的重要組成部分，”他說。“我們曾聘請了一位營銷經理，面試的時候，她第一句話就是，‘我是個環境保護主義者。’”

????十年來，高端設計材料制造商Kirei公司的創始人約翰?斯坦因一直在探索如何將自己的綠色環保材料推銷給不同的消費人群。“這就像走鋼絲，”他說。“如果鎖定的是綠色環保人群這個市場，那么在公司的名字里加上‘生態’或‘綠色’可能有好處，但它也可能將更廣闊的主流市場擋在門外。”

????Kirei公司的產品——高端設計和建筑的材料，都是可持續的，且無毒無害。但是一些像賭場這樣的客戶只想要“最好的材料”，而不是最環保的材料；這樣的客戶走進門時，斯特恩知道該怎么說，他會向客戶介紹公司產品的創新性。

????但他表示，即便是面對于那些愿意為最環保的產品多付錢的客戶，也要斟酌自己的信息。綠色認證行業幾乎沒有監管，因此，即便是像乙烯基壁板這樣非常不環保的產品，也能獲得綠色認證。

????斯特恩稱，成功在于保持信息的靈活性，同時在推銷之前研究消費者。質量好的產品有許多賣點，成功的企業知道該突出哪些賣點，而絕對不會同時兜售所有賣點。

????“市場是一個餅圖，”斯特恩說。“需要考慮清楚，多大比例的市場會將綠色環保作為一項重要的購買決策因素。如果只有20%，那么強調綠色環保就無異于將另外那80%的市場拒之門外。”

????譯者：qian

????Maker's advertising, on the other hand, features only information about its bourbon. "It's always been the way we've lived and operated on a daily basis," Samuels says.

????Fireclay Tile, which builds hand-made ceramic tile using recycled material, also doesn't boast his company's green bona fides.

????"Most of our environmental initiatives are fairly meaningless to our customers," says co-founder Eric Edelson. "Most of them are guided by look, price, and timing, since we are made-to-order."

????He compares the company's use of recycled glass to clothing makers' use of recycled plastic for fleece: It's a superior product regardless of where the materials come from.

????Customers' eyes may glaze over during conversations about sourcing, but Edelson has found one place where the company's green initiatives help: in its attempts to hire people.

????"It's a key component of recruiting," he says. "We hired a marketing manager, and her first line during her interview was, 'My license plate says "tree hugger.'"

????John Stein, the founder of Kirei, a high-end design materials manufacturer, has been exploring how to market his green materials to different constituents for a decade. "It's a tightrope," he says. "Naming your company 'eco' or 'green' could be good if you are going after the green market, but it could be a turn-off to the wider mainstream market."

????Kirei's products, materials for top-of-the-line design and architecture, are all sustainable and non-toxic, but when a client like a casino, which cares only about having the "most fabulous materials" and not the most green, walks in the door, Stein knows which story to tell, the one about how innovative the products are.

????But he needs to hone his message even for those who are willing to pay more for the most environmentally friendly products, he says. There is little regulation in the green certification industry, so even something as environmentally unfriendly as vinyl siding can be certified as green.

????Success, he says, is found in keeping the message nimble and researching customers before pitching to them. Quality products have numerous aspects that sell, and a successful company will know which ones to brag about while never touting all of them at once.

????"The market is a pie chart," Stein says. "You need to think about what percentage of the marketplace considers green as a major decision. If it's only 20%, you're shutting yourself off as not accessible to 80% of the market."