So what does this mean for marketers? According to the Wall Street Journal, many corporate marketers with relatively large carbon footprints are making the most of the opportunity. Anheuser-Busch is launching a series of four new TV ads as well as a print campaign. One of the print ads features the headline: “We recycle five cans for every four we produce.” Yet “green” marketing is not limited to the time surrounding Earth Day. According to the article, Pepsi started a new campaign in February called “Have we met before?” The campaign will encourage people to recycle by using such strategies as placing recycling facts on millions of Pepsi Cola cans beginning in May.

Marketers with larger budgets now have the luxury of allocating a portion of their spend to green initiatives year-round. It’s relatively easy for companies like Starbuck’s to remind people of their environmental friendliness by simply printing the message on a coffee sleeve. But how do companies with smaller budgets speak to an issue that their customers are likely concerned about? Public relations remains a good way to tell a positive, local story about such simple community involvement as sponsoring a neighborhood clean up. Marketers should remember that their web sites are excellent vehicles to tell the green story as well.