iMedia Connection has an interesting article about open source marketing, which they define as:

With open source software, developers collaborate to make a compelling piece of software. Likewise, an open source marketing plan should develop a compelling marketing campaign that leverages the talents of the marketing community and, increasingly, the product's own customers.

Americans (92%) say that they are worried about dependence on foreign oil

A vast majority of Americans (93%) want government to develop new energy technologies and require the auto industry to make cars and trucks that get better gas mileage

NEW HAVEN, Conn.–A new Yale University research survey reveals that while Americans are deeply divided on many issues, they overwhelmingly believe that the United States is too dependent on imported oil. The survey of 1,000 adults nationwide shows a vast majority of the public also wants to see government action to develop new “clean” energy sources, including solar and wind power as well as hydrogen cars.

Van Jones gave an inspiring speech about the connection between urban environmental entrepreneurs (urban ecopreneurs) and sustainable urban development. He called specifically for alternative energy companies to recruit in urban, economically disadvantages areas like Hunters Point (SF). Interestingly, Krystal Planet and SustainableMarketing.com (we shared a booth) were the only commercial enterprises exhibiting at this event. I didn't mind the lack of competition, but it would have been nice to see other companies making sure that residents of these communities don't get left out of the rising tide of environmental entrepreneurship (ecopreneurship!).

At the risk of never getting any work from these clients, I'm distributing a press release about the worst cases of greenwashing. Ask yourself, how far would you go in your marketing career to promote these companies, would it be possible to promote change from the inside, or just not worth it?

The Green Life today released “Don’t Be Fooled: America’s Ten Worst Greenwashers,” a report designed to help values-based consumers, socially responsible investors and government officials make decisions based on accurate environmental information.

The U.S. organic food and beverage market hit $5.3 billion - an increase of more than 80% from 2001 ($2.4 billion). Lynn Dornblaser, director of GNPD consulting services, said that while organic and natural products were originally seen in the food and beverage indudstry, these claims are appearing more regularly on non-foods, especially in personal care.

New Farmers needed

MADISON, Wis. Consumer demand for organic dairy products has eclipsed industry expectations growth predictions that once seemed overly optimistic are lower than actual growth. Yet, despite the market potential, organic companies are failing to cash in on the demand. There simply is not enough organic milk to keep the shelves fully stocked.

This is really about cause related marketing, but it's nice to see some coverage of Global Warming and how it's being marketed from the Wall Street Journal.

Rising seas. Super storms. Severe droughts. The news about global warming is nearly all bad. The problem seems overwhelming, beyond the reach of ordinary people to solve. It is a challenge for marketers at both environmental groups and ecofriendly companies. The answer, both are finding, is to devise positive campaigns encouraging people to take small but satisfying steps toward a solution.

With the availability of more and more enterprise level open-source applications, small-medium businesses ( SME ) can now afford some of the programs that are improving processes and efficiency in larger organizations. Programs include functions like customer support, business development, sales management, and lead management (SugarSales and XRMS CRM ),  Project Management (dotProject and Basecamp), and Accounting and ERP (webERP), News (any RSS aggregator), Calendaring (iCal standard) and of course, email (too many options to list).

The potential is now there to combine data from these programs to create an integrated view of marketing activities and performance on one web page.