How do we change the culture around solar-designed housing ?
I am obsessed with passive solar designed houses I see it as an important part of dealing with climate change But the building industry is very reluctant to change. So it is still very much of a niche product even though it is a vastly better product than regular housing.
In the last hundred years, there have been a number of marketing campaigns that changed the culture. Pepsodent normalizing toothbrushing, the DeBeers diamond engagement ring. The Harvard alcohol project's designated driver campaign. Just today I learned the sliced bread was also a marketing campaign.
So marketing geniuses, how would you set about to change the way that Australians see houses so that consumers begin to demand houses that are comfortable throughout the year without additional heating and cooling.
I think it comes down to the hip-pocket nerve. All you need to get is a few people bragging about how much money they're saving using solar compared to grid electricity. A simple ad campaign that opens with a family on holiday for the fifth time that year. Some wait staff grumbling that they're "sun worshippers" - they chase good sunny weather thanks to solar energy savings. The environmental impact is not so big a deal in this country, since grid electricity is so expensive.
Unlike the United States, which uses "virtue-based" advertising for its hybrid cars, etc., Australia tends to use "hip-pocket" advertising - you can save X amount of money (a tangible benefit) not "you're an eco warrior for using Y product" (a virtue-based benefit.) We can all agree that electricity prices in Australia are astronomical compared to the rest of the world. Anything that can reduce that price (and improve the value of one's home at the same time) will be welcomed - it's just a matter of pitching that to the consumer. There's a lot of dodgy sales tactics and negativity around cheap and nasty solar panels etc. coming from China, which must also be overcome.
@Andrew Snell and @Frederique Bros , how do you change culture at scale? How does branding look at this?! What are some branding analysis or techniques that could apply?
Perhaps this is as much a Leadership question as it is a Marketing one. @Dr Louise Metcalf and @Adam Bean , what leaders come to mind when you think of transforming industries and culture like this?
Eloah Paes Ramalho, Community Manager at SavvySME
A family on holiday for the fifth time that year! That's a great catch! @Tom Valcanis , will you elaborate more on what you mean by the environmental impact is not so big a deal in Australia? You mentioned expensive grid electricity. Would love to understand your thoughts and arguments.