Comparing Solar Water Heater Essay Policies.

Discuss about the Comparing Solar Water Heater Popularization Policies.

Brand priority audience

Green marketing is the process that involves selling services and/or goods that are environmental friendly, that is; they cause very little or no environmental pollution. (Ottman, 2017). This implies that the product or services are either produced in an environmental friendly way or are environmental friendly. Sustainable building involves considering a buildings entire life cycle that is; from planning stage to designing, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and eventually its demolition. (Madurwar, Ralegaonkar & Mandavgane, 2013).This is done by via utilizing materials that are recycled and also bio-degradable materials. Given the high rate of pollution, many companies have turned to using environmental friendly ways for production and also producing green products. Buildings consume some 30% of the world's resources, 10% of water and around 40% of the world's energy. In this case scenario, the country of study is Australia and the company to be analyzed is BHI Architecture and Urban Design. In Australia, there is Green Building Council whose sole authority is to accelerate and promote sustainable building for a better environment that is healthy, productive, livable, and sustainable. Thus a large number of companies in Australia have adopted green construction. The company is a construction one and has adopted sustainable architecture in a bid to be environmental friendly.  The report will seek to analyze how BHI Architecture and Urban Design practice its green marketing. Furthermore, the Australian constitution under The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ( EPBC Act) seeks to promote construction that is environment friendly. (Miller, et al, 2015).

Brand priority audience is a customer that a company primarily targets to win them as their client. The target audience for BHI Architecture and Urban Design practice in green marketing is the private sector and the government. Australia population is expanding randomly especially in the urban areas. This has created a business opportunity for the private investors to construct more housing facilities for profit. Also, the government has also come into play to try and provide affordable housing to it citizens. BHI Architecture and Urban Design have embraced this opportunity to act as a contractor on behalf of the clients (private sector and government). (Haslam McKenzie & Rowley, 2013).

As previously mentioned, there is an expansion of the urban population due to rural urban migration in search of jobs by Australian population. Thus, the geographical location of the brand’s target audience is the urban setting.

The Australia government like any other government has a mandate of ensuring a sustainable environment for its citizens. Thus it has a positive attitude towards sustainable construction and hence that’s the reason why BHI Architecture and Urban Design are targeting them for construction contracts. Also, sustainable construction is much cheaper both financially from an environment point of view in the long-run and has thus both the private sector and government tend to prefer it. Also, the green houses are in demand amongst the Australian population who are rapidly embracing environmental sustainability. (Kibert, 2016).

Brand psychographic profile

Psychographic is the basic overview into the customers’ preferences in a bid to quickly identify potential customers. For brand psychographic profile, BHI Architecture and Urban Design will have to carry out a psychographic segregation aimed at dividing the market into consumer preference thus identifying a target group which prefers green construction. BHI Architecture and Urban Design then use this information to create and implement highly targeted marketing campaigns. (Alexandris, 2013).

Given the urge for transformation into a sustainable environment and also given lower cost of production associated with green construction, the government and private sector are leaning towards it. Also, the Australian government gives rebates and incentives to investors who invest in sustainable environment. This is a major point of attraction to the private invests in a bid to get the incentives and rebates. (Li, Rubin & Onyina, 2013).

Despite the investment in sustainability being attractive, there are various barriers facing the implementation of sustainable consumption and are as follows:

1. Green construction involves use of renewable energy like use of solar and wind energy. The cost associated with initial capital for setting up renewable energy is quite expensive. However, after the initial capital, only a small cost is incurred as the recurrent costs in terms of monthly billing which accrue unlike the use of electricity (HEP or nuclear). This may be quite a turn off for companies with a minimal initial capital outlay.(Hess, 2013).
2. Also, there is the issue of split incentive. That is, for the contractor (BHI Architecture and Urban Design), it quite expensive to construct but the cost of maintenance for the client is quite lower by about 14% compared to traditional buildings. This may be quite a put off for the clients in considering green construction. (Wong & Zhou, 2015).

The green marketing strategy is how BHI Architecture and Urban Design will undertake their marketing in a bid to penetrate the market and win over potential customers. (Ko, Hwang & Kim, 2013). For this to be successful, the company will have to come up with a well-organized marketing plan that will ensure the right market mix that ensure maximization of profit while also ensuring adherence to the principles of green environment. The green marketing plan will incorporate the objectives of the company, their corporate goals, strategies, and tactics. For marketing, BHI Architecture and Urban Design will use the 4p’s of marketing. The 4p’s of marketing are as follows; price, product, place and promotion. (Tapp & Spotswood, 2013).

This is the monetary value that a consumer anticipates to pay for a product or a service. (Nagle & Müller, 2017). If the price is higher or lower than expected, then it will not sell. Customers usually attach a price to a product with regards to the value they place on the product.

In this particular case scenario, BHI Architecture and Urban Design will use the pricing as the green marketing strategy to promote sales and gain new customers. Generally, the pricing of green construction is a bit more expensive than that of unsustainable construction. However, as mentioned earlier, the Australian government is giving incentives to green manufacturers. This will mean that cost of production will be relatively lower compared with the environmental benefits accompanying it compared to unsustainable construction and the environmental costs accompanying it. Also, the initial cost of installing green energy in the building will be a bit costly in the short-term but a bargain in the long-term. This is because the energy is renewable and there will be no recurrent monthly billing involved. This will be a major selling point for BHI Architecture and Urban Design. (Borin, Lindsey-Mullikin, & Krishnan, 2013).

Green Marketing strategy critique and analysis

This is the communication tool that a company uses to acknowledge their presence in the market and also to market their product or service. (Andrews & Shimp, 2017).There are various ways of marketing a product by show casing its benefits. The most commonly used ways are branding and advertising.

1. Branding – this is the perception of a certain product in a customers’ mind. In this case, given the product is sustainable construction, the brand image should create a perception of that the product offered by BHI Architecture and Urban Design is one that has a positive repercussion to the environment. For example, the brand naming should have a catch phrase such as, “sustainability for a clean and healthy future.”(Aronczyk, 2013).
2. Advertising – this is communication geared towards creating and increasing awareness of an existing product in the market and also encouraging repeat purchasing. This form of usually takes place in the media such as print media like magazines and journals, social media, television and radio. It is very convenient as media is widely used and thus can reach a large number of the target audience. The only downside of advertising is that it is expensive but if the returns match the cost, then it can be quite convenient.(Beckner, 2014).

A product is a good or service marketed with the intention of making a sale by a producer to the consumer. In this case scenario, the product is sustainable construction. When a product is said to be sustainable, it thereby insinuates that the raw materials used, manufacturing of the product and disposability of the product are all eco-friendly thereby reducing the company’s carbon footprint. BHI Architecture and Urban Design has adhered to this and thus can use this as a marketing strategy to sell their product to their target audience that embraces green construction. (Wei, Samiee, & Lee, 2014)

In this case scenario, the place is the distribution channel or the supply chain and the location of the business. For better marketing, the location of BHI Architecture and Urban Design should be structured in such a way that oozes sustainability. For example, they may install solar panels as their source of energy, and also utilize transportation services of companies who embrace green energy in motor vehicles. As for the supply chain, there will a direct link between the company and the target audience. That is, all the target audience has to do is to visit the offices for consultation and purchase of services. (Monczka, et al. 2015).

As for the raw materials which are eco-friendly, the company will contract local companies which support sustainability. Also, for this case, there will be a direct link between the suppliers and BHI Architecture and Urban Design. The supply chain is as follows:

Strategic recommendations:These are the recommendation that the company needs to improve on so as to attract more targeted audience and thereby increasing their profitability. They are as follows:  

To create product awareness among the target audience thereby increasing the sales volume and consequently the profit margin, then promotion is really necessary. However, for cost effectiveness and attaining the acquired goal, BHI Architecture and Urban Design should use the appropriate channel of advertisement and branding.

For advertisement, I would recommend use of billboards and magazines. The target audiences are huge companies in the private sector and the government. Billboards are very easily observable outdoor while magazines and journals are readily available in the target audience offices. For this reason, the adverts will be easily accessible to the target audience. (Sadeh, Nooraie & Hajikarimi, 2013).

As mentioned, the Australian government is currently offering rebates on taxes and incentives for companies operating in green construction. This cut in cost of production should therefore be transferred to the target audience. Given that any business is driven by the urge to make more profits, then BHI Architecture and Urban Design should revise their pricing downwards accordingly to attract the target audience. In connection to the same, the prices should be reviewed in a manner that will also be financially beneficial to BHI Architecture and Urban Design thus revising the prices downwards should be balanced accordingly to suit both parties.

The branding of a product and company represents the self-image of the company. Therefore for branding, it should be done in a manner that exhibits the company as sustainable or eco-friendly. This means that BHI Architecture and Urban Design should rebrand in a manner that creates an image of sustainability to the target audience. This can be done by creating a logo or a motto that exhibits an eco-friendly message. In so doing, the government and other private sector players who support sustainability will want to be associated with BHI Architecture and Urban Design thus improving on sales and the profitability ratio. (Költringer & Dickinger, 2015).

Conclusion

These are the learning reflections that have been gained from the report generated. The carbon emission level world over are increasing and it created an urgency to embrace green energy. Carbon emission from unsustainable energy is considered to the major detriment to achieving sustainability but on reflection of this report, it creates a different insight where sustainability is also hindered by unsustainable construction. Therefore, it is quite evident that eradication of carbon emission from unsustainable energy cannot fully eradicate pollution. Other measures such as green construction should be incorporated to achieve a green environment. Also, from the report, green marketing is quite crucial in creating awareness on green construction. From an Australian point of view, green construction has hit a milestone mainly due government subsidies and rebates and to achieve the same in other countries, the same should also be practiced.

References

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