Green Energy News | March 21, 1999

March 21, 1999 – Vol.3 No.51

ENERGIES... week of March 21, 1999

SELLING THE WORLD. Of all the things America does, the thing it does best is marketing. As those in the corporate world know, marketing is much more than advertising. Marketing is all the combined actions and events initiated by a company to bring a product to market, convince people to buy and then deliver it on time.

To the consumer sometimes marketing is obvious, like catchy advertising or good salesmanship. Sometimes it’s inconspicuous. For example, in the automotive industry corporations spend big dollars determining which paint colors consumers prefer. A pretty paint job is marketing and can sell many cars.

Step in Lee Iacocca - perhaps the grand master of automotive marketing. At Ford he takes a humdrum economy car, the Falcon, gives it a flashy body and a spirited name and sells millions of Mustangs. At Chrysler he takes another economy car platform, the K-car (itself a life-saver for Chrysler), puts a square box on top and invents the Mini-Van.

Now he’s back. Having seen the light and bored with retirement he wants the world to buy clean, efficient electric vehicles. His first effort from EV Global Motors is the E-Bike introduced to the public this week.

At a retail price of $995 it is one of the most expensive electric bikes on the market. Performance seems no better than other e-bikes. But is it attractive? Yes. Is it full of features? Yes. Is it more a product of good marketing than engineering? Probably so. Will Lee be successful again? Could be.

If selling the world clean and efficient transportation is nothing more than savvy marketing, so be it.

RENEWABLE POWER SALES. Pulling ahead in marketing renewable power under deregulation appears to be Green Mountain Energy. More than having a company name appealing to environmentally conscious consumers, the company appears dedicated to its mission.

On the celebration of the first year of power deregulation in California, Green Mountain has introduced two new electricity blends for California consumers. Wind for the Future 2.0 supports the construction of new wind turbines which will produce 25% of the power for this blend - the rest will come from small hydro, biomass and/or geothermal. The other product, 100% Renewable Power 2.0, promises a slight (5% below California Power Exchange pricing) rate reduction. This blend includes 100% renewable power, 5% of that new.

According to industry and advocacy group claims, of the 100,000 consumers in California who have switched power suppliers under deregulation, more than half have chosen a power blend or all their power from renewable sources. Visit Green Mountain Power at http://www.greenmountain.com