Who Watches Green TV And Why
Kelly Anderson from RealScreen.com, a magazine dedicated to non-fiction TV and film, in other words, documentaries, educational and fact-based programming, etc. gave me a call this week. In the entertainment industry, green is as hot as it is anywhere and yes, it’s getting a lot of coverage.
Kelly asked me if I could discuss using psychographics to segment the green film market. Could I please weigh in on how eco film makers could better understand the various different green consumers?
Since I discuss that exact topic quite a bit on Ecopreneurist, I was happy to comply. You can read my interview here. While I sound a bit less “together” than I usually am ( I was sitting in my car in a parking lot between appointments during the interview), I think I touched on a few points that it’s important for eco-entertainment entrepreneurs, as well as just about anyone working in green business to understand.
There are a number of different green consumers!
If you are a fan of green documentaries and green TV you might, by this time be beginning to feel a bit, well, fatigued by the green messages bombarding you at every turn. As in most industries, entertainment companies need to take the next step in green marketing.
Green is rapidly becoming mainstream, which is why the approach must change.
Yes, there is still a place for programs that appeal to deep green consumers, but there is also an opportunity to attract that, close to 85% of the population that incorporates green into their life when it meets one of their various other needs: to live a healthy life; to save money; to be hip, etc.
Filmmakers with a green message have lots of ways to get that message across, but the first step is to know the audience…to know the audience is quite likely not like you. In an industry that touts being “true to yourself” as the ultimate goal, that can be difficult.
Yes, it’s important to maintain your own personal creative style, but as many successful artists have found, appealing to an audience to which you don’t belong, but with whom you are familiar can be powerful and well, lucrative.
Need an example? Just think about the many, many children’s films, books and TV shows developed by well know stars of R rated films who, once they become parents, happily and successfully create children’s fare.
So, my advice to eco entertainment entrepreneurs is: Get to know the various different green consumers. You probably have one of them in your life already, be it mom or son or uncle. This is the market ripe for green entertainment.
Photo Credit: Spoon at Flicker Under Creative Commons License
