Green Ad Agencies Carve Out Niche

Advertising companies that specialize in green marketing are becoming more plentiful, but it doesn’t mean they’re landing big clients, The New York Times reports.

“When I started out in 2003 there were maybe five or six green agencies around,” said John Rooks, president of Dwell Creative, a three-person environmental ad agency in Portland, Me. “There’s got to be at least 50 of us now.”

Big companies do not give the small agencies much attention – several small agencies tried to get a piece of General Electric’s Ecomagination campaign, which is handled by BBDO, but they were not even granted interviews.

But smaller companies are happy to give the new agencies a chance. A visceral understanding of environmental issues may be the biggest selling point the new agencies have.

Many small firms face formidable competition in that nonprofits can get a lot of their advertising free through the Ad Council. Even so, many of the larger environmental groups are carving out some of their budgets for the specialists.

With donated space from television stations and newspapers shrinking, specialized agencies might help them more effectively switch to the Internet for their messages.