Small Business Summit Center

E.B. Moss, Moss Appeal

E.B. Moss is Principal of Moss Appeal/Moss Appeal Green in NYC. See her guest blog article on Using Social Media to Market Social Responsibility.

AB: Can green marketing retain its effectiveness into 2008, as some people get fatigued with environmental issues?

EBM: When I worked in radio, the station played in the background all day long and the staff would complain about ads that they were hearing over and over again — that car ad again…that department store ad again… We had to remember that just about when we tired of hearing the ad is about when the it would be sinking in to the average listener. And THAT was when it would be time to freshen the campaign or take the message to the next level.

For those of us who are more in tune with green messaging it is easy to feel "eco-centric" and believe the word is out and is being heard. We are likely the ones who have been consuming the media where that message is most prevalent — from The NY Times to Sundance Channel, Treehugger to An Inconvenient Truth. But I would probably rephrase the question from how green marketing can "retain its effectiveness…" to "how can green marketing sink in to a wider audience in 2008?" Again, the key is to freshen the campaign and take the message to the next level.

When the environment is studied as a matter of course in all elementary schools, instead of just discussed on Arbor Day; when more employers require their staffs to recycle or save energy, instead of rewarding it as a novelty; when we all understand that oranges are not native to NY (yet!) and consider the carbon it takes to ship them in…then the message may have sunk in. However, as marketers we can certainly work to make the messaging more entertaining and engaging, and effective. One place where the message can be taken to the level will be in promoting standards of excellence in environmentalism — from LEED certified buildings to Cradle to Cradle(tm). As those and other seals gain more awareness and clout consumers will look more to support certified companies.

AB: Running a small business for the first time means lots of new challenges. What part of entrepreneurship have you worked hardest on?

EBM: As a friend of mine once said, "you can be the best gadget builder around. But you can only build so many gadgets in an hour all by yourself." Learning how to expand, how to delegate and trust others is the hardest part. That, and number crunching!

AB: What would you do if you weren't in business for yourself?

EBM: I've been fortunate to have had many employment incarnations…from being the first female car-hop at a resort in the Catskills, to working as a singing waitress in San Francisco, to marketing chefs as a Vice President at Food Network. I've been happy working for others so to earn a living I'd probably look to return to a marketing at a media company. To earn more fun than dollars I'd go back to doing voiceover work. I've always said I'd drop it all if I could land another gig on a cartoon! (I haven't been able to resist keeping my demo reel on my marketing web site!)

Business Bio

E.B. Moss is a promotion marketing expert with 15 years of experience developing brand-driven promotions, sweepstakes and added value opportunities primarily in the cable television and radio industry. She created Moss Appeal™ — a ‘virtual agency’ based on a consortium of hand-picked experts — in 2001 to continue her specialization in marketing services and promotions. Moss Appeal Green™ was established in 2006 to focus on promoting companies’ pro-social and environmental contributions.Moss Appeal has developed integrated marketing and promotions such as B:B campaigns for TV Guide and TV One, affiliate marketing collateral and sweepstakes for USA, AMC, and YES Networks, and social media marketing for CatalystWeb. Additional clients include: Fox Cable Networks, Teen Vogue, The Weinstein Company, HealthiNation, TrackPack Coolers, and others. Moss Appeal Green has advised on green content for Cox Enterprises, and developed marketing elements for Delta Energy and NYC’s Charter School for the Urban Environment.

Moss launched the sales marketing departments at Lifetime Television, NCC and Food Network prior to creating Moss Appeal, and began her career as a journalist and voice talent.