- Elaine Wong

Trade show attendees are about to get hit with less brochures and mailers. Recognizing the benefits of going green, marketers of late have expressed a greater interest in eco-friendly communication materials, according to a new study by Eloqua.

The firm interviewed 150 marketers for its Green Marketing survey and found that 90% of the marketing industry wants to be more environmentally friendly. Sixty percent said they believe that green marketing provides a competitive brand platform, while 60 percent expressed plans to switch from paper-based marketing materials to digital communication protocols in the next 12 to 18 months.

Eloqua recently adopted this approach at its Experience '08 Conference in Las Vegas. The conference featured an online portal where attendees could access the latest panel and speaker information, bypassing paper agendas. Also, instead of disposable name badges, attendees were given electronic devices with built-in digital networking capabilities.

Brian Kardon, Eloqua's CMO, said marketers are embracing the green movement for two reasons: Companies with a green platform tend to appeal to consumers, and the transition also results in increased cost savings. At the same time, marketers should switch their reasons for going green from purely business-driven to more altruistic, he said.

"The intention has to be down in your soul: 'I’m a citizen of the globe, I can do great marketing, but at the same time, not cut down trees and have a low carbon footprint in the long term," Kardon added.

But, as Craig Nelson, president of iCentera, puts it, marketers can strike a balance between the two.

"Going green is certainly good for Mother Nature, but at the same time, it’s good for budgets," Nelson said. "If you can reduce your marketing spend by producing less hard copy materials, then you can take that same money and apply it to more marketing events, and thereby reallocating your resources to better initiatives."