PRIME Authentic Messaging

(as with my other blog posts, this was originally written at: From The Rooftops, a resource I'd encourage everyone to check out)

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So I’ve been chatting with a lot of organizations and individuals lately about ways to articulate a lively and meaningful sustainable brand presence on an increasingly cluttered web. I see many brands using Twitter but cringe when I see them merely using it as a channel for announcing their latest press release. That cringe becomes a grimace when the corporate blathering is concerned with unreal sustainability claims.

I started thinking about the instances when sustainability claims ring hollow and the times when they really resonate with people. I was thinking about some of the brands who do a good job of using the social web for talking about sustainability issues and found a few commonalities. From these I came up with a short list of qualities that
seem to be vital for such authenticity and resonance:

Sustainability claims:

• Are conveyed in a manner that demonstrates that the company has really internalized the matter (they haven’t merely added a sustainability intern to the PR department) [Participation]
• Are based upon measurable, tangible and verifiable targets or numbers [Rigor]
• Are in line with an evident and earnest interest in progressing toward a more sustainable system [Intentionality]
• Use, whenever possible or necessary, third-party partners for support and advancement of their goals [Mutuality]
• Are accompanied with an invitation to talk more about the company’s “walking of their sustainable talk” [Exchange]

Once I had these qualities drawn up, it was only a short hop and a conceptual skip until I’d created something that the business world really needs more of: catchy acronyms!

Participation, Rigor, Intentionality, Mutuality, Exchange: PRIME

Some of my favorite non-greenwashy companies (I used to work in the outdoors industry, so some of the first ones to come to mind are: Timberland, Keen, GoLite, Nau) exemplify all of these things. What I find myself wondering now is if it’s useful to others to think about things in terms of the PRIME construct.

These are some rough preliminary thoughts, but I’m curious to get your input—Is this a useful mechanism for describing such important characteristics? Do these qualities fit the bill? Are some missing? Does
the business world need another buzzword acronym (a buzzronym?) in the first place? -Caleb