NEWS

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 10, 2009) – Merrick Towle Communications, one of the largest advertising agencies in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. region, has launched an innovative LEED marketing and consulting practice to provide strategic green marketing counsel and assist clients in navigating through the LEED approval process, according to Harry Merrick IV, chief executive officer and partner of the firm.

According to U.S. Green Building Council, developers of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, the LEED green building rating system provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

“This new MTC practice area formalizes the guidance, counsel and comprehensive strategic communications planning and execution that we have been providing our clients in the area of green marketing for some time,” Merrick explained. “It also helps our clients gain access to the full complement of expertise the agency has in this critical and also increasingly complex area of marketing.”

Specifically, MTC clients are able to utilize the firm’s depth of practical knowledge of LEED marketing guidelines as well its experience in successfully helping organizations move through the extensive LEED certification process.

Chicago-based Jupiter Communities, LLC, is among MTC clients working closely with the agency on a green marketing campaign. The company’s 215 West is expected to be among the first LEED certified apartment buildings in Chicago as well as the first new apartment building to be built in Chicago’s Loop in 15 years.

When launched in the fall, the 215 West marketing campaign will feature a variety of ways that it is working with its residents to be more eco-conscious including:

• The interactive area map showing residents ways to reduce their carbon footprint by taking advantage of the retail and public transportation at their doorstep.
• User and blog generated content featuring green living tips will be available on the Web site via Twitter and RSS feeds.
• The Web site content will be available in a mobile PDA format, eliminating the need to print valuable information.
• Eliminating the need to utilize printed floor plan inserts, new renters will be able to access floor plans online, arrange their furniture online using the “furniture arranger floor plans,” and then e-mail the plans to their movers.
• The 215 West Web site will also showcase the key green attributes of the building such as its green roof and extensive use of recycled building materials.

MTC is also providing its green marketing services and expertise to Gables 12 Twenty One in Rosslyn, Va., which is in the process of seeking LEED certification. An important element of its marketing campaign is a collateral package of post-consumer recycled content paper and vegetable-oil based inks that includes information about its ongoing commitment to green living as well as highlighting eco-friendly aspects of the community such as its use of green building materials and the easy walkability to and from various points of interest.

The agency is also guiding its clients to select promotional gifts that are themselves more responsible towards the environment such as miniature container gardens or reusable grocery bags and that also communicate a “green” message to their target audiences. Additionally, MTC clients are using smaller-size collateral pieces as a strategy to both minimize waste while increasing efficiencies, such as production costs.

Other clients currently receiving counsel from MTC on eco-friendly marketing practices include Verde Shadow Brook in Austin, Texas; Element 12420, Rockville, Md.; Belmont Station, Los Angeles; Parc Rosslyn, Rosslyn, Va.; as well as Southland Industries and Pepco Energy Services. The green marketing services for these clients range from using vegetable oil-based inks for printed materials on recycled papers to selecting vendors who purchase energy credits to offset carbon emissions.