Paul Anderson, Charles Doerrie, Ryan Langsdorf and Mike Schatz just like to think of themselves as “four dudes.”
True, they are all young recent or soon-to-be college graduates with little business experience and no awards more prestigious than bar trivia contests, but it’s still possible that they’re just being modest. For a few hours each day, these four dudes get together to brainstorm – because they’re part of a think tank.
Think tanks are typically stocked with experts, but this one is just the opposite. It was launched last month by MarketShift Strategies, a Portland strategic communication firm that works with companies in sustainable industries.
“None of us are professionals,” Anderson said. “No pun intended, we’re all pretty green. We have less experience, so we’re not locked into conventional thinking.”
Sustainability, a concept referring to using resources without depleting or damaging them, is viewed by many as more of a trend than a lasting concept. MSS strives to market “green” clients through things like word of mouth, grassroots education and the Internet, rather than a more conventional mass media approach.
“A lot of young people have a greater pulse point on technology,” said MSS Principal Stephanie Swanson on the idea behind the think tank. “We wanted to tap into that creativity.”
Swanson and her partner Ruby Gates placed advertisements, screened applicants and decided on the four dudes.
“Our purpose here is to think outside the box and to think of new ways to reach the consumer,” said Anderson, who has a journalism degree from the University. One method of communication Anderson mentioned is “social channels,” using Jonathan Coulton as an example.
Coulton is a folk rock musician from Brooklyn, N.Y., who uses MySpace.com, the wildly popular networking Web site, to communicate with his fans and find new ones. Despite not being signed to a record label, his songs have managed to get more than 500,000 downloads through his Web site.
In addition to thinking up cutting-edge methods of communication, the think tank assembles to discuss, research and critique ideas. They then log on to “Off the Grid,” where they take turns blogging about it.
In the blog’s inaugural entry, Schatz, who is currently studying advertising management at Portland State University, compared Coulton to sustainable brands, referring to them both as “underdogs” in music and business, respectively.
“We look at ways to market products and look at ways that sustainability can create a foothold in the economy,” said Langsdorf, who has a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the University.
With that in mind, what the think tank has most recently discussed, both in person and in the blog, is the rainwater catchment system.
The dudes have been pondering ways to hypothetically introduce this product, a fictitious method of recycling water. High-end and likely to be quite pricey, the group said it should be marketed to households with net worth of greater than $200 million. They decided on members of the baby boomer generation in Southern California’s wealthiest counties.
Anderson said potential customers could be lured in by stressing the fact that the irrigation would allow for much greener lawns and the ability to grow exotic plants that don’t normally grow in the region.
“There could also be a demonstration at a public interface, like a golf course or a country club,” he said. “The targeted people would meet and get the conversation started.”
Other ideas the think tank has discussed include exposing corporate higher-ups to green technology, hoping that it trickles down to the masses, and turning sports teams on to alternative energy.
“A good way to get word out about something is to go for something people get excited about and sports is right up there,” said Langsdorf, who cited the Colorado Rapids, a soccer team, as the inspiration for that idea.
Replacing traditional fuel sources with solar power and reducing waste, the Rapids are the world’s first carbon-neutral soccer team. Whenever the team travels to games, practices or tournaments, it offsets its emissions by paying an organization to plant trees, making up for the greenhouses gases emitted by the cars or airplanes.
For the rest of the summer, the think tank will continue to get together and play with ideas, an experience valued by all four thinkers.
“It’s been really enriching,” Langsdorf said. “I’ve always been interested in sustainability, so I’m glad to now have a working knowledge of it. It’s been an amazing opportunity to learn about all of the innovations and see what things are going on.”