Home > Partner Resources > Manufacturers > Develop an ENERGY STAR Strategy

To help retailers fully maximize their position in the ENERGY STAR market, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide representing how our most successful partners have integrated ENERGY STAR into their business plans.

Retailers

  1. Identify your objectives for energy efficiency (i.e., sales, corporate stewardship, customer loyalty, etc.)
  2. Determine how to integrate ENERGY STAR into your current tactics to best meet the identified objectives. The convenience of developing an ENERGY STAR marketing strategy is that you don’t necessarily have to create new tactics exclusive to ENERGY STAR, but rather, incorporate energy-saving education into your current tactics. We suggest incorporating ENERGY STAR into all aspects of your customer outreach strategy to maximize results:
    • Purchasing — Make sure your buyers understand the value and are looking for ENERGY STAR qualified products. Check our qualifying product lists to see what ENERGY STAR qualified products your stores carry.
    • Sales Training — Integrate ENERGY STAR into sales associate training with the help of training resources so that ENERGY STAR is effectively leveraged in the in-store sales process.
    • Advertising/Marketing — Integrate ENERGY STAR into your advertising and marketing efforts — customer brochures, circulars, print and broadcast advertising, direct mail, bag stuffers, public announcements, etc. This will help educate customers about the energy-saving benefits of your products.
    • Internet — Use the Internet to feature ENERGY STAR labeled products online and share your commitment to helping customers save energy and money. ENERGY STAR has Web support materials to help you feature your qualified products on line.
    • In-Store Signage — Use signage to help consumers identify ENERGY STAR qualified products in store and to promote energy savings. Once you’ve ensured proper labeling from your qualified product vendors, you can enhance their labeling with messages of your own — especially for cross-marketing purposes.

    • Public Relations — Ensure that your energy-saving promotions get recognized. Energy savings can offer a strong hook for press — especially during the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter. Your success story can be about energy-savings opportunities and recommendations, featuring a representative from your company as an expert. This exposure will get your name in the press without appearing like an advertisement. EPA will offer quotes to increase your news credibility.

      Identifying ways to weave ENERGY STAR into your current activities will allow you to fully leverage ENERGY STAR for the greatest benefits and the least resources. You’ll also find that designing a comprehensive ENERGY STAR strategy will put you in a strong position for our Partner of the Year awards — so don’t forget to include your strategy in your application.

  3. Design a method for evaluating the effectiveness of integrating ENERGY STAR through quantitative measures, such as sales, or qualitative measures, such as positive public relations. ENERGY STAR partnership agreements encourage tracking of sales data to help EPA measure market penetration. This quantitative data can also be used as an evaluative measure. Tracking media coverage and/or impressions can also demonstrate the success of your ENERGY STAR efforts. Formally evaluating your ENERGY STAR successes will help you justify your continued investment of ENERGY STAR to upper management and may even prove to be an argument for expanding ENERGY STAR efforts.
  4. Coordinate with other partners on promotions for ENERGY STAR products for a greater impact in the marketplace.