A Dell-Inspired Idea for Ecommerce Marketing

A very, very long time ago, Dmitri Eroshenko (now CEO of ClickLab) and I added something called the "Guaranteed Web Host Program" to ISPcheck, our web hosting directory. Around the same time, our arch-competitor Jonathan Caputo (now of DevShed) used his Ultimate Web Host List as a launchpad for Web Host Guild. And the folks at TopHosts started VeriHost.

All three projects were intended to help participating web hosts distinguish themselves from competitors by setting industry standards they'd agree to comply with. All three fizzled, because none of us were able to come up with differentiators that made good enough public-relations fodder. You need something that's easy to adopt from web hosts' perspective - and yet creates black and white, us versus them drama in the eyes of consumers. "24/7 support" and "superior connectivity" are important and all, but when it comes to marketing, these are tired cliches rather than attention grabbers.

8 or 9 years later, thanks to Michael Dell, I think I've finally found the right kind of differentiator. Dell was featured in eWeek, CNet, the New York Times (twice!) and Business 2.0 yesterday for his "Plant a Tree For Me" campaign, which allows customers to donate $2 for each laptop and $6 for each desktop they purchase from Dell. Proceeds will be given to the Conservation Fund and the Carbonfund for planting trees that offset each computer's carbon emission over its estimated 3-year lifespan.

Dell points out that his company will also help customers recycle 275 million pounds of old computers by 2009. Greenpeace, he says, put Dell at the top of its ranking of eco-responsible manufacturers.

By the way, a few weeks ago, California utility PG&E introduced an optional program for interested customers to calculate and offset the amount of carbon dioxide their power supply produces. And in a November 2006 interview, eBay infrastructure manager Heather Peck told SearchDataCenter.com that she expects consumers to start demanding environmental responsibility from eBay and other major data center operators.

So anyway, here's a way for ecommerce hosting providers to look good, perhaps. A few of our industry leaders could get together and implement a voluntary carbon offset program similar to PG&E's and Dell's. Much more importantly, they could jointly maintain an online directory of participating customers. At a time when even my most Republican friends are talking about Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, I'd imagine that a good number of online retailers would be interested in projecting an environmentally conscious image?

Early adopters, I think, would be able to enjoy the black and white, us versus them PR advantage that pre-historic web hosting players failed to create in ancient times. Especially if the weather keeps getting warmer (picture spotted on Paul Kedrosky's blog).