In a tough economy, green talk seems down, or at least overshadowed for now. But there’s some good news on the green building home front.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that “green homes” in the Seattle area sat on the market half as long as others, and achieved an 11% price premium. 

Ok, it’s Seattle - home to a lot of avid environmentalists… but there’s more. According to Qualified Remodeler (Dec ‘08), 70% of consumers say they’re ‘more or much more inclined’ to invest in a green home, even in a down market. But here’s the clincher.

For most consumers, the green movement isn’t about saving the planet, per se. It’s as much about short term, personal gains as long term, universal side effects.

According to a McGraw-Hill Construction survey, 63% of green home owners said their green puchases were motivated by “lower operating and maintenance costs”, while 50% said their “family’s health” was a significant motivation for going green.

That’s food for thought for all green marketers. Consumers are going green based on how a green product enhances their lives here and now … by improving air quality, removing toxins, controling mold and mildew, saving energy or lowering costs, keeping kids safer and everyone warmer, cooler and healtheir. And most will spend more to maket it happen.

The number of potential homeowners who could afford to buy new and existing homes has reached the highest level in more than four years.

According to the National Association of Home Builders / Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), 56.1% of sold homes in the 3rd quarter (Q3) were affordable to families earning $61,500 (national median income) - up from 40.4% at the peak of the housing boom. Decreasing home values and historically low interest rates are fueling the trend.

Most affordable housing markets in the U.S. were Indianapolis, Indianna and Youngstown, Ohio, where 91% of homes sold in Q3 were affordable based on median income.

Source: Qualified Remodeler, Dec ‘08

They’re everywhere… being talked about on Oprah, DIY network, and they could just become a bright spot for consumer spending in 2009. According to a recent survey by BillMeLater, nearly 11 million American homes already have a ‘man cave’, and men living in those homes spend more than 11 hours every week in their caves.

So what’s a man cave? A place where guys can be guys. Think big screen televisions, comfortable seating, pool or poker tables, gaming consoles, wet bars, mini-refrigerators and sports memorabilia. If there’s a decorating style, it’s male-centric, comfortable and casual.

For consumers thinking about transforming a den, basement or a single room into a place where men can disappear without a trace, the right furniture is needed… large, comfortable recliners and sofas, hearty coffee tables, game tables, bars, TV consoles and more (one coffee table I saw recently had a built in ice box for drinks).

Man caves also make a great promotion for a furniture store… a contest for the best one, a sweepstakes to win one, or a group of products packaged together. And a great idea in time for Super Bowl Sunday!

Of the 8 million or so searches for furniture on the internet every month, nearly 3M of those searches are for ‘bedroom furniture’. The next closest room? Patio furniture at about 2.3M, outdoor furniture at 1.2M, and garden furniture at .9M (that would actually put outdoor furniture ahead of bedroom furniture… but that’s a separte discussion!).

Why the popularity of bedroom searches? I’ve got to think it’s at least partly thanks to the luxury hotel industry. As many more consumers experience awesome hotel rooms (and given current vacancy rates, they’re getting cheaper to experience!), who doesn’t want to duplicate the look and feel of a hotel-style retreat back home?

So you might share my fascination with the new CityCenter hotel in Las Vegas (opening late 2009). According to Hotel Design magazine (Dec ‘08), here are just a few of the guest amentities in each room….

* each room will feature a 42″ LCD HDTV that acts as communication central - allowing guests to connect their laptop and get a big screen monitor, watch TV, plug in videos, game consoles, cameras and MP3 players, and displaying voicemails and more

* night stands will feature a 7″ panel with touch-screen technology that navigates the settings in the room… music, tv, room temperature, wake-up calls, draperies, privacy notification on the door, etc.

Technology is going to continue to find its way into bedrooms, offering great opportunity to re-think what kind of furniture is needed there!

If you’re not convinced that the biggest change in consumer marketing (apart from social media!) is focusing on  target solutions rather than target markets, here’s more evidence.

I recently launched a new blog, what’s new at home to offer consumers new product information and helpful ideas about home. The blog isn’t a month old yet, and although I’m covering topics from color and style to increasing home value and healthier living, here are the top-read posts so far…

1.  Reducing back pain with a higher height dining table.

2. Creating the look of a wall-mounted TV without the cost.

2. Helping consumers get organized.

3.  Relieving back pain with a new mattress.

By finding out what matters most, furniture stores can promote products and messages that speak to consumer solutions, and move beyond just promoting just style or price!

Check out my new blog at www.whatsnewathome.wordpress.com.  

In a recent article in CE Pro magazine (Dec ‘08), consumer electronic stores were encouraged to take home theater seating more seriously. Here’s what writer Michael Laurino had to say:

* seating is key investment in comfort and style when creating a home theater

* furniture and manufacturers should partner up - carry more home theater furniture in consumer electronic stores.

* seating should represent 12-22% of the total retail value of a home theater room. “A $100,000 client could and should invest $12,000 to $200,000 in what would typically be two rows (or 5-7 recliners). This puts a quality recliner (in the $1700 to $3500 price range)”.

* electronic stores could also consider carrying the ‘cheap seats’ - under $999. Michael didn’t speak too well about these chairs.  (But as a furniture person, I can vouch for the fact that many of these ‘cheap seats’ are perfectly fine if your budget isn’t a hundred grand for a home theater room!) Like with anything, though, better quality is always better.

With big screen TVs more affordable and more consumers spending time at home… the timing couldn’t be better for furniture and electronics to work together… offering consumers complete home theater packages with electronics and furniture at a range of price point and room size options.  

At at time when cost cutting is so important, what would make more sense than for furniture stores to switch out their many showroom lamps from incandescent bulbs to compact fluourescent bulbs (CFLs). In prior posts, I suggested this was a great way not only to save energy costs, but to help consumers to get used to the idea of CFLs in their homes… so I was thrilled to see that Raymour & Flanigan, a large furniture retailer in the northeast has done it! The company recently switched out all its showroom lighting (83 stores in 7 states) to CFLs.

CFLs use one quarter of the energy of incandescent bulbs (15-watt CFL=60-watt incandescent) and have a life span of 10 years. And with  furniture and lighting showrooms using more wattage than any business I can think of, this spells significant savings in energy costs. Plus furniture retailers can help spread the energy saving message to consumers (hopefully sales associate at Raymore Flanigan stores will be pointing them out!).

Just when we were making headway on a greener world…

According to a study by Duke University’s School of Business, chief marketing officers are putting less emphasis on cause-related and environmental issues, rating  them at the bottom of a ranked priority list.

Ranking highest? (1) customer insights, (2) sharing marketing knowledge and (3) preparing for marketing crises.

“There’s a hierarchy of needs, and if people are struggling to buy food or put their kids through college, they’re not going to se (green or cause-related appeasl) as a nice thing to do, but not essential,” says Donna Goldfarb, VP for Unilever Americas.

While most companies aren’t prepared to move away from environmental messages completely, they’re soft-pedaling them for now, according to Advertising Age magazine (Sept ‘08). Stimulating the economy and saving money are taking precedence, and green marketing may have peaked for now.

Conversely, some say that environmental awareness and cause marketing will still be what makes news… especially if it can be shown to save money, protect our health or create jobs.