• Environment. Going solar gives me the power to do something about global warming.
• Money. I will eventually save money on my electricity (perhaps right away, based on the state and financing options).
• Energy independence. We as a country are too reliant on foreign fuel. Solar on my roof is my own personal power plant.
• Statement. Solar on my roof makes a bold statement that I’m doing something to help the environment, and that you – my neighbors – can follow my lead.
• Cool factor. Ironically, this massive ball of ultra-hot burning gas called the sun is the coolest power source on earth. It makes me feel like a cooler person just because I have it.
• Hate. My utility has been making me angry for years. Having solar says to them, “eat my sun.”
• Status. My environmental credentials are…
• Passion. I believe passionately that my country should never again fight a war for oil. Power from the sun is my way of saying, “enough.”
• Hedge. Having a solar installation helps me lock in a rate for my power, so I won’t suffer as much from rising electricity rates over the years (see “hate” above)

Not long ago, before the days of generous federal and state subsidies, the environment was the dominant single driver for going solar. The very early adopters for solar tended to be green in two ways: they had money to throw around, and they wanted to stop global warming. That equation has changed. Today, two factors in combination are the main drivers:

Money and Environment. I can save money and help the environment at the same time. So, why wouldn’t I? Many or all of the other factors play a role in the decision, but these appear to be the top two. Incorporating money saving and environmental preservation together is critical to the success of any solar marketing campaign in 2010.

Clients come to marketing agencies for creative ways to “break through the clutter” or “build buzz” in order to sell their product or idea, and too often the result is campaigns that make noise, cost a lot of money, but ultimately don’t connect with people. How can you create a campaign that stitches the fabric of your brand into the minds of the right people? Chip and Dan Heath have unlocked the keys to this age old marketing conundrum in their remarkable book, “Made to Stick.”

The basic premise is that, based on years of research, they’ve figured out the attributes of communications that truly stick in the mind. I know, you’re probably thinking, “Oh, no, another business book that says it has all the answers to my problems.” I have to say though, that based on my 25 years in marketing, these guys truly have made a blueprint for how to develop memorable campaigns. Imagine that all of us are walking around with one part of the Velcro strip in our brains. As marketers, we’re creating the other piece of the strip that will stick. The key is really understanding the makeup of the piece of the Velcro that’s already in your audience’s mind, and the psychological and physiological reasons why certain ideas adhere there, while others do not. It sounds simple, and the underlying principle is. But the authors have conducted exhaustive academic studies that illustrate how we as humans learn, how we process information, and ways to communicate this information so that it’s remarkably sticky. And they lay it all out for us readers in a way that’s easy to grasp. It turns out that we’re not in the advertising business as all. We’re in the memory business ­– at least, if we do our job right.