Northwind Climate Data Platform Launches

First-of-its-kind communications and research platform delivers unique insights into consumer climate and sustainability purchasing decisions

BOSTON, Aug. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To help companies and organizations better understand how climate concerns impact consumer purchasing decisions, a team of political and communications experts have launched Northwind Climate – a proprietary platform that provides data-driven marketing insights for the climate economy.

Companies' climate actions are untapped corporate assets that, if communicated effectively, can provide a unique competitive advantage across industries. As companies work to satisfy the public's demand for more climate-friendly products and services, Northwind Climate enables consumer-facing companies, climate and tech companies, investors and more with the data and actionable insights they need on how to effectively communicate their climate actions. The proprietary data platform provides insights on how consumers view climate-friendly products and services, what motivates them to support companies efforts in this space and, importantly, profiles of who these consumers are and how to reach them.

Consumer spending makes up approximately 70 percent of GDP – or roughly $13 trillion dollars in 2023 – making it an important factor in addressing climate change and other sustainability efforts.

"The choices the American buying public makes will play a large role in whether we meet our climate goals over the next few decades," said Doug Rubin, founder and CEO of Northwind Climate. "Our research powerfully shows that consumers want companies to do more to address their climate concerns, want more information from them and will reward corporate bottom-lines if they do so."

During its silent phase, Northwind Climate conducted four national surveys covering more than 12,000 people for a baseline understanding of where the American public stands on consumers products and services as it relates to climate and sustainability. Among early findings:

• Consumers of all generations are willing to make purchasing decisions based on climate and environmental considerations, and this inclination is true for consumers across the political spectrum. Those who are willing to pay a little more for things they know are produced sustainably include:
  • 69% of Democrats
  • 43% of Republicans
  • 55% of Independents or unaffiliated voters
    
    
• Consumers don't feel like they have enough information to make climate-friendly decisions, and they want companies to help them do so.
  • 74% of consumers believe "it's often difficult to know which products are environmentally friendly."
  • 76% of consumers say, "I would like companies to help me as a consumer to be more environmentally friendly," including:
    • 70% of men
    • 69% of those with an income of <$30,000 annually
    • 68% of rural residents
    • 64% of hunters/sportsmen
    • 58% of conservatives
    • 58% of Trump voters

"How you talk about climate matters a great deal to different consumer segments," Rubin said. "Companies need to do a better job of marketing to consumers in a way that is real and important to them – Northwind Climate helps companies tap and expand markets, strengthen their brand and ultimately accelerate the adoption of climate solutions."

Each month, Northwind Climate surveys consumers with tailored polling and message testing on different industries such as travel, personal finance, food and more. Subscribers gain access to the platform with monthly reports, an ever-growing database, dataset exploration and the ability to create customized reports to better understand consumer motivations.

A major differentiating factor in the company's research is its proprietary consumer segmentation model. The organization has divided American consumers into five distinct groups, which can be applied to any customer or client list — enabling companies to identify specific consumers as well as the messages that resonate with them the most. This model is a dramatically better predictor of consumer behavior around climate than demographics or political measures alone. In its next phase, the organization plans to expand with surveys covering B2B products and services, along with regional research.

Northwind Climate has assembled a world-class team with vast experience in communications, climate, politics, survey and market research, investor relations and more. Under its leadership team, Founder and CEO Doug Rubin is a strategic communications veteran who has deep experience in politics, communications, climate and issues-based research. Chief Climate Officer Aaron Burgess has worked at the intersection of climate policy, politics and investment across industries and sectors. Climate Content Director Sarina Tracy has led strategic communications, press and digital strategy for public officials, government bodies, political candidates and private companies. Director of Strategy Henry McLoughlin is a venture capitalist with a focus on clean technologies, fundraising and strategy in the climate ecosystem. Climate Communications Director Kevin Samy has worked across industries, with a background in politics, public service, academic, philanthropy and tech. Director of Data Analysis Sara Kazemian has deep expertise in quantitative research and data science, deriving insightful analytics and strategies for climate data providers and public health policy research.

Under its Research Team, Matthew Shelter, Chris Anderson, Andrew Schwartz and Mikaela Linder of Beacon Research have decades of experience in public opinion research and strategy, conducting the Fox News Poll and other research for corporations, public policy organizations and environmental groups. Burt Bonikowski is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Politics at New York University and a faculty affiliate of its Center for Data Science. His research uses relational survey methods, online experiments and computational text analysis to study public attitudes.

Northwind Climate's Board of Advisors includes David Simas, former president of the Obama Foundation and current managing director of research at the Emerson Collective; Heather Hargreaves, deputy executive director of Climate Power; Vikrum Aiyer, head of climate policy and external affairs at Heirloom; Ted White, partner at SidePorch; and Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts and current senior advisor at the Vistria Group.

To learn more, visit northwindclimate.com.

Media Contact:
Sarina Tracy
[email protected]

SOURCE Northwind Climate