Green Marketing
What once started out as a grass-roots campaign, Earth Day, to celebrate the environment, has now become a marketing bonanza. April 22, Earth Day, may become the next Christmas for brands looking for a way to stand out in the market place. Companies such as Wal-Mart, Banana Republic, and News Week all offered special discounts for the weeks surrounding Earth Day. The entertainment industry also jumped on the bandwagon with green logos and environmental campaigns seen on the major television networks.
To be fair, some of the companies genuinely do care about raising environmental awareness and increasing their own sustainability. But, others are simply touting their environmentally friendly company policies and marketing efforts to raise their profits and increase commerce. Their intentions are not exactly consistent with the 1970 grass-roots campaign for a national holiday honoring our planet. Even the FTC has stepped in by saying it will be stricter in monitoring the validity of companies’ claims that their practices and policies are “green” or environmentally friendly. Does the intention to make more money really matter if the company is helping raise awareness for the environment or changing their companies’ policies to increase sustainability?
The ultimate decider of whether green marketing is effective is the consumer and many of the consumers are starting to be skeptical. “Consumers can see through messaging that is not backed with a longer-term commitment to green,” said David Wigder, senior VP-Digitas and author of the blog Marketing Green. “Moreover, if consumers are bombarded with too much messaging, they may simply tune it out.”
Consumers often voice their concerns and criticism in the blogosphere. Bloggers are known for meticulously checking facts and companies’ claims. Thus, a good source for whether a company is truly green or environmentally sound is the blogosphere. According to Nielsen Online, Tree Hugger, World Changing, The Oil Drum and Alternative Consumer are among the most popular sustainability blogs on the web. Tree Hugger is the largest environmental blog with 10 regular staffers and 50 contributors from around the world. The staffers include advocates, scholars and experts. David Binkowski, senior VP-director of word-of-mouth marketing at Manning Selvage & Lee explains, “[It] better not just be window dressing, because bloggers fact-check everything.”
So whether or not green marketing is just the latest fad or a legitimate platform to raise awareness for both brands and the environment remains to be seen. However, companies that advertise their environmental claims are sure to face more scrutiny and will need to deliver a product that meets the consumer’s expectations.