Is green marketing smart strategy?

“Green marketing” is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe or that at least represent much lower impact on the environment than alternative products.

Green marketing therefore can incorporate promoting a broad range of activities such as new and improved production methods, product modifications, changes in package design and different ways to conduct business operations, among other things.

Green has always been smart strategy. Think about it for a minute. Does any rational person really strive to willfully incorporate waste and destructive practices into their business operations? Of course not.

Since my very early days in the Boy Scouts developing a love for the natural wonders of this earth I have believed that treading lightly is a worthy exercise, that leaving a natural place cleaner than one finds it is smart practice and that only using as much as one needs is courteous to others as well as the environment. (As a father and parent, I have subsequently learned that teaching such principles to my children also has the side benefit of saving me money!)

Lately, however, there is a growing trend for companies to proclaim their green credentials in their marketing communications and wear their environmentalism on their corporate sleeve. Is this new wave of green marketing smart strategy?

Greenclaiming is not guaranteed to stimulate sales, especially for companies out to make a profit for their owners and shareholders. The risk of backlash is also very real.

I recently came across an article written by Pamela Eichenbaum entitled, “Greenwashing – Ethics Aside, It’s Just Bad Business.” In the article, Pamela points out that with so many companies loudly touting their green credentials, there is a risk of desensitization and there is no guarantee that companies will benefit from the practice. She also states that no matter how green you claim to be, you might just invite criticism that you are not green enough.

I’d like to go even a step farther than Ms. Eichenbaum.

Today’s modern environmental movement is not only a social movement but also a scientific and political movement. There are different shades of green to this movement.

Towards the dark green end you will find anti-capitalists who are opposed just about everything that modern, industrialized society represents. If you are a for-profit concern, you will never win with this group.

On the lighter green end of the spectrum you will find highly-educated, upper-class, environmentally-conscious people who wish to be seen as virtuous through their conspicuous consumption of sustainable, environmentally-friendly, organic and often higher-priced products so they can be viewed, for social reasons, as elites who operate with the proper motives.

Of course, the movement includes people of many stripes in between, but as you can see, the green movement is not a monolith that will guarantee that a capitalist company or organization will be rewarded for flying a green banner. In fact, far from guaranteeing it, it will probably bring skepticism and scrutiny from many. Doing so may also have people questioning whether you are trying to position your brand as morally superior which might, in fact, come across as condescension.

Creating strong brands that make unique promises of value and that deliver on those promises every time is one of the most important things any marketer can do. Not only should brands be differentiated, but they must also represent superior value that cannot be found anywhere else. With so many companies claiming to be green these days, claiming to be green is no longer a point of differentiation and making such claims potentially opens you up to scrutiny and criticism that you are not green enough or that you only claim to be green in order to increase profits or to gain some other selfish benefit.

As a marketing strategist, my advice is to think very hard before you decide to wear green on your corporate sleeve and shout it loudly via your marketing communications.

Yes, I know it is the trendy and politically correct thing to do these days, but doing so will make you just like every one else trying to cash-in on the trend and possibly even backfire on you or make you look disingenuous.

If you are a business owner or manager who truly believes -- and always has -- in conserving resources and treading lightly, then you won’t be able to stop that philosophy from permeating your organization and affecting organizational behavior such that your organization acts in accordance with your beliefs. You will get more satisfaction from walking the walk than you will from talking the talk.

If I could give marketers (and politicians and green activists!) one bit of advice on the topic, then I would advise them to lead by example rather than preach to others how to lives their lives. Nothing speaks as loudly as living authentically.

Chances are that those who have true concerns will ask you about your practices and your green credentials will be a wonderful, hidden value that comes as an added, free bonus along with all the other wonderful and unique benefits delivered by your brand.


Greenwashing - Ethics Aside, It's Just Bad Business by the Kolbrener branding agency.