Has your brand gone green?

Today, climate change and global warming are hot topics. The news media and even the traditionally conservative-minded Hollywood have seized on the global warming issue, with documentary films such as “An Inconvenient Truth” featuring Al Gore (Paramount), and “The 11th Hour” (Warner) helping climate change become a mainstream consumer issue.

According to Al Gore, widespread consumer concern about climate change will play a significant role in the future – and maybe the most important role in every company’s brand.

Gore, who addressed the fourth Global Brand Forum in Singapore in August, believes that a majority of consumers want to be a part of solving the climate change problem by choosing products that leave a small ecological footprint.

The need for green credentials
Recently, a UK PR company released a report stating that 84 percent of marketing and PR management see green credentials as important, and recognize that environmental issues are now at the forefront of consumers’ minds.

Although being seen as “green” can be a definite competitive advantage, the report also pointed out that companies can’t “greenwash” their commitment to the environment.

So beware!
Using environmental slogans in marketing isn’t enough – smart consumers can see through buzzword phrases and want to know how companies are working to reflect environmental messages in their operations.

How to brand green
So how do you go about developing a good green branding strategy? The founder of a New York-based green marketing consultancy claims that a successful green strategy must balance two objectives:

• Environmental quality and
• Consumer satisfaction

To get your green branding strategy in place, it needs to be a company-wide initiative that filters down from the top and addresses the operation of the business. And a leading UK research agency has found that if you want your brand to stand up to green scrutiny, you need to include the input of environmental critics – often in the form of NGOs – who have the power to either legitimize or discount a company’s green message.

While this may require a rethink on how you’re doing things in your company, you’ll be adding value to your brand and meeting the very real environmental concerns of your customers.

What's your opinion?
We've started a debate on this topic on our blog, and we're very interested to hear your opinion. Go to our blog and post your comment - it's really easy, and you can write in either English or Danish. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask our blogging guru, Aaron Bateman, for help.

 

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