It’s fairly well established that, in terms of sustainability, attitudes far surpass actions. According to Gallup polls, at least 2/3 of respondents have consistently responded to questions about their concern for the environment by saying that they would describe themselves as fairly green. This trend has been consistent for decades. But action is not always …
Trade shows are a terrific venue for marketing your company’s goods and services. The Green Festival, a long-running marketplace for socially responsible businesses and their products, is held several times per year, and has attendance well into the tens of thousands. Our company exhibited our sustainability game at the Green Festival in New York, Chicago, …
SC Johnson, maker of Windex, might have tossed the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back in relation to greenwashing. SC Johnson was sued by consumer activists over their “Green List” label, which they placed on products that had no verifiable sustainability credentials. Trouble was, it looked like a 3rd party, independent label that *did* …
Federal Trade Commission cracks down on Greenwashing Read More »
As corporate marketers and regulators alike evaluate how to communicate environmental commitments and avoid greenwashing, the 2011 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker (download for free here) tested which of three common marketing approaches was most influential in consumer purchase decisions. Consumers were asked to “purchase” the most environmentally responsible of three generic cleaning products based …
Which Green Marketing Approach Is Most Effective? Read More »
Last week, I blogged about some of the latest research showing that marketers are missing the opportunity to share their green stories with customers who want to hear it. Customers want to hear your green story. Research shows that when marketers share their green commitments, it increases customers’ favorable feelings toward the company, strengthens customer …
I’ve been covering the greening of print marketing for a long time. I just updated my report “Greening Print Marketing: A Practical Guide,” and here is what really struck me as I was doing so: How critical it is to understand product lifecycles if you really want to do a credible environmental footprint analysis How …
Greening Print Marketing: It Can Be Easy If You Let It Read More »
We all want to talk about big, grand ideas for saving the environment. How about taking small, incremental steps like, say, not mailing big huge, bulky packages to the wrong people? I was browsing an industry discussion group recently and the the co-owner of an interactive marketing firm — you know, one of those creative, …
Is it just me? Or do you notice “green” pages popping up on companies’ websites everywhere? Home • Products • Services • Who We Are • The Environment • Contact Us Everybody, it seems, has a page promoting their environmental commitment these days. It’s hip to be green. It’s cool to be environmental. I like …
Yesterday, Chevron launched a new advertising campaign called We Agree. According to the company news release: The campaign highlights the common ground Chevron shares with people around the world on key energy issues. It also describes the actions the company takes in producing energy responsibly and in supporting the communities where it operates. Not everyone …
Last week, a story titled Texas Oil Baron Is Promoting Solar Energy ran in the New York Times. Written by freelance environmental journalist Todd Woody, it was about a commercial featuring Larry Hagman, posing as the Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing that he played on the TV show Dallas. In the commercial, the former faux-oilman …
The FIFA World Cup has come to an end with Spain crowned as the champions for the first time in their country’s history. The play in the final was less than inspiring, but the event was not without its interesting stories. One of those stories was about a Chinese solar company joining the ranks of …
Would you spend your entire solar marketing budget on a World Cup sponsorship? Read More »
Is this an irresponsible business strategy or brilliant marketing in disguise? What better way to get a gun-toting NRA member to go green? Give ’em a free firearm with a purchase of a 3kW+ solar system. That’s right… green power and fire power, now, go hand in hand thanks to the fine folks at Bland …
A review of the textbook Sustainability Marketing: A Global Perspective – the idea that a business degree can help better the world. Ahhh. Remember that first day of college? Young. Naive. You think you can change the world. Then, your parents start bugging you about choosing a career and so you major in business and …
It’s been a number of years since we have seen any initiative lead by a power brand in the arena of corporate social responsibility. This Wednesday, Pepsi launches one of the biggest corporate social responsibility efforts that we’ve seen since the launch of (RED) in 2006 with the Pepsi Refresh Project. Good CSR takes strategic …