Green marketing: the redheaded stepchild of sustainability
Founder and president of The SOAP Group, a Portland marketing firm that promotes sustainability and social justice
Studies show that most consumers discount green marketing messages. Green-washing is everywhere, leading consumers to ignore the approach. This is bad for sustainability and business. For the most part, the critics might be right. Marketing green is generally just the promotion of the “idea of green.” While it can motivate the Thing, it is not the Thing. After all, it’s just marketing. Right? Maybe. Historically, the term “green marketing” has been used to define two types of marketing. One is marketing that minimizes the impact of itself. This definition is the most literal — marketing described as green, such as a green lifestyle. This kind of green marketing is mostly relegated to the production manager and art director considering soy inks and FSC-certified papers. Think of putting the “recycle” logo on a business card as a manifestation of this strategy. A second, more current (though hardly modern) definition is marketing that promotes the environmentally beneficial aspects or attributes of a product or service. The tools needed to do this effectively include consumer characteristics, an understanding of green motivators, research and trend analysis. Many consulting and research firms are publishing discourse on what works to inspire people to purchase green. For the most part, the research continues a trend started in the early ’90s studying the percentage of Americans who are concerned with the environment. They profile the demographic of green consumers, segment them into a variety of branded groups and point to features that motivate purchasing decisions. It is up to the marketer to then translate the data into market share and revenue-driving campaigns. “Doing green marketing” is really no different than marketing to women, baby boomers or Hispanics — it’s segmentation marketing. While the tools remain the same, it’s the language and iconography that changes to resonate with the targeted consumer demographic. It is a very successful strategy. When combined, the two definitions make up a solid green marketing strategy. They are not examples of sustainability, but are promoting the idea of sustainability. For companies and organizations interested in activating sustainability while super-charging their brands with authenticity — thereby creating fans of customers, employees and stakeholders — a third definition might be more suitable: Marketing that activates sustainability and social justice. This is the way that authentic and sustainable companies are increasingly approaching promotion. But few of them are doing it strategically, leaving an opportunity to capitalize on the approach. There’s also a subtlety to this definition: Rather than promoting what you do as sustainable, be sustainable as promotion. Consider a hypothetical strategic marketing plan that establishes and equally measures:
- Corporate return on investment: profitability
- Civic return on impact: positive human impact
- Cultural return on intention: progressive change in dialogue
There’s a wrinkle that complicates this strategy: It’s not about raising money to support a cause. While that is important, it keeps your relationship with your customer at the transactional level and this strategy moves the relationship beyond. When implemented, these promotions create a space where narratives converge. The narrative of the consumer and corporation join to create the new narrative of partnership, which is imperative to solve today’s problems. A promotion based on this framework creates a shared space, a sense of accomplishment, a voice and history between the brand and stakeholder. Developing a promotional strategy that “does more than promote” is an opportunity for marketers to become active participants in sustainability. It starts with a pledge: “Wherever and whenever possible, I will develop promotions that have social significance. I will architect campaigns that have corporate, civic and cultural value.” Take the pledge at www.morethanpromote.com.
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