What is Eco-Marketing and why should your company care? It’s no secret that “Green” is the new “Black” and any company worth their weight in salt is making tremendous efforts to transform their business into an environmentally friendly organization. Businesses across the world are investing millions of dollars into recycling programs, energy savings initiatives, Life-Cycle Assessments and other environmentally responsible programs, but if their customers don’t know about it, it’s as if they haven’t done it at all. That may be a bit harsh of course as the environmental benefits are still there, but if your customers switch to another organization that advertises their “greenness” and you don’t, you will lose the benefit of “Eco-Marketing”.
So what exactly is Eco-Marketing? Eco-Marketing is the art of being able to communicate your companies “green” successes in a responsible manner that is Accurate, Credible, and Transparent or ACT for short. Believe it or not, green marketing is an art form, and while most companies have internal marketing that is capable of performing a wide range of marketing services, green marketing is very different and many businesses are not equipped to handle these types of programs due to the serious consequences for making overstatements or accidentally “Greenwashing” your companies environmental contributions.
Because Greenwashing has the potential to misuse the public trust, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has issued a “Green Guide” which discusses the responsible marketing of Green claims in business in an effort to ensure that companies accurately convey the eco-benefits of their product or service. Here are some examples of what the FTC considers Greenwashing.
Example 1: A package is labeled, “50% more recycled content than before.” The manufacturer increased the recycled content of its package from 2% recycled material to 3% recycled material. Although the claim is technically true, it is likely to convey the false impression that the advertiser has increased significantly the use of recycled material.
In addition, environmental marketing claims that include a comparative statement must be presented in a manner that makes the basis for the comparison sufficiently clear to avoid consumer deception. The advertiser should be able to substantiate the comparison through verifiable scientific methodologies preferably by a third party certifying organization such as NextLife and Ciba Expert Services. Another example is:
Example 2: An advertiser notes that its shampoo bottle contains “20% more recycled content.” The claim in its context is ambiguous. Depending on contextual factors, it could be a comparison either to the advertiser’s immediately preceding product or to a competitor’s product. The advertiser should clarify the claim to make the basis for comparison clear, for example, by saying “20% more recycled content than our previous package.” Otherwise, the advertiser should be prepared to substantiate whatever comparison is conveyed to reasonable consumers.
I’m sure companies that “Greenwash” mean well (I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt here) but due to their lack of expertise in the area of Eco-Marketing they easily fall into gray areas that are considered unreliable with respect to consumer advertising and should be avoided at all costs. Save yourself a lot of time and aggravation and look for a company that has experience and resources that specialize in the “Green Marketing” arena. You’ll be glad you did and so will your customers.
