Good Stuff

Prejudice is the worst side effect.

The message this year on World Aids Day is that HIV and Aids sufferers still have to contend with ignorance and prejudice every day if their lives. We brought this message to the streets of Copenhagen this afternoon with a special event. It's always great to work with people who care passionately about the work they do and the staff at Aids Fondet (The Danish Aids charity) really are committed to their cause. The girl in the bubble endured freezing temperatures and the odd drunk, who insisted on kicking the ball, to get across their important message. The event also managed to make national news, which is great for everyone involved.

How to get talked about

Thanks to Greenway Communique for pointing out these interesting stats. We all knew that green business issues were getting talked about more these days but...woah, I didn't realise how much!

Heres the original post

More on greenwashing

This post by Joel Makower looks into a recent survey by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing. They sent out teams to investigate any products making green claims. After initially identifying 1,081 products making 1,753 separate claims they found "all but one made claims that are either demonstrably false or that risk misleading intended audiences."

Ouch.

The results of this research can be found in a new report 'The Six Sins of Greenwashing'

The "sins" identified by TerraChoice include:

Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off — claims that suggest a product is "green" based on a single environmental attribute (the recycled content of paper, for example) or an unreasonably narrow set of attributes without attention to other important, or perhaps more important, environmental issues (such as the energy, climate, water, or forestry impacts of paper). Such claims aren't usually false, but paint a misleading picture of the product than a more complete environmental analysis would support. This was the most frequently committed "sin," made by 57% of all environmental claims examined.

Sin of No Proof (26% of all claims examined) — any claim that couldn't be substantiated by easily accessible supporting information, or by a reliable third-party certification. TerraChoice determined there to be "no proof" if supporting evidence was not accessible at either the point of purchase or at the product website.

Sin of Vagueness (11% of all claims examined) — any claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is likely to be misunderstood by the intended consumer, such as "chemical free" or "all natural."

Sin of Irrelevance (4% of all claims examined) — claims that may be truthful but are unimportant and unhelpful for consumers, such as CFC-free products, since ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons have been outlawed since the late 1980s.

Sin of Lesser of Two Evils (1% of all claims examined) — environmental claims that may be true, but that risk distracting the consumer from the greater environmental impacts of the category as a whole, such as organic tobacco or green insecticides.

Sin of Fibbing (less than 1% of all claims examined) — claims that are simply false, typically by misusing or misrepresenting certification by an independent authority, when no such certification had been made.

I agree with Joel Makower's point that not all of these are necessarily greenwashing and that some of the cases are probably down to sloppiness.

"marketers' efforts to place a green sheen on a product, perhaps rightfully so, but without offering some basic proof points."

But what does this all mean or green marketing and for those brands that really do help us minimise our impact on the planet. Well, it's basically bad news isn't it? Any genuine effort to offer a greener product or service could be met with scepticism. The last wave of green marketing we saw during the nineties eventually died a death because it too was based on a lot of marketing hot air and people saw through it.

Case (Terrachoice):

I think the real danger is if people are successful with their greenwashing efforts, then the truly green, the truly innovative companies — the ones that have really figured out how to reduce their carbon footprint, how to produce a nontoxic product, how to make products out of renewable materials that can be reused — the truly innovative products are going to lose out.

Wiping out greenwashing

An interesting article from The Guardian which takes a hard line against the greenwashing of brands; a debate which I find fascinating.

Brands should think very carefully about marketing their green credentials. "You can't put a lettuce in the window of a butcher's shop and declare that you are now 'turning vegetarian'." explains John Grant, author of The Green Marketing Manifesto.

Of course, it is totally counter-productive to claim to be something you're not, when everyone has the ability to see through it. This kind of tokenism will be seen for what it is very quickly.

It seems there are many examples of bad practice in this area but also an encouraging amount of truly brilliant examples of companies who've grabbed this Corporate Social Opportunity and done something fantastic and innovative with it.

I love this example which The Guardian article points out:

"Popular, well-trusted brands have the potential to build on the relationship that they have with consumers, encouraging them to make adjustments towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Kia Motors, for instance, has been backing a walk to school initiative for the last three years. The car firm estimates that 20% of the traffic on the roads at 9am is connected to the school run and wanted to launch a project that helped tackle that congestion. To date, 250 "walking buses" have been set up involving 53 local authorities and 8,000 children. In 2006, Kia estimated that the initiative saved 100,000 commuter miles every week."

Such an initiative can only be seen as positive, surely? Even if it was initiated by a car manufacturer.

yes!

Don't you just love it when someone has a good idea. I love the way this company has re-thought food retail. I guess in a market where food retailers are much of a muchness, this concept could do really well here in Denmark.

What I really love about it is the way it's been put together. (without having been into a store) You know that feeling you get when you hover outside a health food shop and wonder whether you belong in their or not? I really get the feeling this place is for me. Their site is stylish and inclusive. I would imagine their stores are too. I wish them all the success in the world and hopefully we'll see one opening in Copenhagen soon.

Thanks to John Grant for pointing it out.

best tag-line ever?

Thanks to Russell Davies for this one. I'm not a big fan of corporate tag-lines. They tend to be self-important at best and in this case almost indecipherable. Another one I remember hating throughout my years at art college was the equally preposterous 'Newcastle College. More that just a college'. In all my years there, I never managed to work out what exactly they meant by this.

Anyone else spotted any nonsense pay-offs recently? There must be some good Scandinavian examples.

The Death of Environmentalism - A personal breakthrough?

Being a bit of a pessimist and doomsday merchant at times, I sometimes struggle to remain buoyant about our collective future. It seems like the more aware of the problems we face I become, the more helpless I feel. So reading about this book really cheered me up.

Tom Schueneman of Triple Pundit writes on the subject:

“Complaint-based environmentalism focuses on the fatalism of an overpopulated world constantly in the throes of the next ongoing environmental catastrophe; that ultimately, in terms of our energy-intensive modern society, things are as good a they’re going to get and will naturally get worse...

By shifting focus, and thus our actions, through innovative and creative thinking and holding to a firm belief in progress, that is the key to a sustainable and prosperous future – for everyone. It is, then, the death of environmentalism."

Focusing on the solution and not the problem has always worked for me. The nagging voice in the back of my head that telling me to run to the hills is but a distant echo tonight. I'm off to Amazon to get my copy.

The roar of concious consumerism and green marketing

Triple Pundit point to this new marketing study which looks at concious consumer attitiudes in the US.

"A new marketing study reveals that conscious consumers expect accountability and transparency from companies that claim to be “green.” Companies that fail to do so put themselves at risk of a consumer backlash.

Who are these “conscious consumers”? According to the inaugural BBMG Conscious Consumer Report, almost 90% of Americans say this term describes them well. When shopping for products that are of equal value and price, these consumers would choose items that are energy-efficient, promote health and safety benefits, support fair labor and fair trade, and are made according to environmentally-friendly standards.

Some of the most interesting findings of this study include:

• Health and wellness are most important: Conscious consumers expect the products they buy to have a positive personal and direct impact.
• “Conscious consumer” is the preferred term: Americans prefer to call themselves “conscious” or “socially/environmentally responsible” over “green.”
• Price and quality are still #1, but locally-produced, healthy, and energy-efficient qualities are increasingly important to consumers.

The study also reveals that consumers are savvy when it comes to detecting “greenwashing” marketing attempts. “In a world of green clutter, conscious consumers expect companies to do more than make eco-friendly claims. They demand transparency and accountability across every level of business practice. Avoiding the green trap means authentically backing your words with socially responsible actions.” says Raphael Bemporad, founding partner of BBMG.

Consumers value honesty and are paying more attention to how their purchases impact the world beyond the supermarket. Producing conscious goods and services, and successfully communicating their authenticity, is the way to capitalize on this new consumer trend."

Green Marketing Manifesto

He's promising free copies to bloggers who link to this post but I'm plugging John Grant's new book regardless.

I was lucky enough to read through an early draft and I can tell you it's packed full of useful stuff if you're interested in how green issues can be used as a platform for communication and innovation. (everyone should be) I'd love to have gone along to the launch party tonight but I don't think it would hae been that environmentally responsible. Instead, I'll have a glass of wine tonight and read through a few pages.

Interesting scaffolding

Cycling through Copenhagen yesterday morning on my way to a client meeting I came across this creative use of scaffolding. The hardware store which is behind this temporary facade is identical to the life-size poster they've hung outside. Cool eh?