3 Key Questions to Ask About Your Green Practices

June 17, 2009 By Ethan Boldt, Editor-in-chief, Inside Direct Mail

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In an ideal direct marketing world, all actions and initiatives that are taken on behalf of the environment by an organization are not only genuine and effective, but also recognized by prospects and customers. Of course, in an ideal world, there wouldn't have been such environmental degradation wrought by modern society and business in the first place and, thus, such a dire need for these corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives today.

Fortunately, the movement among business toward greener practices continues, and the marketing of those green practices will become more successful if these organizations ask the following questions about their marketing plans.

1. Do green practices encourage prospect participation?
While some green practices occur behind the scenes and remain there, others are marketed up front—such as the "green seals of approval" like FSC- or SFI-certified, "made with 100% wind-power," "printed with soy ink," "RecyclePlease" and, just recently, even a "Good Housekeeping Green."

"We do several green/alternative energy programs, and these seals often work well for the more environmentally active segments," states Grant Johnson, founder and CEO of Johnson Direct. "Typically, it does not decrease response rates to list them, so if a company is really moving to be more green, then use is recommended." He cautions marketers to first test to determine how results may improve with these seals/marks.

Meta Brophy, director of publishing operations for Consumers Union, which produces Consumer Reports magazine, says Consumer Reports hasn't tested these seals of approval, so she can't say whether or not they have a positive impact when used in its direct mail campaigns. But in B-to-B application, she claims they can be quite helpful. "These labels signal to us supplier participation in certain initiatives. It's useful information and many times prompts us to follow up. In that way, the seals do encourage participation," she explains.

Meanwhile, she's sanguine about some of the USPS' popular environmental initiatives. "Labeling control packages with the RecyclePlease.org logo encourages prospects to recycle what they receive from us and even to learn more about recycling on the site. The Commitment to Consumer Choice will encourage prospects to manage their accounts and express their preferences ... and will reduce unwanted mail, among other things," she says.

Among Johnson's clients, he mentions that some are asking for opt-ins to mailings, some are surveying customers/prospects to see what they would prefer as far as channel and frequency, and others actually are calling prior to mailing.
2. Do you invite the customer into the green transition?
A new study conducted by IBM Global Business Services shows that business executives who are committed to CSR programs often fall short because of so-called "information gaps" within their own operations, as well as not understanding customer expectations. In a statement made by Jeff Hittner, corporate social responsibility leader at IBM Global Business Services, he illustrates the information gap between executives and what customers may expect from an organization. "It's not that executives misunderstand their customers' CSR concerns; it's that they've never tried to find out. About 37 percent [of executives] have never asked their customers what's important," he relates.

Hittner has three simple recommendations: 1) perform customer research; 2) segment customers from a sustainability standpoint; and 3) develop programs that educate and engage customers on sustainability matters.

And he throws out the theory that CSR matters less during economic downtimes, mentioning that the survey on which the IBM study was based was conducted in the midst of the recession, yet 60 percent found CSR to be more important than the previous year and only 6 percent viewed it as less important.

3. Should you get more ambitious with your green practices?
To catch the attention of prospects who may overlook the smaller measures, such as green logos, some businesses are going further in their marketing practices. "The most common trend I see is pushing prospects to the Web. That being said, you still have to reach prospects, and direct mail is much better at that than e-mail," states Johnson, who then refers to formats that are reusable by prospects. "Formats in direct mail that serve as both the outgoing (prospecting) and incoming (response vehicle) are being used more and more, and you will see a growing trend with this format," he predicts.

Brophy offers a warning, however. "More ambitious green practices may catch attention but may or may not be understood. Does a prospect know the difference between a carbon-offsetting, carbon-neutral and carbon-negative claim?" she asks. While company Web sites and reports offer space to elaborate and offer verification, Brophy says the direct mail piece cannot always fully explain its green practice.

Fortunately, green as a marketing message continues to evolve. "The [Federal Trade Commission] is reviewing environmental marketing claims now. Hopefully, we can expect guidance with respect to terminology, standards, verification, compliance and consistency in green marketing practices," concludes Brophy.

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