Brand Matters: How Bright Is Your Green Light?

Growing your brand into a sustainable gem

June 2008 By Andrea Syverson

multipage

Green. Greener. Greenest. Just how would you rate your brand’s shade of green? Crayola lists nine different shades of green in its rankings of the top 50 crayon colors. From the original Green (ranked No. 21) to Caribbean Green (No. 6) to Asparagus (No. 26) to Screamin’ Green (No. 49), the hues of green are varied and eclectic. The same is true for brands’ environmental policies.

Some brands are extroverts in their environmental policies; others are introverts. When thinking of bold greens, consider Whole Foods, Prius, Ben & Jerry’s, Burt’s Bees, Tom’s of Maine, Aveda and Starbucks. These brands resonate with consumers as good corporate citizens. Multichannelers like Patagonia, Nau and VivaTerra are looked at as industry pioneers and icons with their very forthright environmental policies and positions. They are the original greens.

King Arthur Flour and Hanna Andersson show their greenness in more subtle ways, while many others, like Crate and Barrel and Nordstrom, are somewhere between these shades of green, experimenting and growing with their customers into their green skins with brand-appropriate environmental policies and communication strategies.

Green Sins
Each and every brand is meant to serve up a unique customer experience and, thus, demands its own unique “greenness.” Customers do not expect a one-size-fits-all environmental policy. In fact, they are quite perceptive about “greenwashing” practices; that is, false or misleading environmental marketing claims. Environmental marketing agency TerraChoice outlines these self-explanatory “Six Sins of Greenwashing” on its Web site:

1. Sin of the Hidden Trade-off
2. Sin of No Proof
3. Sin of Vagueness
4. Sin of Irrelevance
5. Sin of Fibbing
6. Sin of Lesser of Two Evils

Be sure your brand is not in danger of falling into these traps.

Real Environmental Policies = Brand Authenticity
Today’s customers are very savvy. They expect your environmental policies to resonate authentically with your brand and to shine through several of your “marketing P’s”: products, pricing, promotions, places, packaging, processes and people. Take a look at how some marketers employ environmental strategies and tactics that enhance their distinctive brand positioning:

VivaTerra: From the front cover of the catalog to the opening spread to the back cover, this brand lets the consumer know it is “green to the core.” Incorporated into an interesting visual index, it announces the following on the opening spread: “For VivaTerra, an earth-friendly lifestyle has never been a trend. As the ultimate, authentic source for inspired green living ... every item we offer combines exceptional design with a passion to preserve resources and reconnect us to the beauty of the natural world.” For VivaTerra, the products carry its main environmental messaging. On its Web site it also offers an Ecosalon, a new online magazine/e-newsletter with a strong product tie-in.