Greentailing

Greentailing
Greentelling
June 01, 2009

We all know the retail industry has a central role in helping solve the world’s environmental challenges due to its breadth and scale. This will be accomplished by real changes to policies and practices, not through inflated claims. As a result, consumers, policy makers and journalists are looking deeper beneath the green veneer and holding retailers accountable for the environmental claims they tout.

For those who don’t take legit green communications seriously, I’ll cry wolf and suggest you visit www.greenwashingindex.com. Review some of the examples of how our market actually digests unverified marketing claims that companies make—I don’t have to tell you that some are not received well.

What I can say with certainty is that there is no magic bullet for green marketing; the strategy must be unique to your company, product and process. This has always been the case for marketing—edge wins. While third-party certification has tremendous value, the endorsement in retail is not always enough. We are a society that craves authenticity, and the story we tell must steer away from being vague, unfounded, irrelevant and/or exaggerated to merely get a sale; the LOHAS shopper is smarter than that.

As you prepare the communications of your environmental achievement and/or label your green product, here are some thoughts for consideration:

Acknowledge your impact. Just as addicts must accept their problem to move on to the path of recovery, so must companies. Identify your largest environmental impact areas and ask whether you can realistically make honest green claims about your company, product or process. Does your company include environmental initiatives within the overall strategic plan? If you do market your company as taking strides towards environmental improvement, then communicate what you are able to commit to—nothing more.

Be genuine. It’s easy to slap on an unfounded green claim. If you don’t have metrics in place to verify the new “green” product is any better than your previous efforts, then you shouldn’t be marketing it. Tell the story of the product, share the process, be clear and detail your efforts. We are a storytelling culture, so share exciting parts of the process you’ve successfully implemented to reduce your environmental footprint.

Think lifecycle. Sustainability is not about a singular issue. Your product might be formaldehyde-free, but was the wood harvested in a sustainable manner? Was it packaged in Styrofoam or inefficiently shipped? Was the waste stream during manufacturing reused or sent to a landfill? What about the retail center it is housed in—is it practicing efficiency and green operations? Highlighting one green attribute is a great start, but everything is connected. A holistic approach enables an authentic story.

It’s OK. No product or company is perfect; everyone has some form of impact. Retail is a profit-driven industry that will always have some form of footprint—customers know that. Let us not forget that the environmental movement is a new movement, one that will continue through our lives and into generations to come. Practicing the ultimate efficiency in all divisions of your company in a two-year period is impossible, so think of your initiatives as holistic measures for continuous improvement. What does this mean? That claiming that you’ve saved the world and gone “green” for getting rid of plastic bags is a bad tactic. You can however share the actual impact, effectively communicate your reasons for making the decision and then talk about what’s next.

Verify and measure. To claim improvement, you need to prove it. Identify industry benchmarks, evaluate where you stand and state clear goals for improvement. Nearly every industry has established energy and environmental performance baselines. If you haven’t assessed your portfolio yet and determined what benchmarks apply, now is the time to start. As example, many countries have already begun to explore carbon labeling—it is only time before such requirements move into the United States. Will you be ready to show the real footprint of your product?

Green claims are regulated. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted a series of workshops in 2008 to share their Green Guidelines for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. Theses guides apply to any claim about the environmental attributes of a product, package or service in connection with its sale and marketing. The FTC is currently in the process of updating the guidelines for a late 2009 release. As you prepare your marketing efforts—these are critical guidelines to consider.

The time has come for us to expand the dialogue of “green” into every product and practice. If we fail to provide clarity on “why” products are green, then we can never expect the consumer to comprehend the real benefits of green. That said, challenge your eco-friendly claims and ask whether they are part of the solution or confusion of green marketing in the retail industry. There are always improvements to be made, and there is no better time to be transparent with your colleagues and customers than today—they expect it.

Cheers,
Justin Doak
Founder, Ecoxera – Green Business Strategy for Retail
Send green questions to justindoak@ecoxera.com.