If greenies want to make a difference, they need marketers
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n this guest post, Chris Grannell argues that sustainability fails when it doesn’t embrace the marketing world
Marketing and sustainability ought be an item, but they still eye each other with mutual suspicion. At the back end of 2010 I met with a highly experienced marketer who dismissed sustainability as niche, uncommercial and (though he didn’t say so out loud) somewhat threatening. This thinking is dangerously outdated, but it’s regrettably not unusual.
Marketers are generally uneasy about green while those concerned about sustainability are inclined to be downright dismissive of marketing. Why?
For marketers, the trouble with sustainability is that it is big and serious. It’s been described as “not leaving a turd on the lawn for your grandchildren to pick up” – a funny line but clearly a sobering subject. Its significance is on an altogether higher level than next month’s new product launch. This makes marketers feel inadequate.
For greenies on the other hand, marketing is commonly regarded as the amoral capitalist beast, encouraging people to consume more of everything without a second thought about the collateral damage they may inflict in the process.
The planet-sized scale of green issues makes it easy to think that a mere commercial discipline like marketing can be of little help. It also makes it easy to slip into thinking that green is a threat to be managed rather than an opportunity to be developed. Wrong on both counts.
The imperatives of sustainability and the skills of marketing can – and must – work together.
Consider the following facts:
- Green products which remain obscure and niche have little direct effect on global human behaviour
- Green products which have made it into the mainstream tend to be those which offer more than saving the world
- Companies can use green to create new sources of revenue and cut costs
The insight behind these observations is simple. Green may be important; it may even be the most important thing ever. But it’s also a social shift like any other – and it presents challenges and opportunities that marketing is uniquely positioned to address.
Let’s not forget that marketing is all about customers: Getting close to them, understanding their issues, persuading them; and it’s also about competition and rivalry. Sustainability is about influencing these same customers, following their changing demands, getting ready for what’s around the corner. And – guess what – it can also help firms get one over their competition.
Past generations of green failed to achieve mass-market penetration precisely because of their lack of marketing nous. With one or two exceptions, twenty years of green products failed to speak to a critical mass of customers or work in alignment with markets. Without a healthy dose of market-based thinking, these products (however well intentioned) were never going to be ‘sustainable’ in any sense of the word.
Remember when green products were difficult to use and delivered dubious returns? Then look at a product like the Prius. Notice what is happening here? The benefit is not just low emissions; it’s also about becoming a the sort of person whose car makes a dramatic statement, about not having to get your hands dirty at petrol stations as often, and about having a funky little computer to watch on the dashboard. Look away, think about the green movement ten years ago, and then look back at the Prius. Ten years ago green was all dried lentils, beards (not the funky creative director kind) and sandals that certainly weren’t Birkenstocks. Today, well-executed green can be both popular and premium.
Reflecting on the success of green products which have actually changed behaviour on some scale, only marketing can make sense of what’s going on. Getting corporations to think about green in terms of consumer benefits versus consumer costs can be quite a revelation: Early in the piece, ardent greenies will go for green no matter what; other customers need help to jump on board. Then, as markets begin to mature, the ability for green-ness to make up for reduced performance diminishes. Later still, commoditised sectors can be revitalised with the addition of a green proposition. We can all think of examples from mature categories – from electricity retail to automotive to cosmetics – where firms have created premium products from ‘green’ or renewable associations.
And so to the capitalist part of the relationship. With one or two exceptions, no one can expect companies to invest in activities that don’t deliver commercial returns. Fortunately, corporate greening (when executed with due care and attention) can deliver significant monetary gains. These typically come in terms of new revenues, reduced costs, and improved asset values both on and off the balance sheet.
Recently I’ve had the good fortune to work with a particularly market-savvy environmental NGO which shows every promise of using marketing – and the latent opportunity of the concerned consumer – to change behaviours. I’ve also been involved with a variety of commercial organisations – from clean tech innovators to established businesses – which are turning green into gold. These organisations remain unusual, but indicate a growing trend.
Marketing and sustainability are edging closer. Marketing is beginning to eye some of sustainability’s serious assets – not to mention some of the friends she seems to be acquiring. And sustainability is beginning to find marketing’s understanding of consumers more than a little attractive. Damn it, this could be useful after all.
Green zealots (who are content to save the world in wonderful isolation) don’t need marketing. For those who actually want to make a difference, marketing is essential.
Chris Grannell is consulting director at strategy agency Ellis Foster McVeigh
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I think Rory Sutherland made this point in a much more succinct way at TED more than a year ago as I shared here http://wp.me/p1XYS-dz
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Tiphereth Gloria wrote a great article on the success Greenpeace had with an online campaign to convince Nestlé to stop buying unsustainable palm oil from Sinar Mas.
http://www.digitaltip.com.au/i.....influence/
Its interesting that where Greenpeace took a progressive approach in their marketing, Nestle took the old-school PR tact of ignore, deny then squash, when they should have simply addressed the issue. With all the marketing and PR resources at their disposal, Nestle failed to crises manage the bad buzz.
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I agree that your argument is solid and the Green movement could find benefit by implementing some marketing fundamentals. That aside I think you have failed to address the hurdles that stand in the way of this goal which are not at all trivial.
– Before you invest real dollars in advertising and marketing you need to make sure the company business model can support the campaigns success. The green movement needs entrepreneurs before it needs marketers.
– The tools that measure marketing effectiveness promote values that stand in conflict with many green objectives. The green movement needs better forms of measurement before it needs marketers
– Marketing already helps the Green Movement be competitive in the luxury or high end of the market. The next step is the retail or value market which first needs a more competitive price point. The Green Movement needs market regulation before it needs marketers.
– The sustainability movement is still complex and full of nuance. The green movement needs simplification and agreement before it needs marketers
Tick these four boxes and marketers will start selling Green all on their own
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I haven’t seen the TED presentation referred to in the previous comment, but as a sustainability practitioner, I think this point can’t be made enough, especially to audiences that might not be TED watchers. Defferent channels for different audiences?
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The problem is that when marketing gets involved in “sustainability” it is all too often for the purpose of greenwashing. The marketing industry lacks credibility while it continues to engage in the practice. How about a code of practice to eliminate greenwashing?
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Seems nothing has changed in a year franksting.
Good article this one.
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Reminds me of one of my favourite Seth Godin blogs – http://sethgodin.typepad.com/s.....ramid.html
Watch the video – it’s good. If you figure your product is good enough to make a difference to the world, then there’s no shame in profiting from it, indeed the profit makes you accountable, and encourages growth – good example being the cheap Indian (private) maternity hospital on the video, and of course the D.Light.
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Are you fishing for work or just being snarky?
Marketing is the problem, not the solution to environmental concerns.
You, personally, may be known to your friends and colleagues as the nicest guy in the world, but when I see stuff like this I think: Bill Hicks.
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“Greenies”.
What is it, 1970?
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Marketing isn’t the problem – its the minds of the people behind the marketing strategy. Also, speaking from within the climate change movement, we desperately need the help of clever marketeers like Chris to help us navigate our current huge challenge – talking about climate change is now so politically incorrect. The climate sceptic movement over the past years have successfully pigeon holed the Aus population into “I believe in climate change and I am worried and want to act (largely Green and ALP voters – 51%)” V “Its all lies and I don’t want to think about it any more (largely Liberal voters – 49%)”. Us greenies need help from clever marketeers to get us past this awful polarised reality that only 50% of the population now give a damn!
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I believe this comes from the best of intentions, and my posting a reply here will not change anything, but the “green” issues we face are in the context of us all being citizens and not customers. Trying to bring in the best techniques of promotion and message dissemination we can find from the marketing world I strongly feel will alienate citizens, which if we’re serious about this is the last thing we want.
In short I would advocate that we leave the hipsterism at the door when we approach these topics and issues.
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Great article, you touch on some very valid points.
I see the sustainability area as a huge opportunity. Whilst you have large agencies with pedigrees of 80’s excess still content to showboat and wine and dine clients in expensive restaurants to curry favour this leaves the door wide open for young or nimble agencies. These savvy agencies realise that if things don’t change (all of us) we’re all in a spot of bother so have smartened up their act to go after some of the low hanging fruit that’s out there.
Brands are slowly waking up to what their overseas offices have been dealing with for some time -conscious consumerism. People are starting to think about the consequences of their buying habits. Why? Because Greenpeace and co are making life pretty unpleasant for brands that are getting it wrong and that’s affecting share prices.
As you mention, there’s a lot for a company to gain by greening up, not only are consumers looking for more transparency (can’t wait for Wikileaks to release the private sector documents), there are advantages to avoiding costs of using toxic/rare/unethical materials that slower companies that don’t take into account and when legislation kicks in, they have to play serious catchup.
Greening also (as you also mention) translates to efficiency. A few months back I went to my boss at the agency I work and asked him if I could do an environmental audit on the agency as I felt the environment was back on the agenda and something we needed to be on top of – and an audit would be a good start. He was reluctant until I told him it wasn’t about costing extra, it was about achieving efficiencies and being ready for the green market and the next client that comes in asking what we are doing about our environmental impacts. (We’re an agency mainly dealing with FMCG brands). Funny thing was, we had an approach from a medium sized FMCG company which asked exactly those questions a few months later!
(BTW I’ve been blogging about the journey we as an agency are on if you’re interested.) And yes, we’ve added thousands of $ to the bottom line 🙂
I would say one of the reasons previous generations of ‘greenies’ failed was due to inferior products that were priced at the wrong end that didn’t deliver. Today’s green products have to be priced the same as no green products and perform equally in order for consumers to make the switch.
Getting to franksting’s TED link (Rory Sutherland’s followup TED talk is also great and in similar vein http://bit.ly/bWz7tR)
I agree we also need to make green fun – not doom and gloom. Doing good feels good.
And that is where you’re right, the greenies need our help but we have to meet them on their terms because we all have to play our part – if we don’t, the message lacks authenticity.
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@sammy says “Marketing isn’t the problem – its the minds of the people behind the marketing strategy.”
Guns don’t kill people either
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Great article Chris. The green movement needs to get real and learn to use the same techniques that are trashing the planet to their advantage. That means using market savy people who are not open to greenwashing and who can use their skill sets in a positive way. We need to break through the barriers and say it is ok to make money but not at the expense of the environment – companies who do the right thing need to be applauded and encouraged. Aggressive green marketers are needed and urgently – they know how to speak the language of the “other side”. It is time to fundamentally shift from idealistic positioning on the environment to ruthless pragmatism as we are running out of time. Whatever is being done by the environment movement is simply not working at the pace that is needed. Too much emphasis is being placed on politics and not enough on business – they hold the key. If they can be moved governments will follow. Green marketeers have a vital role to play in this.
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“Green marketeers have a vital role to play in this.”…..no, ALL marketers have a role to play, we all bear some responsibility. And we should all encourage our clients to understand their own responsibility. Instead of simply looking the other way, working on unsustainable or damaging products as so may do for the money, for career advancement etc. I agree, this is where the fight needs to be fought, at individual responsibility level, leaving it to government isn’t ever going to get us there.
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Based on these comments it seems some people, even those on a marketing blog, think all marketing to be the enemy.. I agree with Chris, but that’s when you consider that marketing shouldn’t just the colouring in department, but a function with a real say in the strategic direction of the organisation.
Tenuously sticking a “green” label on a non-green product is obviously a problem and doesn’t help the cause. But changing strategic direction to focus a business on practices and products that don’t just accelerate us towards a carbon-reduced world, but also deliver stakeholder value, is a good solution. To summarise Chris, if it ain’t commercially viable, it doesn’t matter how green it is.
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Thanks everyone for your comments. I’ve tried to address some of them below.
Firstly, @ Ben Ralph – you make several points which I’ve responded to below:
1. Entirely agree about business model and strategy. Understanding market opportunities, crafting propositions appropriately, and determining how internal capabilities will be harnessed to deliver them is what is needed. However, this is an area in which true marketing (ie not just campaigns / advertising) can make a huge contribution. I think @Alec (16) makes this point clearly.
2. The “tools that measure marketing effectiveness” vary from one instance to another. But they typically include penetration (ie number of units sold), brand associations, brand awareness and customer satisfaction. I’d argue that these are precisely the measures which help us make a link between marketing and green.
3. With this one I disagree. If the Green Movement waits for market regulation before it moves, it will be waiting a long time! Regulation is a critical component in addressing externalities that are not adequately priced in economic markets, but leaders don’t wait for regulators. There are enormous opportunities to be had by moving in advance of (or beyond) the current regulatory framework.
4. Absolutely – the green movement does need simplification. Much of this is about messaging, purpose and mission. This is the stuff of marketing. See comments from @Sammy (10), @Wilhaus (12) and @Tim (14).
I’d also not wish to suggest that the free market alone will fix the problems of living on a finite planet. However, one of the tools of the free market – marketing – can help a great deal.
@ David Reid. I don’t like greenwashing either. I can’t see how greenwashing could be outlawed but I guess I hope that informed consumers will see through it. (There are plenty of examples of that.) Maybe I’m biased, but I think we are seeing less greenwashing than in previous years – my hunch is that (a) companies sense there is a bigger opportunity to be had by actually changing how they do business, and (b) greenwash is increasingly less effective. I don’t have evidence for these views, so any information would be useful.
@ Megan. I take issue with “marketing is the problem”. The “problem” is that humanity is particularly bad at recognising and accepting that its activities adversely impact the planet. Perhaps “the problem” is humanity itself – but it isn’t marketing.
Finally, to those purists who believe that commercial forces can’t help us, take a look at this article: http://www.climatespectator.co.....rbon-curve.
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Nice wrap-up Chris. I’ve blogged some additional thoughts here
http://wp.me/pHdCH-4P
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