From Greenwashing to Believeable Green Branding

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From Greenwashing to Believeable Green Branding

• Peggy Simcic Brønn, BI

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January 2007
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Top 10 Green Brands, WPP
Landor Associates Most Green
Whole Foods Wild Oats Trader Joes Toyota Honda Su
b Zero Ikea Body Shop GE Aveda
Automotive Toyota Lexus Ford General
Motors BMW Petroleum and Energy BP Exxon
Mobil Chevron Royal Dutch Shell Chevron
Texaco
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Public Eye Global Bridgestone Corporation Ikea
Group Trafigura Beheer B.V.
Public Eye Positive Coop Eosta Marks Spencer
Public Eye Swiss Novartis Ruag Holding Xstrata
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GREEN MARKETING OF 1980S AND 90S PHASE I

• Type of advocacy advertising
• Raised profile of environmental issues

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BACKLASH TO GREEN MARKETING

• Media loved attacking firms showing off their
  green image
• UKs Green Con of the Year Award
• Basic philosophy - selling
• 65 of consumers agree business only use to sell
• Volume of messages only creating more doubt and
  confusion

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Greenwashing

• 1. the dissemination of misleading information by
  an organization to conceal its abuse of the
  environment in order to present a positive public
  image
• 2. the information so disseminated

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Greenpeaces Greenwashing detection kit

• The "greenwash" tag applies to any corporations
  that use the media to make environmental claims
  about one or more of their cleaner products,
  while continuing "business as usual" practices
  which rely, for example, on large amounts of
  natural capital, are energy intensive or
  inefficient, or which involve production and
  release of toxic chemicals.

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• The term is now used to refer to a wider range of
  corporate activities, including, but not limited
  to, certain instances of environmental reporting,
  event sponsorship, the distribution of
  educational materials, and the creation of "front
  groups." (Business Ethics)

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• BA's concern about climate change "nothing but
  greenwash and spin".

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Green Advertising and Green Public Relations
(Nakajima 2001)

• Are pervasive and misleading
• Sometimes outright lies
• Provide society with a distorted view of
  corporate environmentalism
• Block access to more full and objective
  information
• 500 million to 1 billion spent on green PR in
  US annually
• Most filtered through PR firms

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How Business Misleads Us to Create a Greener
Image (Nakajima 2001)

• Third-party endorsement
• Research for hire
• Funding anti-environment organizations and
  right-wing think tanks
• Targeting children and education system
• Industry coalitions promoting inaction (Global
  Climate Coalition created by Burson-Marsteller)

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How We are Misled contd

• Forwarding the idea that helping the environment
  will result in lost jobs and economic turmoil
• Shifting the blame
• Focusing on positive sides of industry (Monsanto
  claims RoundUp saves endangered species)
• Attacking environmentalists
• Partnerships with NGOs such as environmental
  groups (sitting on boards, fund raising, funding
  conferences, funding joint publications)

Is Big Business Buying Out The Environmental
Movement?by Philip Mattera, Good Jobs FirstJune
5th, 2007
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US Green group attacks oil giant on climate
research by Alison Benjamin, Guardian
UnlimitedSeptember 26th, 2007

• "ExxonMobil invests millions of Euros funding
  thinktanks and lobbyists committed to blocking
  internationally agreed policies to combat climate
  change whilst at the same time spending major
  sums on advertising designed to present itself as
  an environmentally responsible company."
• In the ads, Exxon claims to be reducing its
  greenhouse gas emissions. But FoE Europe said
  data from the company's corporate citizenship
  report showed Exxon's CO2 emissions increased by
  8.7m metric tons from 2003 and 2006.

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Beyond Propagandaby John Kenney, The New York
TimesAugust 24th, 2006
A former advertising executive realizes he
created one of the greatest greenwashing
campaigns of all time.

• Advertising is a funny business. You get to help
  shape the personalities of huge companies. Most
  often it's for cellphone service or credit cards
  or fast food or paper towels. Rarely are you
  faced with whether you ''believe'' in a product
  or service. This was different. This was serious.
  I believed wholeheartedly in BP's message, that
  we could go -- or at least work toward going --
  beyond petroleum.

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• The least credibile source for environmental
  information is an ad by a major company (Iyer and
  Banerjee 1993)
• 58 of environmental ads contained at least one
  misleading or deceptive claim (Kangun et al.
  1991)
• . . . If advertisers continue to misuse their
  power in promoting false ecological claims, then
  its power to mitigate the imminent crisis will be
  diminished (Fisk 1974)

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Green Minority Green Concern Green
Evolution Green Bandwagon Green Con Sophisticated
Green Ethical Consumer PANIC
Early 1980s
1985
1989
1990
Early 1990s
2007
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GREEN MARKETING - PHASE II

• Whole company must be behind effort
• Credible green products
• From genuinely green companies

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What does being a green brand really mean?

• Is it saying you are so?
• Is it donating money to organizations that are
  green friendly?
• Is it creating internal communication campaigns
  urging your employees to use paper and other
  materials properly and wisely?
• Is it using your brand as a platform to educate
  and teach your consumers on what this issue is
  about?

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Consumer Extremes (Kilbourne 1995)

• Anthropocentric reformist
• Green advertising seen as ecologically useful
  providing benefits to the consumer and ecology
• Ecocentric radical
• Green advertising is an oxymoron, advocating
  green consumption is advocating more consumption
  the only Green product is the one not produced

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Landor Associates ImagePower Green Brands Survey

• Consumers don't understand "Green" when it comes
  to companies brands.
• Consumer may be interested in Green, but can't
  identify it. Sixty-six percent of the American
  population can not identify the steps a company
  can take to make itself more Green.
• Does the packaging make the brand Green? Only
  fourteen percent of "Green Motivated" say
  producing environmentally safe products is what
  best describes a Green brand.
• The study also found brands with green logos
  and/or natural packaging (i.e. Origins, The Body
  Shop and Kiehl's) rose to the top in the green
  rankings.
• Green Consumers will buy brands they do not
  consider Green.
• In the Fast Food category, the perception of not
  being Green does not prevent even the "Green
  Motivated" individuals from purchasing the
  products.
• Consumers will also buy in Automotive Petroleum
  / Energy industries regardless of brands'
  "Non-Green" image.

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Sustainable Communication

• . . . Working towards a world where humankind
  can preserve rather than dominate nature
  (McDonagh 1998)
• Ecological sustainability as a focal point
• Moving society from hyper-consumption to
  sustainable consumption
• Demands restructuring of business, government and
  economy
• Without considering these things the viability of
  green branding and sustainable communication
  becomes a problem (Kilbourne 2004)

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• Environmental Activity in Marketing Strategies,
  Structures and Functions
• Level of greeness
• Not environmentally active
• Slightly environmentally active
• Environmentally active

• Communication Strategy
• Objective
• Executional framework
• Message elements
• Consumer benefits
• Driving forces

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Agencies Doing Their Part
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ISO 26000 Proposed Draft Section on Stakeholder
Identification, Engagement and Communication

• Communication is a means of providing
  transparency to stakeholders and is therefore a
  key part of all social responsibility activities.
  Communication also takes the form of reporting.
  Image and reputation issues are a part of this
  communication process.
• There is a need for transparency, accountability
  and preferably standardization in reporting and
  other communication with internal and external
  stakeholders.

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Contd.

• Standardization in terminology applied by
  corporate communication can be very helpful,
  although specific organizations or countries
  might require communication tailored to their
  particular needs.
• The commitment of (senior) management should be
  visible.
• IABC is partnering with ISO to work on
  project.

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Needed

• More rigid ethical and environmental standards
• Must encompass production, consumption and
  disposition
• Transforming the consumption process the most
  difficult challenge
• Focus on where humans fit in nature and political
  reform
• Near at home and dear to heart

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Nye regler for markedsføring- Disse miljøordene
er nå forbudt

• Bruk av utsagn/opplysninger, symboler og/eller
  merkeordninger i markedsføringen, som gir
  inntrykk av at virksomheten tar særlige
  miljømessige hensyn, eller at produktet har slike
  særlige egenskaper Den nærmere avgrensningen av
  hva som er en miljøpåstand beror på en
  skjønnsmessig helhetsvurdering av selve
  markedsføringen, hvor blant annet ordlyd, layout
  på påstandene og bildebruk vil kunne få
  betydning. Bruk av skjønnsmessige uttrykk som
  f.eks. miljøvennlig, grønn og ren vil etter
  ombudets oppfatning alltid utløse kravene for hva
  som er en miljøpåstand.

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Exaggerated Claims

• Toyota Prius Verdens mest miljøvennlige bil
• Opel Miljøvennlige motorer
• Peugeot den kraftfulle og miljøvennlige Hdi
  turbodieselmotoren
• Suzuki Salgs- og miljøvinneren
• Smart Prøv verdens mest miljøvennlige og
  morsomme bybil
• Toyota Verdens reneste dieselmotorer
• Saab miljøvennlig turbodiesel

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Three Vs of Environmental Marketing

• Visibility - amount of information
• Virtue - actual behavior of organization
• Verifiability - allowing access to information

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Corporate Communication and the Environment

• Is perceived as reliable if (David Bernstein)
• Claims are based on past and present performance
  and are easily proved
• The firm undertakes independent assessed audits
  and releases results
• Improvements are measured against objectives
• Commitment to environmental performance is at the
  board level
• Environmental policy includes educating workforce
• Style avoids extravagant language

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• 1. ASK What are we making (product or service?
  Green or not?) How are we making it? Who are we
  working with?
• 2. ASK how can we makeour passion and vision
  relevant and engaging? our consumers into
  advocates? How can we empower consumers to make a
  difference by providing them with education,
  infrastructure, events and experiences?
• ASK How to ensure that our approach is viewed as
  authentic? Transparent? Are all stakeholders
  aware of our intentions and progress? Is our
  vision embedded into the fabric of our company?
• 4. ASK How can we inspire consumers? What
  technology and partners do we need to gain access
  to?
• 5. ASK What would it take to achieve zero
  environmental impact and still meet our
  consumers needs? Can we make consumers more
  responsible? Achieving zero environmental
  impact will only come about if changes in
  consumer behavior can be made engaging websites
  that engage consumers in more responsible forms
  of behavior

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Conclusion

• Accusations of greenwashing are stronger than
  ever and should be taken seriously.
• The environment is an extremely difficult
  subject.
• There seems to be a general atmosphere of panic.
• Consumers need guidance and help.
• Firms must show evidence of honest and credible
  behavior.
• Green branding/corporate communication is
  necessary and useful in promoting
  environmentally-oriented consumption behavior.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION