Green Marketing is still in its infancy, and yet we’re already seeing headlines citing “green marketing fatigue” among consumers.
The allure of green marketing has proven so powerful that too many companies are making dubious claims about their environmental commitment – and the entire green marketing movement is now met with considerable skepticism as a result.
So what’s a company to do?
In my view there are two green marketing avenues available to marketers:
The "corporate initiative approach", which usually sees a company promoting the fact that they use 5% less paper at head office or have reduced air conditioning usage
The "customer experience approach", which enables clients to participate in some way in reducing materials, recycling packaging, and so on
The customer approach is by far the more effective of the two, and much less likely to be viewed suspiciously by your customers. Green marketing initiatives that your customers actually participate in combine a positive customer experience with your green marketing efforts, making both feel more genuine at the end of the day.
For example, would you rather hear that the grocery store you shop at has reduced their lighting by 10% to conserve energy, or that you can now choose recycled paper bags instead of plastic?
Would you rather hear that Toyota has cut emissions from their factories by 10% on average, or that they are offering special lease rates on their most fuel efficient cars to make them even more affordable?
In both cases, the latter option allows customers to make a deliberate decision to do something that’s better for the environment, be it choosing a reusable shopping bag or a more fuel efficient car. The result is a more genuine "green" experience.
Enabling clients to do something green through your company is far more effective than doing something at head office and then telling the world you did it.
