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What does green marketing mean?
The Green marketing (or Ecological marketing) consists of developing communication strategies that aim to promote and enhance the activity And the sustainability policies implemented by the company.
In a nutshell, do sustainable marketing It means to use the sustainability path undertaken by the company as Marketing lever to differentiate yourself from competitors.
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4 examples of green marketing strategies
Let's see some green marketing strategies that you can apply to your company.
- Green branding: many companies redesign their branding to reflect the values of sustainability. Changing the packaging, logo, or product image can immediately communicate your green commitment to consumers.
- Green advertising: use ad hoc campaigns to communicate a specific sustainability activity undertaken, an increase in the efficiency of a product or service from an environmental point of view, or a product or service with better than average sustainability performance (through real and demonstrable data and information).
- Sustainable partnerships: collaborating with non-profit organizations and organizations to support environmental causes can increase the credibility of your brand and demonstrate a concrete commitment.
- Sharing the sustainability report: the sustainability report can be an extremely effective tool for communicating your commitment to sustainability. This is a standardized reporting tool that allows you to communicate your business choices in the field of environmental, social and governance sustainability.
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What is green marketing for? Here's why you should use sustainability as a communication strategy
It is now a fact: today's consumers, especially if they are millennials or those belonging to Generation Z, are attentive to sustainability and to companies that carry out their commitment to environmental protection in a concrete way.
This is demonstrated by several studies:
- an analysis of the MIT Sloan Management Review showed that companies that have incorporated sustainability into their business strategies have achieved a 37% increase in their reputation and an 18% increase in their market value;
- a study conducted by the consulting firm Accenture revealed that companies that have adopted sustainable practices have seen a 13% increase in their profitability and a 20% increase in their productivity;
- the market research firm Nielsen has shown that 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for products from companies committed to sustainable practices.
In this landscape, companies find themselves having to analyze their activities and understand How to reduce environmental impact.
When it comes to Communicate a sustainability path, however, we must be very careful: there are many risks and in some cases they can prove to be really harmful to companies.
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How to do green marketing: 6 tips for effective communication
Una green marketing campaign success is not only based on promoting sustainable products, but also on transparent and consistent communication. Let's see below 5 steps to follow.
- Analyze your environmental impact: before promoting a sustainable campaign, it is essential to understand what the company's real environmental impact is.
- Define clear objectives: objectives must be measurable and realistic. For example, reducing CO emissions2 20% in five years.
- Choose suitable materials and processes: from packaging to logistics, every aspect of the product or service must be as consistent as possible with the sustainability strategy and its communication.
- Transparent communication: avoid greenwashing. Communication must be based on real facts, supported by recognized certifications, such as ISO 14001 or B Corp.
- Take advantage of digital channels: social platforms are a powerful tool for sharing your environmental commitment and interacting with consumers in a transparent way.
The 3 commandments of green marketing
- Be sure of the commitment you declare: if you want to dedicate yourself to a green marketing strategy, it is essential to be consistent, transparent and concrete.
- Support all the statements that are made with evidence: being vague does not exhaustively support the activities of a sustainable company.
- Don't mislead the consumer with misleading terms like “all natural”, “recycled”, or with statements like “our company is green!” or “we are sustainable!” : pay attention to the labels!
Let's take a closer look at the topic in our free guide on green claims.
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How NOT to do green marketing: beware of greenwashing
With the end Greenwashing We mean a communication strategy or marketing that presents activities as sustainable, trying to hide its negative impact.
In practice, it is a matter of giving yourself a patina of environmental credibility by diverting attention from negative effects of their activities or products. So here we are faced with the old dilemma between being and appearing.
But you have to be unprofessional to adopt Greenwashing? Unfortunately, the answer is no, and for this reason companies must pay particular attention to their sustainability initiatives to avoid obtaining this unpleasant stamp.
It helps us to understand more Alessandro Broglia, Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer of Up2You.
<The interest in environmental sustainability is growing rapidly: this involves, on the one hand, a continuous development of new solutions, but on the other, it favors the birth of more “improvised” players who offer amateur solutions to the problem.
At the same time, even companies increasingly see their competitors taking steps in the direction of sustainability and realize that they can no longer wait. Sometimes, not knowing how to move, they choose improvised solutions, even worse if combined with effective claims.
An example? Declare a single-use plastic product “zero impact” because the company collaborates with charitable organizations for the protection of the oceans.
Even if the company had carried out this initiative with the best intentions, it will probably be the subject of unpleasant, but well-deserved, Accusations of greenwashing.
Obviously it's a very simplistic and convenient approach, but it amazingly exposes the company that will be able to ride the slogan for a few months, but end up in the eye of the storm. In addition to certainly not being worth it, the concrete impacts on the environment will be very limited.
In Up2You we believe that taking an approach technical-scientific to environmental sustainability, based on best practices and international standards, is essential.
However, there is a difference compared to large consulting firms or research institutions: we want to make it as simple as the “easy” action in style Greenwashing which we do not recommend.
Some of our solutions, for example, guide companies on a path to environmental sustainability with a bullet-proof approach and with the simplicity of a monthly subscription, such as Netflix.
In our opinion this is aVery powerful weapon against greenwashing. >
