Why sustainability will not be achieved until “green” goes mainstream.
By Emily Drew
"Eighty-two percent of consumers say “green” is feminine. Green is the new pink, and that’s not good for environmentally friendly products and businesses.
A study launched by OgilvyEarth states “green” products aren’t being marketed effectively to the mainstream consumer and green marketers are actually forgetting two major consumer groups: men and the working class. The report, “Mainstream Green,” notes that 66% of consumers are “in the middle” on being green, and argues environmental sustainability will be impossible until green becomes “normal,” even invisible in society.
The biggest barrier to green products is still the price threshold. OgilvyEarth found up to a 100% price premium on green products, and most consumers simply cannot afford to enter the market on green products, said the report’s co-authors Graceann Bennett and Freya Williams at Sustainable Brands ‘11 held in Monterey, California.
This price gap does relate clearly to the feelings half of Americans surveyed have on green marketing: it’s either targeting “rich elitist snobs” or “crunchy granola hippies.”
If the public perception of green is bad, what can marketers do about it? In general, use mainstream marketing techniques for green products.
“Lose the crunch,” Williams added. “Why do we have to package green products with burlap and leaves? Nobody wants to be that hippie person anymore.”
Bennett urged marketers to take a cue from the cancer movement’s playbook. “Make messaging personal, plausible and positive,” she said.
The biggest opportunity for marketers, their study shows, is men.
“My husband isn’t down at the pub saying to his friends, ‘I can’t wait to test drive the new Leaf,’” Williams said after discussing how un-sexy green marketing was for most men they surveyed. “He’s checking out the new Tesla.”
Again they cited cancer movement: “At a recent breast cancer event, male participants wore pink T-shirts, sure,” Williams said, “but the T-shirts read ‘Save Second Base.’”
Those event promoters knew how to use humor and sexuality to appeal to the men in their audience. Why can’t green marketers do the same? Until this is figured out, the authors said, green will be an outlier.
“Normal,” Williams said, “is what is sustainable.”
Read the full report by Bennett and Williams.
Note: This article has appeared on the BCLC Blog.
About Emily Drew
Emily Drew is a BCLC researcher and reporter and head of BCLC’s mapping initiatives. She writes about current events and trends in CSR."
Em: http://csrwiretalkback.tumblr.com/post/ ... issan-leaf