By Taylor Luke
Senior Designer

Show Off Planet-Friendly Features Without Sounding Phony.

Turning the “green” trend into green profits has been an alluring fad ever since Al Gore stood on that mechanical lift pointing at flowcharts. At that time, the shift in environmental responsibility broadened from being touted only by granola-makers to something consumers were demanding of all products they purchased. The green marketing phenomenon has proven to be more than a passing trend: BBMG recently reported that 86% of US consumers who say the words “environmentally friendly” describe them “well,” and 34% say they describe them “very well.” Additionally, Edelman reported the number one issue that consumers care about globally is protecting the environment (92% of those surveyed!).

It didn’t take long before everything from cleaning products to airlines were dipping a toe in the murky “green” water. Look on any grocery store shelf and you’ll see buzzwords such as “natural,” “eco-friendly,” “free-trade,” and “organic” float across product messaging like the cure-all snake-oil claims of generations past. This is called “greenwashing” (originally in reference to the practice of hotels trying to make higher profit by not washing towels or bedding daily and passing it off as conservation) and consumers are quickly becoming wise to these often misleading baits.

So how do you highlight the very real environmental benefits of your product or company without sounding gimmicky or insincere? Consider these three best practices:

1. Focus on your unique selling points (USP). Be specific about these points in your brand positioning strategy. Check out CockadoodleDOO, E-cloth, and Nature’s Remedy in our portfolio for examples of using specific characteristics of your brand positioning strategy to back up claims of environmental responsibility.
2. Create a graphic badge. Once you’ve honed in on the USPs of your brand strategy, create a graphic badge highlighting these USPs for quick recognition on your product packaging design. The badge we created to highlight the whole-kernel corn used to make World’s Best Cat Litter™ is instantly recognizable on the product packaging, website, brochures and other collateral. This badge is effective because it quickly communicates a brand message about whole-kernel corn that is easily understood.
3. Start a conversation. Foster a dialog through inbound marketing with your customer. Recently, Dell declared they wanted to build the “greenest PC on earth”. The company launched IdeaStorm as a platform to solicit “direct feedback from, [its] customers, suppliers and stakeholders” on how to do just that. Shell and General Motors have incorporated similar inbound marketing tactics which have lead to increased visibility on connected social media and blogs. These consumer and expert voices add increased legitimacy to any “green” claims. Our own success at this is being proven through the Social Media Marketing and Blogosphere Engagement efforts for World’s Best Cat Litter™ and the Greenopolis community for Waste Management.

If you can achieve this trustworthy image of a green company through highlighting your environmentally friendly USPs, official badges, and real (honest) unstructured branding communications, you will be well on your way to joining the ranks of Tom’s of Maine, Stoneyfield Farm, and Patagonia.

Interested in crafting your green brand strategy without running into the “greenwashing” trap? Give MicroArts a call.