As consumers turn to greener products, companies scramble to meet these demands. Whether people are motivated by the idea of saving the environment, healthy living alternatives, or higher qualities of products, it has become clear that companies must respond.
Yet, as companies scramble, they often move too quickly, without strategic forethought or good intentions. Here greenwashing is born. Misleading claims, overstating achievements, and more can take a company's green initiative from beneficial to high-risk. Being perceived as participating in greenwashing will not only damage a company's reputation and credibility, it can also have very real legal repercussions.
The best way to avoid greenwashing is to know the FTC's guidelines by heart. But for those of use who do not have a couple free months and a law degree to make sure we know every last word, here are a couple tips for best practices in green marketing for your company:
1. Transparency
With new trends of reporting and sharing information skyrocketing, do your research and share the information. By providing access to details and reporting on progress, companies are avoiding the most dangers reactions to not marketing green correctly. When sharing your information about sustainability, showing that you used third party accreditors will also help add validity to your claims.
2. Live Your Values
When a company truly commits to its values and lives them everyday, it is hard to stray from the true intention captures in green marketing. Communicate your values in your marketing. Sharing what you believe in as a company can help you take a break from traditional sales marketing and share more about why people should become your loyal customers - not just a quick solution or value-add but commitment to a longer relationship because you care about the same things. Educating your own employees can do wonders for making sure your commitments to sustainability are followed at every level and in every department of your company, even ones where involvement is not obvious, but misalignment could lead to greewashing. Also, a visible and active CEO wins trust and shows the way for the rest of the company. While sustainability has to be incorporated at all levels to be successful, a company that does not also have top down leadership in this area will not succeed.
3. Think About the Whole Life Cycle of Your Product
When companies sell a product, it can be easy to only think about the creation of that product and not the full life cycle of that how product effects the earth and community during use and after its useful life. But if you are going to make green claims about a product, you have to! Minimize life cycle impact by thinking about responsible use and disposal. By considering this larger picture view of your products, your company may find unrealized value that could be captured with helping your customers upkeep their product or in some cases even add more value to customers by helping them dispose of or recycle your products after they are done with them.
Good luck with greening your marketing practices!
Check out more pertinent information on FTC guidelines:
http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/truth-advertising/green-guideshttp://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/10/ftc-issues-revised-green-guides
These are just some of our thoughts! A great article from GreenBiz goes into much more detail:
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/01/14/five-strategies-avoid-taint-greenwash-your-business 
No comments:
Post a Comment