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Marketers are Seeing Green

Submitted by David on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 15:09.

Media and advertising are awash in "going green". Time magazine's April cover story -- featuring a green cover logo and a mashup of the famous Iwo Jima photo (in which soldiers hoist a tree instead of an America flag) -- symbolizes that a new era of green marketing has arrived.

Although this isn't the only era marketers have used the environment as a central theme, the current green wave signifies a much larger and deeper shift by consumers and producers alike. The view that green is a shift and not a fad is supported by several recent studies of marketing trends (see below), including one by eMarketer called "Green Onine: Growing Awareness", which opines that the shift and interplay between consumer and producer is being driven and played out on the Internet (with support from traditional media channels of course) to much different results.

The trend towards green is no longer the case of niche consumer groups and activists pulling reluctant corporations into making vague green claims. Sure, there are allegations of widespread "greenwashing" and there probably always will be. But there is no denying that corporations of all sizes, ranging from mega retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot, to major consumer packaged good companies, such as Unilver and Protor & Gamble, are making large investments in environmental programs that go to the core of their businesses (e.g. material sourcing, product design and manufacturing). And they are seeking to tout these investments and programs as an essential part of their corporate and product branding efforts. According to Jessica Hogue, research director, Nielsen Online, "last year was the tipping point for green marketing as a whole. Every type of company is now getting into the mix." eMarketer, May 2008.

And with today's green marketing, the Internet radically alters the playing field. Consumers who must interpret green marketing efforts are increasingly using blogs and forums to review and discuss marketers' claims.

Perhaps, more important, consumers are also integrating environmental concerns into basic purchase decisions for products and services. For instance, eMarketer found that a majority of consumers perceive themselves as green on some level and a significant number are now willing to pay extra for eco-friendly products and to support corporations they perceive as doing the right thing on the environment.

Here's some additional green online metrics that demonstrate the shift towards all things green:

  • US online retailers that sent Earth Day emails in 2008:  16%. (Mail Experience Council , May 23, 2008)
  • US adult online buyers who consider it very/extremely important for companies to be environmentally conscious:  60% (DoubleClick Performics, April 7, 2008)
  • US adult internet users who are willing to spend more on environmentally friendly products: 57% (Accenture, November 19, 2007)
  • US adult Internet users who reduced the amount of energy used in their homes:  63% (Harris Interactive, April 18. 2008)
  • Green marketing as the most important marketing trend according to US marketing executives in Oct-Nov 07 poll:  32%  (Anderson Analytics, MENG Marketing Trends Survey Nov. 2007)
  • US adult Internet users who viewed green advertisements “frequently” in the last three months: 45%  (Burst Media, April 2008)

Amidst the sudden media adoptions of all things green, blog subsequent entries here will report on a handful of recent studies to address to basic questions:

  • How real and economically grounded is the growing green market?
  • What are the risks of a consumer backlash from this over-saturation and how do companies mitigate these risks?

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