Growing brands in the green market

Despite all the attention being paid to economic concerns, healthcare reform, diplomatic stand-offs and everything else going on in the world, the environmental movement and efforts to combat climate change remain a priority with governments and people around the world. And sustainability remains a driving force in business, too, as many consumers remain devoted to green products and brands that commit to sustainable business practices. 

On Friday, October 2, Cohn & Wolfe co-hosted “Green Brands, Global Insight: A Forum on Growing Brands in the Green Market” along with Penn, Schoen & Berland (PSB), Landor Associates and Esty Environmental Partners. The event included a lively panel discussion featuring Mark Penn of PSB, Russ Meyer, Chief Strategy Officer for Landor, Dan Esty of Esty who also authored “Green to Gold” and was a campaign advisor to President Barack Obama, and Annie Longsworth, head of Cohn & Wolfe’s Global Sustainability Practice. The panel was moderated by Marc Gunther, Fortune contributing editor, author of "Faith and Fortune: How Compassionate Capitalism is Transforming American Business" and a popular environmental blogger.

The impetus for the event was the release of the most recent Green Brands survey conducted in partnership by the four firms and now in its fifth iteration. Green Brands explores consumers’ perceptions of green practices in business, gauges their level of involvement in improving the state of the environment, and ranks the brands they think are best at being green. This year’s survey highlighted new research from seven countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, India and Brazil.

Here are a few highlights from the discussion:

• The undeniable trend is that green and concern for the environment will continue to be incorporated into how consumers evaluate the products they buy and companies they are loyal to.

• Nevertheless, price and quality of performance remain first and second consumer priorities. Green is a good third button to push, but it can’t succeed at the expense of the first two.

• It’s common for there to be tension in how a company integrates sustainable business practices into their business model and how they actually communicate them. As such, it’s imperative to be thoughtful and strategic about the priority and delivery of messages.

• The general public has rising expectations, and the environmental community can be unforgiving. Brands must carefully map out the issues and stakeholders and understand the full concerns. There are no shortcuts.

• The average consumer spends just one minute considering green issues. That makes brand an even more important decision factor.

• For existing brands, there are two choices: create something new, like a green line, or update your existing brand. If you don’t change the efficacy of the product, then updating a brand is likely the best solution. If your existing brand is not far along on the green curve, you must consider how much you are compromising your core product.

• The most successful green brands showcase their company/product in a creative, compelling way. These are companies whose operations and marketing functions work synergistically.

• If you’re in an industry that has been traditionally in the crosshairs of the environmental movement, it’s going to take a lot of work to get a positive message out.

• It’s not necessary to have every element of your product and/or operations completely sustainable right now.  There is an understanding that not everything can be done at once. Just don’t overpromise. The distance between the promise and the reality can come back to bite you. Talk about what you’re doing and what you’re planning to do. If you have a weakness, have a strategy to address it because it will come up in the public discourse.

• The opposite of greenwashing is ‘greenmuting,’ companies who “undertell” their story. These companies run the risk of losing brand advantage to someone who is more willing to talk about it, but yet might not have as much of a story to tell.

From operations to communications, green is a complicated issue, but it isn’t stopping brands around the world from doing the right thing. Check out the full results of this year’s Green Brands survey. What are your thoughts on the issue? What green brand or campaign have you seen recently that has impressed you?