Target Marketing has posted the presentation online with the slides and audio.  Please enjoy!

In addition, here’s a link to a blog post I wrote in April with some notes I took on Case and Singer’s remarks.

Last week, I noticed that the bottle had changed.  It is now made of a darker blue plastic, and has a slightly different shape.  When I looked closer, I saw that the label included a new logo, with the phrase, “ECO SENSE BOTTLE.”  There is a trademark symbol after eco-sense, which makes the logo look pretty official.  Here’s a picture I took with my phone:

Image of the "ECO SENSE BOTTLE" logo on new 5-gallon Poland Spring bottles.

Given my interest in green marketing and green business issues, I looked closer at the bottle, hoping for an explanation of what eco-sense means.  Unfortunately, the only language that could be considered an explanation was, “our eco-sense bottle is returned, refilled and recycled.”  As far as I know, the large bottles on water coolers have been getting returned, refilled and recycled for years.  In fact, when the Poland Spring delivery team comes to our office, they drop full bottles off and pick up empty bottles to be cleaned and refilled.

Unfortunately, the bottle does not have any more information on what the company, owned by Nestle, means by the new logo.  Therefore, I called Poland Spring late last week and connected with someone in their Consumer Affairs department.  When they learned that I was calling about a bottle typically delivered to businesses, they connected me to a group that fields questions and comments for their business services group.

I spoke with a very nice representative who explained, “We’re trying to use less plastic on the actual bottles.” She also explained that they are made from “an easier plastic to recycle.”  I asked a follow-up question about the ease of recycling the material, but she didn’t have specifics available.  I made the suggestion that future bottles include this additional information about containing less plastic and being easier to recycle.

The key lesson from this experience with Poland Spring is one that I and others in the green marketing community have been emphasizing for years: when you make green claims, you must be transparent and provide the details behind the language and numbers. Wherever possible, it helps to provide third-party references for your claims.  Poland Spring did not do this, which surprised me, given their past experience: Nestle Waters was hammered with greenwashing claims by bloggers when they came out with their eco-shape bottle across all of their water brands in 2007-2008 (of which Poland Spring is one) – here’s another example of criticism they received.  I understand why they have been accused of greenwashing for their retail side bottles, as the majority of plastic bottles end up in landfills, and the eco-shape logo gives people the impression that they are being environmentally-friendly by drinking bottled water.  Terrachoice, a leading environmental marketing agency, defines greenwashing as “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.”  I personally try to drink water out of a reusable bottle whenever possible, and my firm has given them to all of our employees as a way to practice what we preach.

The difference in the case of the eco-sense 5-gallon bottle is that it is not greenwashing, but rather a failure of a major brand to provide clarity on its green claims.  Large water coolers enable people to cut down on bottled water consumption in favor of filling up reusable water bottles like those made by Sigg or Nalgene.  Poland Spring went to the trouble of trademarking “eco-sense” and creating a special logo for the term, but they didn’t take the extra step of providing consumers an explanation of what the term means.  According to Cone, a leading cause marketing agency, 91% of consumers want to hear about companies’ social and environmental commitments.  More than the high-level green logo or tagline, conscious consumers want to “get under the hood” and understand the details behind companies’ green claims.

By failing to include further explanation of their eco-sense logo, Poland Spring failed to give their customers the option of learning more.  I would strongly suggest they address this lack of transparency, and immediately start adding further information about their eco-sense program onto the larger bottles.  It may cost a few more cents per bottle in printing fees, but they will more than make up for it with stronger customer relationships.

Here’s a link to access the webinar and watch it.

Below please find some notes I took on Case and Singer’s remarks.  Merdan served as a resource to answer questions near the end.

Scott Case, Vice President, TerraChoice

• Discussed growth of green products and claims in the marketplace
• Covered environmental claims and how the FTC is investigating and enforcing their regulations to counter questionable environmental claims
• Defined greenwashing as misleading consumers about the environmental details of a product or service
• Terrachoice has developed 7 Sins of Greenwashing
• Discussed various leading green labels (EcoLogo, Energy Star, Green Seal)
• Suggested do’s and don’ts of green marketing. His key suggestion was one I strongly agree with and advocate – “If you’re making a public claim, provide public proof”

Randi Singer, Litigation Partner with Weil, Gotshal & Menges

• First rule of advertising is that it needs to be true
• Discussed FTC’s “Green Guides”
• All claims must be specific, transparent, supported by science
• Need to avoid general environmental benefit claims
• Specific claims must be true and not deceptive (e.g. “Biodegradable” must completely break down and return to nature in reasonably short period of time; “Recyclable” must be able to be collected and reused)
• FTC has been reworking their Green Guides for several years, held 3 workshops in 2008 (1st focused on carbon offsets and RECs, 2nd focused on green packaging claims, 3rd on buildings and textiles)
• Expects new Green Guides to be released in 2010

Q&A – Excellent session – starting at around the 45-minute mark, covering some of the following topics:

• Supplier verification
• Paper choices

I hope you enjoy the webinar!

As I’ve written on a number of occasions, “green” envelopes are an important part of an organization’s marketing and communications efforts (we have already sold more than a quarter billion envelopes made with 100% certified wind power over the past couple years).  In fact, they are often the first component of a direct mail piece that a recipient sees, and it is important to take that opportunity to send a values-laden message through the materials/inks/energy that are used to produce the piece.

Obviously, using green practices for direct mail should be just one of the many sustainable business practices that organizations employ – otherwise they could be accused of greenwashing.  However, given recent developments in technology, mailers can make their pieces more environmentally-friendly without adding much, if any, cost, which removes the most critical barrier to adoption.  Research has demonstrated that consumers want to buy products from companies that do business in an environmentally-responsible manner.  Marketing collateral is one way for organizations to demonstrate this commitment.

Here’s a link to the full article.

The article, written by Jennifer Maxwell-Muir of Maxwell PR, a firm with a wide range of experience in the natural/organic industry, states that consumers are getting tired of the massive news coverage and marketing campaigns surrounding the “green” movement.  Maxwell-Muir provides some helpful tips on how companies can cut through the noise and reach consumers with a green message:

7 Tips to Avoid Eco-Fatigue

1. Be remarkable. You can make the “greenest” product on the planet, but unless it solves a significant consumer problem, works or tastes better than anything in the market and offers a good value in ratio to price, consumers won’t buy it.
2. Be green because it’s something you value, not as a marketing gimmick. Can coal really market the industry as being green and clean? What is Kermit the Frog doing with the Ford Escape? People smell falsehoods, and you go from bad to worse.
3. Don’t be bashful. A lot of truly “green” companies are afraid to speak up because it feels too self-righteous. Consumers actually appreciate your efforts, no matter the size, as long as they’re earnest and a step in the right direction. The amplification of your message can increase with your commitments.
4. Make it fun and engaging. Green doesn’t have to be staid. The average consumer doesn’t even know that the “hip” home cleaning products (is that an oxymoron?) made by Method are even green. And that’s entirely the point. This fast-growing brand wants consumers to love its product first — because they’re well-designed, smell beautiful and work well. They’re also planet friendly. Method’s attitude is: Why wouldn’t they be?
5. Partner with an established nonprofit. When Kettle Foods wanted to add a cause element to its new Backyard Barbecue flavor, it immediately thought of wildlife habitat protection because it’s something it does in its own backyard. To inspire consumers to apply the same principles at home, Kettle partnered with a respected nonprofit, the National Wildlife Foundation. Then it encouraged people to get involved by creating their own backyard wildlife habitats. Who wouldn’t want a bag of free chips as thanks for attracting local birds?
6. Invite consumers to join you. A flushable diaper doesn’t sound like a product that would inspire a cult following, but gDiapers realized early on that its core consumers were a vocal bunch. So gDiaper empowered them. By creating gMums and gDads, the company arms independent, trusted “spokespeople” with free product and the tools they need to spread the word. Doesn’t get much better than that.
7. Move beyond green. Green is a fad. Sustainability is continual improvement. If you’re only looking at energy consumption, you’re just scratching the tip of the iceberg. Businesses that endorse a “triple-bottom-line” approach — Organic Valley Farms, New Belgium and Clif Bar, to name a few — also address their affect on society in their communities. Environment is the third leg of the stool, but without the other two, you wouldn’t have a place to sit.

Please click here to access the entire article.