sustainability

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Doubleclick Performics (division of Google) report provides insights into green marketing online

According to DoubleClick Performics’ recent Green Marketing Study, 60% of respondents who make online purchases say it is important that a company is environmentally conscious (although this report was released in April, I thought it was still very relevant and interesting).

According to Doubleclick’s site, “In the survey of 1,087 adults, consumers indicated the most attractive type of environmentally-conscious marketing is that which focuses on such ‘specific user benefits’ as saving money on bills or longer product lifespan. Consumers, when choosing between two similar products, prefer environmentally friendly products; 83 percent indicated they are extremely or very likely to choose the environmentally friendly option. ”

Stuart Larkins, senior vice president of search at DoubleClick Performics, commented, “Not only are consumers interested in green products and companies, our survey shows that nearly half of them will pay at least five percent more for them.” He continued, “With so many consumers online researching and purchasing products, retailers should include relevant environmentally-conscious information throughout their paid and natural search campaigns, affiliate promotions, display ads, and e-mail.”

Here’s a link to the full report: Doubleclick Performics Green Marketing Survey

This report is relevant especially because it highlights the importance of articulating a value proposition to the customer of “green” products. Data already shows that people and companies want to go green, but by explaining why they can help them (save money, be more energy efficient, promote renewable energy, attract employees) and the environment, sales will rise.

In addition, it is also important to note that this report finds that consumers are willing to pay more for “green” products, so long as the price differential is reasonable.

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Interesting article on importance of good relationships between marketing and sustainability officers

Gary NeillAdvertising Age recently wrote a special report on the importance of strong relationships between marketing and sustainability officers. Although the sustainability officers play a leadership role in helping an organization be a good steward of the environment, the CMO is responsible for crafting the company’s communication strategy with its customers. Therefore, for a company to have a well-articulated green strategy, that is also backed up by substantive organizational action, these two departments/officers must work well together.

Here’s a link to the entire article. I found it to be an interesting read: Article

Illustration by Gary Neill, courtesy of Advertising Age.

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Highlights from Advertising Age’s Green Conference

Advertising Age held its Green Conference last week.  In an article posted on its website (reproduced below because it is no longer available in complete form online), its reporters highlight a key message from speakers: perfection in green brands is virtually impossible.  Rather, what’s more important is when organizations make real and genuine efforts to operate more sustainably.  As I have written often before, not only is it the right thing to do, but it can drive profit growth by helping an organization strengthen its relationships with clients and prospects.

Please see below for the full article.

Come as You Are to Help Environment

Posted June 10, 2008
By Natalie Zmuda and Rupal Parekh, Advertising Age

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Perfection is not attainable, let alone necessary, when it comes to being green.

That was the message delivered by a collection of green experts and marketers at Advertising Age’s Green Conference today. In the current environment, accusations of “greenwashing” have become the norm, but that’s no excuse to sit on the sidelines, said Peter Seligmann, CEO-chairman of Conservation International, during his keynote address.

“None of us are pure. None of your brands are pure,” he said. “We need an aspiration to be pure. We’re not going to achieve that if we wait until we’re pure to say something. We’re going to be silent. And we can’t afford to be silent.”

McDonald’s admits it cares
Mr. Seligmann pointed to McDonald’s, one of the group’s first major corporate partners some 18 years ago, as a prime example, noting that the fast-food chain didn’t talk about its environmental efforts out of fear that it would be attacked, instead of celebrated, for what it was doing.

Today, the company is becoming more vocal about its green efforts, said Mary Dillon, exec VP-global chief marketing officer at McDonald’s, even if it’s not necessarily a brand consumers associate with sustainability initiatives. “I know that the environment might not be the thing that springs to mind when you think of our brand,” she said. “[But] part of our overall DNA has been to be socially responsible. Before, we were more behind the scenes, and now its more direct-to-consumer. We feel it’s time to be a little more public about it.”

The company’s latest efforts are exceedingly public, as it leverages its iconic Happy Meals by integrating environmental and sustainable messages alongside popular properties such as “Bee Movie” and “Kung Fu Panda.” The company is even introducing an endangered-animal-themed Happy Meal in some of its international locations.

Wal-Mart on board, too
Wal-Mart, another company that might not be immediately thought of as green, is also taking a more vocal stand on the environment, with the help of the Martin Agency, which also works with Al Gore. “Lee Scott is very open about the fact that they got into this as a PR effort, and it’s a religion now,” said Mike Hughes, president and creative director of the Martin Agency.

He noted that the key to Wal-Mart’s campaign is that it is built on one of the chain’s core equities: saving consumers money. “We don’t tout sustainability for Wal-Mart,” he pointed out. “We communicate what would happen if [Wal-Mart customers] all bought organic milk or [energy-efficient] light bulbs.”

Similar to that approach, which focuses on the little things that consumers can do, Ideal Bite, a website and daily newsletter co-founded by Jennifer Boulden, senior VP, embraces and celebrates what it calls “green light.” “They’re driving SUVs to Whole Foods. That’s the best way to sum up our audience,” Ms. Boulden said.

But, she cautioned that despite many consumers’ willingness to embrace an imperfect green life, they are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to navigating brand claims. She cited a study that found 68% of consumers believe companies are greenwashing or overstating their green claims. “More and more, consumers are getting wise and reading labels, looking for certification seals and researching,” she said, advising brands to “speak proudly about your accomplishments while acknowledging that there is still work to be done.”

Harm reduction
A panel titled “What can agencies and media companies contribute to the green movement?” also touched on the idea of embracing imperfection. Don Carli, senior research fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Communication, encouraged brands to take into consideration the carbon footprint of their ad campaigns.

The theme of transparency carried on into the afternoon, with one panelist being perhaps a tad too transparent: Patrick Farrell, VP-corporate responsibility and communications at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, told the audience that while backing out of his driveway in his hybrid car this morning, he ran over a rabbit.

Mr. Farrell participated in a session called “Marketers who are walking the walk,” which heard from Enterprise — a relative newcomer to the green scene — as well as representatives from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Green Mountain Coffee, both considered early movers in the sustainability space.

While you don’t have to be perfect, being innovative doesn’t hurt; take for instance a program that Fairmont recently launched wherein guests are not only offered organic and locally sourced cuisine, but can actually go out into area markets to shop for food with hotel chefs. Eco-friendly initiatives like these are spurring a great deal of consumer response for the brand, said Lori Holland, executive director-public relations for the hospitality chain.

Outdoor clothing and gear retailer Patagonia made a tough — and at the time unheard-of — decision years ago to embrace transparency. It ceased manufacturing the metal spikes that once provided the bulk of the company’s income upon learning they were actually damaging rock surfaces, said Patagonia,com Creative Director Bill Boland.

Steps to redemption
The company’s philosophy of putting all the cards out on the table in the face of green scrutiny continues today. Among other things, Patagonia has developed the “Footprint Chronicles,” an interactive mini-site that allows consumers to track the impact — from waste generated to energy consumption — of specific Patagonia products from design through delivery. Buyers are able to weigh both the good and bad aspects of the product’s environmental footprint prior to making a purchase, and can also post feedback online.

And the bottom line, speakers throughout the day pointed out, is that going green is good for business. A number of big marketers like JetBlue, Volkswagen, PepsiCo and Fiji Water are helping offset their negative impact on the environment by purchasing environmental credits (renewable energy and carbon credits), a presentation by Neil Braun, chairman-CEO of green solutions firm GreenLife, showed. GreenLife helped AdAge offset the conference.

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Highlights from Boston Business Journal Green Business Summit


On Friday, May 16, the Boston Business Journal hosted its first-ever Green Business Summit.

I attended the morning event, and was impressed with the program, which included a keynote speech by Cape Wind CEO Jim Gordon. Here’s a link to an article on his talk:
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/05/12/daily46.html?surround=lfn

CEO of Suffolk Construction John Fish’s comments were particularly interesting and penetrating. He cited a number of steps that his firm had taken that I believe represent an excellent roadmap or model for all companies in terms of how to inculcate a commitment to green solutions and sustainability within their organization.

They included the following:

  1. Change the culture – it is important to help people think and act green. Fish said steps to make this possible can be as small as putting a blue recycling bin next to a black trash can at each employee’s desk, reminding them of environmental choices every day.
  2. Training – At Suffolk, this includes a 3-day course on green construction for employees
  3. Be a catalyst for change by bringing all parties together – In Suffolk’s case, this means architects, owners and subcontractors. In our business, it is designers, marketing professionals and senior management.
  4. Affordability – People need to overcome the perception that going green is more expensive. In the construction industry, a green building that is more energy-efficient can save money in the long run.
  5. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it – You need to create standards and specifics metrics by which to measure success.
  6. Create standards and specific measurements to reduce waste

For more coverage on the summit, please see the following article:

http://green.bizjournals.com/index.php/2008/05/16/panelists-discuss-keys-to-sustaining-sustainability/

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Boston Globe article on Green Movement in Somerville, MA (where Grossman Marketing Group is headquartered)


Over the weekend, the Boston Globe wrote an article on a Somerville, MA green movement that is catching on. The program, called GoGreen Davis Square,focuses on Davis Square, which is near Tufts University, and it involves local businesses. The goal is to make Davis Square carbon neutral – which for a large group of service-based businesses, would be a huge accomplishment.

I wanted to point to a specific comment from local business owner, Jennifer Park, on the potential business benefits of going green, namely increased customer loyalty, something that I wrote about when I discussed the green efforts of the Lenox Hotel: Click here for that blog post.

Park, who owns two establishments, Diesel Cafe and Bloc11Cafe said of the effort: ‘‘I think it’s built — even increased — loyalty of our customers for the kind of people who care about this area,’’ she said. ‘‘It gets people thinking about this stuff.’’

Grossman Marketing Group is also involved in the program, although we are not located near Davis Square. As one of the largest employers in the city, and an organization that has benefited from “going green,” we believe it is important to demonstrate to other local businesses that going green is not simply an additional cost – rather it is good for the world in which we live, and has major benefits as well.

To read the entire Globe story, please click here: Article

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My firm recognized for expertise in sustainability audits on marketing programs

Recently, Dan Smolen, who heads up a talent-management firm in the Washington, DC area, wrote about my firm on his blog. The blog, called Sturdy Roots, is focused on “Recruiting, Hiring & Retaining Talented Green-Marketers.”

In an April 18th post, titled “How Green Is My Marketing Company?” Smolen recommends a third-party sustainability audit to truly determine how green your marketing communications really are. Specifically he recommended my firm.

He wrote: “We recommend contacting Ben Grossman at Grossman Marketing Group. GMG is a fourth-generation marketing services provider with origins in the commercial envelope business. Based in the Boston suburbs, GMG employs wind-power to run the presses that produce envelopes made of recycled paper. And for its other energy needs, it purchases wind-power credits at no extra charge to its customers.”

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Green approaches help Boston-based hotelier


Over the weekend, I had the chance to read an interesting profile on Tedd Saunders, a principal of his family’s Saunders Hotel Group and a leading proponent of “green” business practices in the lodging industry. The article, published in Connecticut College’s quarterly magazine CC: Connecticut College Magazine, discussed Saunders’ (Class of 1983 from Connecticut) long-time commitment to the environment, and was titled “On The Green List: Hotelier Tedd Saunders ’83 is helping the world’s largest industry set environmentally friendly standards.”

Saunders, in addition to his ownership stake in his family’s business, also founded Ecological Solutions Inc. in 1992, an environmental consulting firm focused on the lodging industry. A web link to the article from CC Magazine was not available. However, to read more about Tedd, please see the following link from the Green Lodging News: http://www.greenlodgingnews.com/content.aspx?id=1663

According to Green Lodging News, an industry publication on “green” issues, at the Saunders Hotel Group’s 212-room Lenox Hotel in Boston, environmental retrofits and other thoughtful business practices have produced impressive annual savings: 1.7 million gallons of water, 110,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, 37 tons of trash from the waste stream, 175 trees through paper recycling. For these and other efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, the Environmental Protection Agency recognized the Lenox with its Energy Star rating in February 2008. Please see an article in the Boston Globe for more information:
http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2008/02/12/how_green_is_my_building/

For more information on the Lenox Hotel’s green efforts, please see the following page: http://www.lenoxhotel.com/environment.html

The main takeaway from reading about the pioneering work that Saunders and his family are doing is that green business practices can not only result in cost savings (water, energy, etc.) but they can also strengthen a company’s relationships with their existing customers and attract new business from eco-minded travelers. In fact, in 2006 the Lenox was included in Condé Nast Traveler Magazine’s Green List. What’s more impressive about this is that the Lenox was the only urban hotel in the world to be honored. (Here’s a link: http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/10419)

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Green Marketing: Reducing the Impact on the Environment while Increasing the Impact on your Audience

Below is an article I recently submitted for publication to the Association of Fundraising Professional’s newsletter about green marketing for not-for-profits. Nevertheless, the lessons discussed are applicable to for-profit businesses as well.

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Nearly every day, when we open a newspaper or magazine or turn on the news, we see and hear something about the importance of being “green.” There are many reasons for this, most notably the acceptance of global warming as fact. Global warming has gone from a term used in the scientific community to a national issue on the minds of tens of millions of Americans. 2007 was the year when most citizens began to take notice and take action, and they are increasingly demanding that the places where they work, companies from which they buy products, and organizations to which they donate make significant and sustained efforts to address environmental issues. These efforts must cut across all facets of an organization, from energy conservation, to recycling initiatives, to waste and water use reduction.

One of the most active conversations that we constantly have with our clients in the not-for-profit world, particularly those in development and communications, is how they can show their donors, prospects, and constituents that they are acting in an environmentally-conscious way. In addition to implementing some of the operational business practices mentioned above, we highlight their collateral as a valuable tool in this effort. Quite often, their mailings and other marketing pieces are the principal vehicle through which they communicate with their key stakeholders and thus provide tremendous opportunities to connect in focused ways.

Each new project is an opportunity to deliver a values-laden message at a time when environmentally-sound practices are one of the hottest topics on the political, social and business landscapes. In fact, according to recent national polling data, the environment was a top-five issue with Americans, behind the economy, Iraq, and healthcare. For that reason, in addition to using marketing and fundraising projects simply as a means to discuss a specific topic (i.e. an event, annual appeal, etc), it is important to think bigger and bolder. Therefore, we make strategic recommendations on how to produce these pieces in environmentally-friendly ways, which strengthen the relationship between the organization and the donor. This is a critical part of the mission of fundraising professionals, and we are working closely with not-for-profit clients all over New England to make that goal a reality.

Research demonstrates the importance of the environment to prospective donors. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, 83% of respondents said that they believed the environmental record of an organization is an important factor when deciding to buy one of its products. According to an environmental survey published by Cone LLC, a cause branding firm headquartered in Boston, 93% of Americans “believe companies have a responsibility to help preserve the environment” while 91% of Americans said they “have a more positive image of a company when it is environmentally responsible.” There is no question that this data applies to not-for-profits as well.

Not only does incorporating sustainable business practices into your organization make good business sense, it is also the right thing to do. Manufacturing of all kinds, including the creation of collateral, requires large amounts of electricity, traditionally produced by fossil fuel-powered generators. The combustion of fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Therefore, one of most effective ways to address the environment with your marketing communications is to produce your materials with renewable energy, specifically wind power. Any number of third-party reports highlight that wind power resonates very well with end consumers – who make up your respective donor bases.

Therefore, we made the strategic investment in early 2007 to power our envelope production facilities with 100% certified wind power, using Green-e certified renewable energy credits. We offered envelopes made with wind power at no extra cost, and the program took our industry by storm. Some of our initial customers included: American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Boston University, Common Cause, Federation of American Scientists, League of Conservation Voters, National Park Foundation, Partners Healthcare, Project Bread, Tufts University and WBUR. Over the past year, we have worked with approximately 75 clients to produce more than 120 million envelopes with wind power, which has saved more than 33,000 gallons of oil!

In addition to the wind-power envelope initiative, Grossman Marketing Group now offsets 100% of our energy use in all of our facilities, so can help our clients make all of their printed collateral with certified wind power, at no extra cost. In addition to renewable energy, we have come up with some very simple tips to “green” our clients’ collateral projects, always with the bottom line in mind.

We recommend that once clients make the decision to make their collateral more environmentally-friendly, they clearly articulate this to their constituents. We work with our clients to translate the environmental savings into very simple and easy-to-understand terms so your donors can fully grasp the positive contributions you are making to the environment. You should never hesitate to explain the work that you are doing – whether it is on the back of an envelope, or in a section of your annual report or newsletter. Clear communication and transparency are absolutely critical, as they will allow you to use your environmentally-conscious approach as a way to differentiate your organization from your competition and establish a competitive advantage.

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Law Firm Adds Sustainability Initiative

Below is an article from GreenBiz about the law firm, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP’s green initiative. I have heard from some of my company’s legal clients that they are starting to see RFPs for legal work contain a section on the firm’s sustainability measures. Definitely a connection between “green” business practices and the bottom line!

Source GreenBiz.com

LOS ANGELES, March 24, 2008 — Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP unveiled last week an initiative to boost energy efficiency, reduce waste and improve its bottom line.

The company wants to be seen as a leader in sustainable business practices within the legal community. The firm plans to enroll in the Law Firm Eco-Challenge program from the American Bar Association and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and make energy efficiency improvements based on internal survey results.

“More corporations and organizations are paying attention to ‘green’ initiatives and expect that their law firms do also. The firm’s Sustainability Program supports the commitment to practices that our clients are adopting and implementing,” Visser said. “Our initiative has also been well-received internally, as it strengthens and celebrates the firm’s community and social responsibility. Our attorneys and staff are proud to be part of a firm that is concerned with sustainability issues.”

There will be an internal website dedicated to its sustainability initiative and a blog, to be created with its Global Climate Change practice group. The initiative, led by Partners Randolph Visser and Rafael Muilenburg, encourages its personnel to help identify new ways to foster sustainable business practices.

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55784

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Sustainability, and why it matters now

What it means

Sustainability means assuring the long-term survival of our planet by conserving and caring for its resources rather than depleting or permanently damaging them. Our growing awareness of the effects of climate change and deforestation makes sustainability and environmental stewardship everyone’s concern today.

Why it matters

For companies, sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand. A commitment to environmental sustainability makes for good corporate citizenship, which improves a company’s relationship with customers, investors, regulators, neighbors and suppliers. The alternative to environmental sustainability is no longer tolerable. Sustainability is not only good for the earth and its people; it’s increasingly connected to building bottom lines and improving shareholder value.