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newsletters archive
February 2009
Marla Ink NewsNews and Views
from Marla Ink Productions Green Marketing: The Good, the Bad and
the Ugly
"We've gone green!"
"Check out our new green solution!"
"We're bringing you eco-friendly choices!"
One by-product
of increased environmental awareness is the rise in green marketing. Companies everywhere are touting "greenness"
in their marketing communications and in some cases, incorporating green initiatives into overall business strategies. With
all this talk out there you may be wondering, what does "going green" actually mean, and are these companies REALLY
doing it?
Those are questions
that EnviroMedia Social Marketing and the University of Oregon have been asking, too. Through their Greenwashing Index, they're shining a spotlight on green marketing and calling companies
out for their vague, misleading or just plain false claims.
Wikipedia
defines greenwashing as "a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing. The term green
sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations that attempt to show that they are adopting practices beneficial to
the environment." While this description generally points to deliberate deception, I think many well-intentioned organizations
inadvertently cross the line by making blanket statements about "going green" without understanding what that truly
entails.
The truth, as they say, is out there, though.
Spend a little time Googling sustainable business practices and green business certification, and you'll find plenty of information
about what it means to go green and what steps can take you there. But as you should with any marketing initiative, you have
to pay careful attention to the language and nuances of your communications. The lesson: Do your homework before embarking on any green marketing campaign. Introducing
a new product or moving from paper to electronic invoices does not make a company green. If you're using green language in
your marketing, you better have the goods to back it up, or you could end up on the Greenwashing Index's worst offender list.
Contrary to the old axiom, all publicity is NOT good publicity.
In
this issue:
Is
Print Dead? Publicity
by the Seasons Speed
the Sale with Customer Case Studies Free eBook
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