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Definition of Green Marketing

Green marketing definitions can be a little confusing, since green marketing can refer to anything from greening product development to the actual advertising campaign itself. Going by alternative names such as sustainable marketing, environmental marketing, green advertising, eco marketing, organic marketing, all of which point to similar concepts though perhaps in a more specific fashion, green marketing is essentially a way to brand your marketing message in order to capture more of the market by appealing to peoples desire to choose products and services that are better for the environment. There are many environmental issues impacted by the production of goods and rendering of services, and therefore there are also many ways a company can market their eco-friendly offerings. Green marketing can appeal to a wide variety of these issues: an item can save water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut toxic pollution, clean indoor air, and/or be easily recyclable. When put side by side with the competition, the more environmental marketing claims your product or service can make, the more likely it is the consumer will select it, provided the price point isnt too much higher than the alternative.

What Makes Marketing Green?


But you cant really market your business or your product as green without managing how your company functions with respect to the environment. Green marketing can take many forms. For instance, you may market eco-friendly aspects such as:

Operational

sustainability:

Service

companies

and

manufacturers can improve operational sustainability by reducing everyday energy and water consumption, minimizing pollution, using greener materials and processes, and properly managing waste.

Green products: Companies producing products can do many

things to improve the green factor of their offerings, including choosing sustainable materials, designing products to save energy and water, and making products that are less toxic and more natural than competitors goods. Greener products will also be packaged in an eco-friendly manner and will be made to be easily recycled or composted.

Sustainable marketing: Youll also want to ensure that the

actual marketing systems you use are green, which is really distinct from your operational sustainability which focuses on manufacturing and production. For instance, when printing marketing materials, use 100% post-consumer recycled paper made without chlorine (called processed chlorine free) and printed using plant-based dyes (like soy inks). You could also investigate tools like green web hosting, carbon offsets for any marketing emissions you may cause, recycling any unused materials from billboards and signage, ecological packaging, and so on.

Environmental causes: Any organization can choose to

promote environmental causes. Nonprofits and NGOs will engage in green marketing to get the word out about their activities, but for-profits can also suppose environmental causes by making donations and advertising for these environmental do-gooders as part of a green marketing campaign.

Targeting Green Consumers


Knowing your audience is certainly a necessity if you want to have an effective environmental marketing campaign. In general, there will be at least three levels of green consumers in any industry. Deep green consumers are serious about their choices and will be looking for hard proof of the ecofriendliness of your claims. This group requires verifiable proof that youre providing products and services that will truly benefit the environment. The second group includes people genuinely interested in helping the planet, but not as current on the biggest environmental issues. This group may also be less

willing to pay a premium for your green offerings. The third group includes people who are either apathetic or antagonistic toward green marketing efforts. Regardless of your target market, an eco marketing campaign should have several important factors in order to ensure long-term sustainability in the green space:

Your green claims should be genuine and verifiable. Above all, Informed consumers are loyal consumers, so educate your Make it possible for your customers to give back to the

be transparent and explicit about any environmental claims you make.

consumers about the benefits of your product or service for the environment.

environment by choosing your service or product.

How to Appeal to Green Consumers


Thankfully, organizations such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulate some of the more popular green marketing claims in order to provide some way for consumers to compare apples to apples when considering one product against another. The FTC exists to prevent greenwashing and will ensure that claims of environmental benefits are not overstated or misrepresented. In addition to the FTC regulations, there are numerous third-party organizations and government bodies that serve to test and structure green marketing claims, including such things as the US National Organic Program, the Canadian EcoLogo certification program, and the certified Vegan standard.

Great Campaigns

Examples

of

Green

Marketing

To give you a sense for some good green marketing campaigns, here are three exceptional examples of how eco-friendly messages can draw customers and profitability to your company:

Method: With a whole line of cleaning and personal care

products, Methods straightforward yet clearly green message has been hugely successful in gaining ground in these mainstream markets.

US Green Building Council: This organization which invented

the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building program for energy-efficient construction and renovations is now the leading standard for green buildings. Theyve effectively cornered the market as a green standard against which all buildings are now measured.

Toyota Prius: Their brilliant marketing campaign has brought

them great acclaim and a huge boost in sales theyre currently the leader in gas-electric hybrid vehicles. That said, their recent highway florascape ad campaign to celebrate their 2010 model which will require daytime watering during drought season in California while creative and beautiful is perhaps less eco-friendly than their vehicles. Regardless of your companys offerings, there are ways you can use green marketing to increase your profitability and enjoy greater business success if youre willing to truly address environmental issues. With the development of social networking sites, user-generated content, and increased access to broadband technologies and personal computers, the Internet has been radically redefined and repositioned. This shift towards Web 2.0 has changed the way we communicate with one another; it has democratized the way in which information is shared amongst users; and it has collapsed geographic, political, and cultural barriers, in turn redefining our perception of community.

How can we ensure that a larger amount of beer packaging will be reused or recycled? What kind of new material would significantly improve the lifecycle of beer packaging? What are your ideas concerning packaging to maximize transport efficiency? The best entry will be awarded Read More...

USDA Certification Raises Bar for Biobased


With carbon footprint and energy independence on everyones minds, many marketers are looking to capitalize upon their products biobased content. But not all biobased claims are alike. The scientific rigor of an ASTM standard combined with the credibility of the USDA raises the bar for the industry and makes the USDA Certified Biobased label a new source of competitive advantage within the consumer and government procurement markets for brand owners who make the effort to get their biobased products certified. How can we ensure that a larger amount of beer packaging will be re-used or recycled? What kind of new material would significantly improve the lifecycle of beer packaging? What are your ideas concerning packaging to maximize transport efficiency? The best entry will be awarded Read More...

USDA Certification Raises Bar for Biobased


Posted on February 20 2012 by Jacquelyn Ottman With carbon footprint and energy independence on everyones minds, many marketers are looking to capitalize upon their products biobased content. But not all biobased claims are alike. The scientific rigor of an ASTM standard combined with the credibility of the USDA raises the bar for the industry and makes the USDA Certified Biobased label a new source of competitive

advantage within the consumer and government procurement markets for brand owners who make the effort to get their biobased products certified. Recently, National Grid launched a surprise dance performance in a Saugus, MA mall as part of its Tap into Savings campaign. In many ways, this performance resembled a flash mob, with dancers appearing seemingly from nowhere to engage an unsuspecting crowd of shoppers, and then dispersing. Cultivate peer endorsements. Marketers recognize that consumer endorsements can influence the behavior and beliefs of their peers. Many marketers take advantage of this today by actively encouraging such endorsements as a key objective of the campaign. Interestingly, flash mob dynamics may facilitate consumer endorsement more deliberately, or perhaps even enable a marketer to stage it. A flash mob sponsored by TVA Canoe, an Internet TV site in Quebec, provides a great example of this. In this case, flash mob participants effectively reversed roles with unwitting bystanders. To initiate the flash mob, a performer left an empty plastic bottle on the ground next to a recycling container in a well trafficked area of a mall. Shoppers filed pass the plastic bottle without much notice, while participants waited, blending in amongst the crowds. Then, one woman, an unwitting bystander, picked up the bottle and put it into the recycling container. When she did, she was met with a standing ovation from the flash mob audience. ransform brand enthusiasts into participants. It is important for marketers to remember that green consumers tend to be passionate about not only what the brand stands for, but how much they can reduce their impact by choosing one product or brand over another.

Marketers should cultivate this sentiment by finding meaningful ways for enthusiasts to interact with the brand and share those experiences with others. One way may be to invite enthusiasts to actually participate in a flash mob itself. What better way to engage with the brand? It certainly provides fodder for generating and sharing social content afterwards. It has been a decade since flash mobs emerged as a social phenomenon. Over that time, marketers have embraced the medium to drive engagement and encourage viral marketing. Interestingly, green marketers challenged to engage mainstream audiences may find the flash mob especially useful in reaching target audiences and influencing behavior change. Over the past few years, we have seen the web transform from a medium that facilitates information exchange to one that enables social connections and conversation. Arguably, the recent launch of Facebooks Timeline marks another milestone for the web, enabling a web experience more personal than ever before. Timeline facilitates the sharing of a users life story both the portion already written and the one still unfolding. It does so by transforming the current Facebook profile into an unending digital scrapbook of sorts. Facebook reorganizes and summarizes available personal data such as likes, apps and photos into a timeline. Users are then encouraged to fill in the gaps, especially meaningful events that predate their time on Facebook. What makes Timeline so different is that it enables users to share their lives in an easily accessible, highly visual chronology, rather than simply post thoughts in the here and now. A living memoir, if you will. For green marketers, Timeline offers a unique new way to understand and connect with Facebook users, and one which they should take advantage of. Here are a couple of ideas how:

Persistence: Timeline organizes content in a way that enables individual posts to remain accessible, rather than disappear from view on the Facebook Wall. Persistent access increases the value of this content and Facebook as a channel for distributing it by enabling it to be consumed and shared by viewers over a longer period of time. This provides greater impetus for green marketers to motivate consumers to post about, like or share branded content on Facebook, as greater persistence means more impressions over time. Prediction: Personal information has long been used to more effectively target users with ads. Arguably, Timeline will enable a more in-depth view of the user mindset, revealing new targeting and messaging avenues. Facebook has the potential to use this data not only to help green marketers find those that have demonstrated a clear affinity for green, but also to predict interest based on similar attitudes, experiences, demographics or behaviors. This can enable green marketers to target micro-segments with more specific messaging, or even find new audiences, even those that have not yet taken action. While Timeline is still in beta with consumers, there are expectations that Facebook will soon make Timeline functionality available for business pages. Green brands should consider this new template for their own Facebook page as its functionality offers advantages for companies too: Presentation: Timeline could enable new ways for businesses to present their brand online. For example, Timeline enables a larger profile image prominently placed at the top of the page. Companies could use this space to build awareness for their brand or promote a trial offer for a new product. Additionally, Timeline allows users to expand thumbnail images to provide a broader view of images and graphics, something for which the previous platform has limited ability to do. This should benefit green marketers who find that their products require more explanation to drive broader adoption.

Persistence: A chronological Facebook business page would enable users ongoing access to brand information. This should motivate green marketers to post more content on their Facebook pages such as product information, stories or even blog posts, bolstering these pages as comprehensive access points for brand content. Timeline is an emerging platform that will enable users to have a more personal web experience. Green marketers should take advantage of this functionality to more effectively engage consumers, as well as new capabilities as the platform evolves into the future.

Uncharted

Waters:

Reframing

Climate

Change Around Water


Einstein is credited with saying that everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Such words have renewed meaning when it comes to messaging about climate change as everything about it seems complex its cause, its impact, and the challenges that humans face to address it. Just describing climate change poses a formidable challenge for communicators. Its causes are many and not necessarily intuitive to grasp. Likewise, its impact is difficult to comprehend, especially given how interconnected Earths natural systems are. Like any marketing communications challenge, consumers needs sound bites that relay information as simply as possible, but no simpler. The message needs to be relevant to their daily lives. The narrative needs to be easily digestible and sharable so that it quickly becomes part of the broader lexicon. It also needs to instill a sense of urgency, but not leave a feeling of being overwhelmed.

One possible way to address this challenge is to reframe the climate change conversation around water. This shift is necessary for many reasons: First, the current narrative around global warming is too complex and abstract for most audiences to grasp fully: rising temperatures, melting polar ice sheets, burning rainforests, rising sea levels, and so forth. Focusing on water enables communicators to simplify the message, as water is familiar to all of us and essential for our own survival. Rather than shortchanging the complexity of climate change, communicators that narrow the message enable consumers to more easily digest it. Second, focusing on water allows us to shift communications away from the cause of climate change to its impact. Natural water variability is expected from year to year, but overall, supplies in the US, even in the arid west, have traditionally been relatively predictable from year to year. In the current world, a 100-year drought actually only occurs every 100 years. Yet, climate change has already disrupted this paradigm. Today, we are shifting to a world of water volatility, where the probability of extreme droughts and floods increases dramatically. For example, in 2010, the Amazon rainforest experienced its second 100 year drought in 5 years. When this happens, people start to pay attention. Finally, water enables communicators to reposition global climate change as an inherently local issue. It has long been the case that consumers have had a difficult time connecting with let alone financially supporting global environmental issues. Redefining climate change as a local issue makes it more personal, and provides an opportunity to motivate more grassroots support for action at the local level. Yet, today, the impact of climate change is being felt closer to home. Local communities in the US are being devastated by water or the lack there of from extreme droughts and wildfires across Texas to torrential rains and

flooding in Vermont. Globally, the impact has arguably been more severe because people in places like Pakistan, Bangladesh and even China have fewer resources to cope with it. I joined RecycleBank for many reasons, one due to an observation regarding the application of rewards in the green space. Quite simply, rewards have the potential to change consumer behavior without necessarily changing attitudes first. I first wrote about this in a 2007 blog post. Today, it remains a powerful way to expand the appeal of green. As every marketer knows, it is expensive, time consuming and downright difficult to change consumer attitudes. By contrast, rewards can reframe the dialogue by creating a financial incentive for consumers to engage, regardless of interest or attitude. The result is that rewards can expand the target audience to those motivated less by altruism than by financial gain. Suddenly, consumers that did not make the environment a priority are willing to take action to earn rewards. Marketers should be fine with this as long as it helps achieve business objectives in a cost-effective way. Interestingly, rewards can be a critical tool for companies looking to enhance their marketing efforts. Rewards can be a tool to: Motivate Consumer Engagement. Today, marketers are tasked with engaging with consumers in order to increase brand awareness, change sentiment and motivate purchase. Rewards can accelerate this effort by incentivizing consumers to take desired actions in order to earn rewards. Such a cost per engagement model can be particularly relevant for emerging green products with low awareness, as it provides an added incentive for consumers to engage, perhaps tiered based on the type, level or value of the interaction. Optimize Engagement Experience. Marketers can optimize their efforts by promoting those consumer behaviors or sequence of behaviors that are more aligned with desired outcomes. Here is how it might work: Consumers

earn points as they engage with content or tools online or take offline actions. Consumer behaviors are tracked and associated with specific points earned and rewards redeemed. Marketers can then optimize consumer engagement by promoting those behaviors that are most correlated with fulfilling campaign objectives. Enhance Existing Incentives. Even when financial incentives already exist, they may not be sufficient to grab and hold significant consumer mind share. Today, several energy platforms such as OPOWER motivate consumers to save money on their bills by empowering them with personal usage data, comparative feedback and tangible steps on how to reduce their energy use. Indeed, OPOWER has had success in changing consumer behavior, reporting that such passive (one-way) engagement does empower consumers to take action with participating consumers averaging 1.5% to 3% in energy savings over a control. Interestingly, the introduction of rewards may be able to accelerate and sustain such energy savings by providing a greater financial incentive (bill savings + rewards earnings) for a consumer to take action. Such a model turns passive consumers into active ones that are more likely to engage with home energy tools, to open ongoing communications and to purchase energy-saving products. Such a hybrid (passive/active) model was first suggested in a study, Residential Energy Use Behavior Change Pilot, authored by Carroll, et. al.* Indeed, this was an impetus for RecycleBank to partner with Efficiency 2.0 to launch of two energy platforms this year CUB Energy Saver (Commonwealth Edison) and Western Mass Saves (Northeast Utilities). Such platforms provide direct outreach to all consumers while providing the potential to earn rewards by those that actively engage.

t Green marketers continue to be challenged by the notion of changing consumer attitudes in order to expand market appeal. Rewards create a shortcut of sorts by providing a direct incentive to motivate the desired behavior change. As a tool for green marketers, they can be a true game changer.

One could argue that the green revolution really took root online with the launch of eBay. Or perhaps Craigslist. Connecting individual sellers with millions of potential buyers brought the neighborhood garage sale (or local classifieds) to the masses, and with it, the ability to extend the product lifecycle of used, yet still useful, products. As Amy Skoczlas Cole from eBay said, The greenest product is the one that already exists. Such peer-to-peer connective consumption has long existed offline. Online models like eBay connect individuals at massive scale, while overcoming transaction barriers through the use of seller reviews as well as secure payment mechanisms like PayPal. Such models challenge the notion of permanent ownership, and with it the environmental impact that it brings. Instead, ownership is viewed as a temporary or altogether unnecessary condition required for realizing product benefits. Products such as cars, beds, clothes, lawnmowers and drills often lay idle and available for use if only those that are in need connect with those that have. Collectively, many have dubbed such transactions collaborative consumption because they require the involvement of a community network to make them liquid. Today, there are at least three peer-to-peer (P2P) models emerging that can facilitate greener transactions: Rent. Today, there are many businesses that rent, instead of sell, products to consumers including Netflix, Zipcar and RentTheRunway to name a few. Shared products have a lower environmental footprint, of course, requiring fewer products overall to be produced to meet demand. Recently, P2P models have emerged that allow consumers to rent products that they own including a spare bed (CouchSurfing), car (Spride, Getaround), even a wedding dress (Zilok). Such models leverage social

networks to provide reviews and referrals for products and participants, as well as mobile apps that take advantage of location-based capabilities. Exchange. Increasingly, consumers can facilitate the exchange of goods through trading, bartering or gifting. Such transactions reduce demand for new products by extending the lifecycle of existing ones. Such models provide a more flexible and open ended way to facilitate exchanges than with money. For example, FreeCycle users to make products available free-of-charge to those that are want to take them. In contrast, ThredUp facilitates the exchange of childrens clothes between peers but expects participants first to give clothes to a member in the community before accepting clothing in return. Similarly, Swap enables members to exchange books, CDs, movies and video games. What you can get depends on whether others want what you have to give. Use Virtual Currency. Consumers can facilitate transactions through the use of virtual currencies that provide many of the benefits of a legal tender the ability to accumulate, bank and borrow without actually having to be legal tender. Such currencies work well in networked communities that rely on shared services to deliver a product or service. The Superfluid, for example, is a collaborative social network in which members conduct peer-to-peer transactions by exchanging favors for virtual currency. Here, a marketplace has been established where by individuals offer their services (say, web development) in exchange for Quids and then, in turn, spend Quids on services that they need (copy writing). Certainly, there is the potential to leverage such networks in the green space. Perhaps Quids could be exchanged for environmental services such as conducting a home energy audit or preparing a social corporate responsibility report for a small business. For consumers, such peer-to-peer transactions are a natural evolution of social networks. Such transactions will continue to grow as mechanisms for

transacting become more seamless and consumers become accustomed to more unconventional methods of exchange. Marketers will be challenged to participate in a meaningful way in such peer-to-peer transactions. Some like eBay and Zilok make it easy by allowing both individuals and businesses to facilitate exchanges. Alternatively, advertising on the largest exchange sites is certainly an option. This is particularly opportunistic for brands naturally aligned with such models including shipping companies, for example. Additionally, businesses should take advantage of such exchanges to launch new offerings such as pay-by-theday insurance for those that seek to rent a peers car, for example. New models that reduce consumption are not necessarily bad for business they are simply unleashing new opportunities for companies that can play a role in their facilitation.

A common mantra in green marketing is that if you want the masses to buy your product, focus your messaging on more traditional attributes such as price, quality or service. A products greenness is likely secondary for many mainstream consumers. For green marketers then, the holy grail may be to offer a product that is competitive on dimensions both traditional and eco-friendly. This would result in the greatest number of products sold and greatest impact on the environment. But, things are not always that simple. Consider the scenario when an innovative green product spurs new demand across an entire product category, rather than just replaces the existing generation of products in market. Is the individual product still green if the aggregate impact of the category is greater than what it replaced?

Take, for example, household lighting. Most of us are aware that switching from incandescent to fluorescent light bulbs can result in a dramatic reduction in energy use. But, overall adoption has been relatively modest in comparison to the potential market, likely due to the premium price commanded for the bulbs. Today, an even newer generation of lighting technology is on the commercial horizon. Solid state lighting, described as a souped up version of the light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are commonly used today to illuminate electronic displays on alarm clocks and audio equipment, promises to provide lighting at a fraction of the energy used by todays bulbs. (Not Such a Bright Idea, The Economist, August 26, 2010) Mass adoption of such technology could have significant implications for the environment given that 6.5% of the worlds energy is used for illumination. In many ways, we should celebrate such technology fixes given their benefits to the environment. For marketers, solid state lighting clearly has the potential to be one of those holy grail products. Yet, green products such as solid state lighting also present a paradox in that their adoption in mass might actually be detrimental to the environment. How could this be the case? Well, according to J Y Tsao and colleagues at the Sandia National Laboratory, cheaper lighting that sips energy will likely increase overall demand and uses for light, and with it, overall energy consumption. (J Y Tsao, et. al., SolidState Lighting: An Energy-Economics Perspective, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, August 19, 2010) The rationale? Today, Tsao et. al., contends that consumers underconsume indoor light with current fixtures providing 1/10th of the illumination as ambient outdoor light on cloudy days and 1/60th of ambient outdoor light on sunny ones. Tsao rationalizes that there is plenty of room to consume more including in new ways that have yet to be thought of.

As evidence, Tsao et. al., models historical lighting use and adoption rates for new technologies from gas lanterns to fluorescent bulbs and extrapolates forward demand based on the amount of light produced (measured in lumens) and cost per lumen. Historic trends clearly indicate that consumer demand greatly increased when cost dropped and other attributes such as faster turn on/off and greater cleanliness expanded lighting uses. Extrapolating into the future, Tsao et. al., predicts that with solid state lighting, demand has the potential to increase10x by 2030 and with it, perhaps a 2x increase in energy use. How paradoxical. It is important to note that the green product paradox is not isolated to LED lighting. Increased demand for electric cars, for example, could result in a similar dilemma if the added electricity load needed to power the vehicles is generated using higher polluting coal. As such, the green product paradox presents quite the challenge for a marketer. For individual companies, such products can be both profitable and (at least appear) socially responsible. It is only by looking at the forest from the trees and perhaps a little into the future does it become apparent that, in aggregate, such products may, paradoxically, have a negative impact. A sustainable brand might try itself to mitigate any impact that its products may have. But, this will only have broad impact if it ultimately compels competitors to follow suit. Given this, marketers should recognize that a solution to the paradox may not lie within an individual companys grasp. Alternatively, it may take an industry consortium to make the necessary product changes or evolve consumer expectations. Or, it may take collaboration across industries to have lasting impact. In both examples cited above, a shift to lower-polluting sources for energy generation would mitigate an increase in demand for both products.

Overall, the green product paradox presents a difficult challenge for green marketers. Doing good for the planet may not always be as a simple as motivating purchase of greener goods. In some cases, it just might be too much of a good thing. The customer is always right so goes the mantra of every sales rep from time immemorial. But, as we know, what customers want may not be best for the planet. For some brands, this presents a dilemma: how do you satisfy consumer needs while remaining eco-responsible? The dilemma can be quite daunting for a brand, especially if the ecoimpact is caused by lifestyle choices consumers are long accustomed to. This challenge is only compounded when consumers are not yet aware that their very actions are having a detrimental effect as no brand wants to be the bearer of bad news. Or, perhaps more challenging still, brands may find that the very behaviors and rituals that help define a brand itself turn out to perpetuate the very actions that are having a negative impact. Whose responsibility is it to promote more sustainable consumer behaviors? Many brands would say, it is the role of governments to regulate and if they dont, a corporate entity is not accountable for their failure to act. Others would say that it should be left to the discerning buyer. Should a brand itself take the lead? Some may argue yes. It is a demonstration of brand leadership, they say. But, being out ahead of ones customers may serve brands well only when their customers expect them to do so. Staking out a leadership position appeals to customers that want to know that they are doing good through the choices that they make.

Others may argue no. Brands sell products, not morality they might say. Worse, eco-responsible messaging may be antithetical to the experience a brand is trying to create. It is hard to enjoy pleasures guilt-free if one is constantly reminded of the impact that one is having on the planet. But, regardless of where one nets out on this issue, one thing is clear: today, brands are increasingly left with little choice but to act or react whether or not their actions directly influence customer purchase decisions. Advocacy groups as well as individuals are leveraging the power of the media (and social media) to broadcast and amplify their voices to sway popular opinion. Whether viewed as an opportunity to demonstrate leadership or take a defensive stance, it is likely that more and more brands will have to make such choices. One example of such tension between brands and eco-decisions recently appeared in the New York Times Magazine article by Paul Greenberg, Tunas End: The Fate of the Bluefin, the Oceans and Us. (June 27, 2010), As Greenberg writes, Nobu, the internationally acclaimed sushi restaurant chain, faces a decision today over the selection of seafood that it serves. The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna a prized fish for sushi and sashimi is now endangered. Continued commercial fishing may push it to extinction. Further, the timing of the BP oil spill in the Gulf likely exacerbated the situation by polluting one of two known breeding grounds in the Atlantic for these fish right as mating season was to begin. Today, Greenpeace is pressuring Nobu in large measure because it is a category leader to no longer serve Bluefin to its patrons. Nobu has resisted. Nobu co-owner Richie Notar noted, The Japanese have relied on tuna and other bounties of the sea as part of their culture and history for centuries. We are absolutely appreciative of your goals and efforts within your cause, but it

goes far beyond just saying that we can just taken what all of a sudden has been declared an endangered species off the menu. It has to do with custom, heritage and behavior. Arguably, Nobus brand identity emanates from a careful balance of adherence to the tradition and ritual of sushi its creation, its presentation, its consumption and hip appeal: swanky ambiance, innovative food creations and celebrity ownership. Out of balance, the brand does not deliver on the experience consumers have come to expect. With this balance in mind, Nobu has tried to stake out a middle ground by updating its menu with the following message: Bluefin tuna is an environmentally threatened species. Please ask your server for an alternative Such a simple message informs patrons of the issue and then lets each consumer make their own choice. Additionally, such phrasing invites a dialogue between the patron and server regarding food substitutes, though it is unclear as to how many patrons would be inclined to do so. What Nobu has missed, however, is an opportunity to leverage this situation to evolve its brand appeal keeping the balance between tradition and hip appeal while elevating each to the next level. Nobu could find an alternative to Bluefin tuna and not jeopardize the brand, but arguably reinforce consumer perception of Nobu as hip and trendy. Greenberg asserts that what Nobu needs is a new substitute for tuna. As part of his research, he went searching for a Bluefin substitute and may have found one in a fish known as kahala. Arguably, Nobu is missing an opportunity to be one of the first to introduce kahala across its menus, reinforcing its trendy image. Ironically, by introducing such a substitute, Nobu would not be breaking with tradition, but rather, returning to it, as Bluefin was not widely popular in

sushi until just 30 years ago. It was nowhere to be found in sushi before 170 years ago. Thus, shifting away from Bluefin and offering consumers a tasty substitute could actually enhance Nobus reputation for seeding new trends while maintaining close adherence to the tradition of sushi. In this case, what is good for the brand may actually be good for the planet.

Green Marketing
The American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on ecological marketing in 1975. 1980 was the first time green marketing came into existence. AMA defines green marketing as the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe, it incorporates several activities such as product modification, changes to production processes, packaging, advertising strategies and also increases awareness on compliance marketing amongst industries. Business Dictionary defines green marketing as promotional activities aimed at taking advantage of changing consumer attitude towards a brand. These changes are increasingly being influenced by a firms policies and practices that affect the quality of the environment and reflect the level of its concern for the community. It can also be seen as the promotion of environmentally safe or beneficial products.

3. Green Marketing and Sustainable Development


According to the World Commission on Environmental Development (1978), Sustainable Development is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. The common theme throughout this strategy of sustainable development, is the need to integrate economic and ecological considerations in decision making by making policies that conserve the quality of agricultural development and environmental protection. This is what the end product of green marketing is, environmental protection for the present and the future generation. The development of energy- efficient operations,

better pollution controls, recyclable and biodegradable packaging, ecologically safe products are all part of green marketing which also leads to sustainable development.

4. Green Marketing in terms of Price, Product, Place and Promotion


Green Marketing begins with green design. Product design constitutes an active interface between demand (consumers) and supply (manufactures) [1]. An example by Ottman and Terry [11]; superconcentrated laundry detergents are associated with energy saving, reduced packaging, space and money. The product itself has to be made in such a way that it satisfies consumer and manufactures needs. For ecologically sustainable products to be successful, green branding attributes have to be efficiently communicated [23]. Most buyer decisions are influenced by the labeling, (green labeling) that states all that makes the product green compliant. The price of green product has to be affordable for the customer to encourage purchase. Industrial differentiation works only when products reduce clients cost Most buyers are influenced by advertisement that reflects a companys commitment to environment [19]. Companies that do green advertisement that tend to portray an image of environmental friendliness, influences their customer purchase decisions. Consumers love to associate themselves with companies that are environmental stewards. When a company communicates this through their advertisements, promotions, publicity and corporate social responsibilities, they are sure to get many loyal customers. Green distribution is a very delicate operation. Customers must be guaranteed of the Ecological nature of the product. The green environment is a constantly regulated environment and as such high level of compliance is necessary when carrying out distribution of green products. This is a common procedure in the united state [11].

5. Stakeholders in Green Marketing Strategy


Based on marketing literature, stakeholders play one of the most influencing roles in any organization and market [20], [27], [18], [17]. They influence all aspect of green strategy also in areas such as purchase of green product, nature of the product, the packaging, advertisement, promotion and also Green awareness programs. When a particular company wants to go green, the stakeholders are at the fore front of their green marketing strategy. Jaime Rivera-Camino [12] said that

stakeholders in green marketing include the plant, various animals, plant species and the future generations.

6. Customer Satisfaction and Green Marketing


Customer satisfaction has been defined in two basic ways: as either an outcome or as a process [25]. As an outcome, satisfying the end state resulting from the consumption experience [6]. As a process, it is the perceptual evaluative and psychological process that contributes to satisfaction. The definition is varied with regards to their level of simplicity which includes; Product satisfaction Satisfaction with the purchase decision experience. Satisfaction with the performance attribute Satisfaction with the store or institution Satisfaction with pre-purchase experience. [29] Marketing literature suggests that there is a relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. Satisfaction leads to attitudinal loyalty. It could be seen as the intension to purchase. [21], [15], [18], and [17]. Satisfaction is an outcome that occurs without comparing expectations [15]. Customer satisfaction could also be defined as an evaluative response to perceived outcome of a particular consumption experience. It is an overall judgment on satisfaction, based on the assumption that satisfaction is the outcome of service quality. Many Authors believe that customers have a high level of involvement regarding environmental issues as a consequence of growing environmental consciousness. [14], [4], [10], [25]. Studies have shown the significant influence of environmental knowledge and consciousness on consumer environmental attitude. Consequently, companies that communicate their green product in their packaging, advertisement or manufacturing process, gain satisfied customers. Because of the green trend, companies that fail to go green are not failing to fail in their industry. Customers want to associate themselves with companies and products that are ecofriendly.

7. Environmental Safety

Environment is simply our surrounding. The increased awareness on environmental issues is as a result of increased publicity on the media on issues such as, the warring off of the ozone layer and increased pollution of the environment by industries. Customers have become concern about their everyday habit and the impact it has on their environment. Managing environmental safety issue is highly challenging, time consuming and expensive. There are many laws on environmental safety that have made companies liable to any wrongdoings. These laws cover areas such as, harmful pollution, managing of hazardous materials and soon. As a result, several hazard control, pollution control and prevention programs are held in different parts of the world on emergency procedures, contingency planning and employee training. Similarly, many regulatory bodies and acts are set to ensure environmental safety and protection, some of which include, OSHA (Occupational Safety and health Act), CERCLA ( Comprehensive environmental Respond Compensation liability Act), TSCA (Toxic Substance Control Act), HMTA ( the Hazardous Material Transportation Act), FIFRA ( Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act), FFDCA (Federal food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, GHS (Globally Harmonized System of Classification and labeling of Chemicals).

Environmental Safety is not an easy task to implement. Implementing the GHS standardization policies of a single frame work of the classification and labeling of chemicals so hazards are consistently defined across different national jurisdiction is beneficial but highly challenging, especially in countries like U.S, Japan and Korea that have multiple regulatory authorities. EH&S (Environmental Health and Safety) regulatory compliance and CSR (Cooperate Social Responsibility) initiative throughout the supply chain can help promote and sustain ongoing improvement within an organization. These improvements will help the company achieve regulatory compliance and position itself as a socially responsible company.
Green marketing is a tool for protecting the environment for the future generation. it has a positive impact on environmental safety. Because of the growing concern of environmental protection, there is an emergence of a new market which is the green market. For companies to survive in this market, they need to go green in all aspect of their business. Consumers want to identify themselves with companies

that are green compliant and are willing to pay a premium for a greener life style. As such, green marketing is not just an marketing strategy. environmental protection tool but also, a

Green marketing in India


According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products or goods that are supposedly believed to be environmentally safe. Green Marketing is also alternatively termed as environmental marketing or ecological marketing . Thus Green Marketing mainly refers to the holistic marketing approach and concept wherein a broad range of activities include product modification, changes to production process, packaging changes as well as modifying advertisements. According to Pride and Ferrel (1993), Green marketing (also called as Environmental Marketing and sustainable marketing) refers to an Organizations efforts at designing, promoting, pricing and distributing products that will not harm the environment. Polonsky (1994) defines Green Marketing as all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants occurs, with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment. Elingston (1994:93) defines green consumer as one who avoids products that are likely to endanger health of the consumer or others; cause significant damage to the environment during manufacture, use or disposal; consume a disproportionate amount of energy; cause unnecessary waste; use materials derived from threatened species or environments; involve unnecessary use of, or cruelty to animals; adversely affect other countries. Reading articles in newspapers and knowing more about issues like Global Warming, extinct animal species, pollution and a lot more, there is growing evidence that people have started becoming aware about the harmful

effects of human activities on the environment and thus emerges Green Marketing. Green Marketing is the need of the hour, it only indicates a growing market for socially responsible and sustainable products and services. A lot of companies are venturing into Green Marketing for the following reasons: Opportunity: With the increase in consumers who prefer environmentfriendly products and those who have become health conscious, there is a vast opportunity for Green Marketing in India. The SURF EXCEL water-saving detergent (with the message.do bucket paani roz bachaana) and LG Consumer durables are examples of Green Marketing. Social Responsibility: Many companies have started realizing that they must behave in an environment-friendly fashion. They believe both in achieving environmental objectives as well as profit related objectives. The HSBC became the worlds first bank to go carbon-neutral last year. Other examples include Coca-Cola, which has invested in various recycling activities. Walt Disney World in Florida, US, has an extensive waste management program and infrastructure in place. Government Pressure : The Government of India has framed and prepared various regulations and legislations to protect the society at large, and reduce the production of harmful goods and by products. For eg: Ban of plastics in Mumbai and prohibition of smoking in India. Competitive Pressure: Many companies take up green marketing to maintain their competitive edge. The green marketing initiatives by niche companies such as Body Shop and Green & Black have prompted many mainline competitors to follow suit. Cost Reduction: It is believed and proven that the reduction of harmful ways will cut down the cost of the final product also. Some companies have

now developed a symbiotic relationship in which one company uses the byproducts of another company as raw materials. In this manner, the problem of disposing off the effluent waste is reduced. Thus Green Marketing ensures sustained long term growth, profitability, saves money in the long run, helps marketing of products keeping the environment-concern in mind, helps in breaking through newer markets and enjoying competitive advantages. Reference:

Green Marketing in India: Emerging Opportunities and

Challenges. Pavan Mishra and Payal Sharma, 25th December, 2010. Journal of Engineering, Science and Management Education/Vol. 3, 2010/9-1.

WHY IS GREEN MARKETING CHOSEN BY MOST MARKETERS?


Most of the companies are venturing into green marketing because of the following reasons: Opportunity In India, around 25% of the consumers prefer environmental-friendly products, and around 28% may be considered healthy conscious. There fore, green marketers have diverse and fairly sizeable segments to cater to. The Surf Excel detergent which saves water (advertised with the message"do bucket paani roz bachana") and the energy-saving LG consumers durables are examples of green marketing. We also have green buildings which are efficient in their use of energy, water and construction materials, and which reduce the impact on human health and the environment through better design, construction, operation, maintenance and waste disposal. In India, the green building movement, spearheaded by the Confederation of Indian industry (CII) - Godrej

Green business Center, has gained tremendous impetus over the last few years. From 20,000 sq ft in 2003, India's green building footprint is now over 25 million sq ft. Social-Responsibility Many companies have started realizing that they must behave in an environment-friendly fashion. They believe both in achieving environmental objectives as well as profit related objectives. The HSBC became the world's first bank to go carbon-neutral last year. Other examples include Coca-Cola, which has invested in various recycling activities. Walt Disney World in Florida, US, has an extensive waste management program and infrastructure in place. Governmental-Pressure Various regulations rare framed by the government to protect consumers and the society at large. The Indian government too has developed a framework of legislations to reduce the production of harmful goods and by products. These reduce the industry's production and consumers' consumption of harmful goods, including those detrimental to the environment; for example, the ban of plastic bags in Mumbai, prohibition of smoking in public areas, etc. Competitive-Pressure Many companies take up green marketing to maintain their competitive edge. The green marketing initiatives by niche companies such as Body Shop and Green & Black have prompted many mainline competitors to follow suit. Cost-Reduction Reduction of harmful waste may lead to substantial cost savings. Sometimes, many firms develop symbiotic relationship whereby the waste generated by one company is used by another as a cost-effective raw material. For example, the fly ash generated by thermal power plants, which would otherwise contributed

to a gigantic quantum of solid waste, is used to manufacture fly ash bricks for construction purposes. BENEFITS OF GREEN MARKETING Today's consumers are becoming more and more conscious about the environment and are also becoming socially responsible. Therefore, more companies are responsible to consumers' aspirations for environmentally less damaging or neutral products. Many companies want to have an early-mover advantage as they have to eventually move towards becoming green. Some of the advantages of green marketing are,

It ensures sustained long-term growth along with profitability. It saves money in the long run, thought initially the cost is more.

It helps companies market their products and services keeping the environment aspects in mind. It helps in accessing the new markets and enjoying competitive advantage.

Most of the employees also feel proud and responsible to be working for an environmentally responsible company.

PROBLEMS OF GREEN MARKETING Many organizations want to turn green, as an increasing number of consumers' ant to associate themselves with environmental-friendly products. Alongside, one also witnesses confusion among the consumers regarding the products. In particular, one often finds distrust regarding the credibility of green products. Therefore, to ensure consumer confidence, marketers of green products need to be much more transparent, and refrain from breaching any law or standards relating to products or business practices. PATHS TO GREENNESS

Green marketing involves focusing on promoting the consumption of green products. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the companies to adopt creativity and insight, and be committed to the development of environment-friendly products. This will help the society in the long run. Companies which embark on green marketing should adopt the following principles in their path towards greenness.

Adopt new technology/ Process or modify existing technology/ Process so as to reduce environmental impact. Establish a management control system that will lead to adherence of stringent environmental safety norms. Explore possibilities of recycling of the used products so that it can be used to offer similar or other benefits with less wastage. Using more environment-friendly raw materials at the production stage itself.

Green Marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other, an example of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing. REASONS FOR USING GREEN MARKETING IN FIRMS When looking through the literature, there are several suggested reasons for firms increased use of Green Marketing. Five possible reasons cited Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used to achieve its objectives

Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used to achieve its objectives

Organizations believe they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more responsible Competitors' environmental activities pressure firms to change their environmental marketing activities Cost factors associated with waste disposal, or reductions in material usage forces firms to modify their behavior.

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