June 25th, 2007

How green is Home Depot’s Eco Options?

There’s a good article on the NY Times website today (free registration required) on Home Depot’s Eco Options marketing campaign in which the retailer is working with the manufacturer’s whose products it sells to identify the most sustainable options.

The Times reports that some environmentalists are claiming Home Depot is too inclusive and not doing enough itself to make green claims. Sierra Club and Natural Home magazine executives were quoted in making a good point about the current “mad scramble” by companies to make green claims for their products in the face of rapidly-rising consumer interest, and how confusing the variety of claims can be.

While it’s good to have the environmental nonprofits watchdogging these types of efforts as green marketing continues its hot mainstreaming streak, it sounds like a sincere effort on Home Depot’s part that will help its many customers make better, more sustainable choices. These types of programs will certainly be far from perfect – but they will improve over time as the Fortune 100 and the rest of the business world respond to consumer demand for more sustainability processes and options.

The fact that HD’s rejecting the vast majority of manufacturer claims to greeness and is working with independent Scientific Certification Systems is encouraging. SCS audits and certifies company claims, grading a product based on its environmental record over its entire life cycle — including the sustainability of its production process, its efficiency and longevity, and how it can be recycled when it is no longer useful.

Posted by perry
Permanent Link -  No Comments »

June 12th, 2007

Ad Age’s "The Green Conference" draws over 500

I attended Ad Age’s half-day “The Green Conference” in New York today. Ad Age organizers were expecting 200-300 people and over 500 came. I ran into several people I knew and met a handful of new folks from companies like L’Oreal and Better Homes & Gardens, who were there to learn as much as they could.

The speakers were generally good and educational, especially for the many green marketing newbies. Fortunately the organizers and speakers recognized the pitfalls and dangers of greenwashing. They advised on how important it is for companies looking to engage in green marketing to walk their talk at a deep enough level.

Mike Lawrence, EVP at Cone, the agency best known for its focus on cause marketing, gave the first and perhaps most pertinent presentation. He gave excellent case studies of companies engaged in greenwashing (e.g., Italian jeans maker, Diesel) and those who had real effort and sincerity behind their efforts (e.g., US jeans maker, Levi’s). Diesel ran a campaign making light of global warming while doing literally nothing to reduce its carbon footprint; while Levi’s waited for years to ensure they could properly source the 100% organic cotton that went into their recently introduced line, and only then ran a marketing campaign with a green influence.

Ad Age’s June 11 issue, available at the conference, includes an entire special section devoted to “eco-marketing.” I was honored to be quoted a couple of times in the main article “A World Gone Green” – if you’re curious, you can read it online (for a limited time without registration).

Posted by perry
Permanent Link -  No Comments »

June 5th, 2007

Corporate America & the Environmental Movement

Phil Mattera asks in his AlterNet article today: “Is big business buying out the environmental movement?” His answer indicates he believes they are trying and have evil ulterior motives. Mr. Mattera brings a healthy skepticism to the recent surge in corporate America’s interest in all things green, and makes a good point about a similar surge of such interest in the early 90s and how it fizzled, in his interesting if lopsided piece.

I agree with him that much of what is coming out now in activity and marketing from many of our largest corporations regarding their sustainability is ingenuous at best and pure greenwashing at worst, but that misses the much larger, more hopeful picture. There is certainly a green rush of sorts happening “in them thar hills.” I disagree with his apparent premise that businesses cannot remain or become more profitable by engaging in a variety of environmental and sustainability initiatives.

Human beings with families and children of their own run or help run even the largest corporations, not evil executive profit-at-all-costs automatons, and they are also a diverse bunch of people. Many of them have genuine interest in making the environmental initiatives in which their companies are engaging real and productive, and see how they can tie that to their bottom line.

While I can’t take the time to turn this post into much more than an opinion piece, I can suggest Mr. Mattera take a closer look at some of corporate America’s self-proclaimed environmental initiatives to see that there is actually some wheat and not all chaff.

Posted by perry
Permanent Link -  No Comments »

June 4th, 2007

AdAge’s "The Green Conference" in NYC

If you’re in the area, don’t miss this half-day conference organized by Advertising Age. Just another reflection of how quickly green marketing has gone mainstream.

Companies represented and sharing their experiences will include Toyota, HP, Timberland, and Ben & Jerry’s, among others. The Conference “will celebrate marketers who are doing the best job of integrating environmental sustainability into their brand DNA. The awards will be given to the people/companies making those measurable changes in an effort to better the environment.”

Posted by perry
Permanent Link -  No Comments »