Green campaigns are a big part of marketing in today’s consumer world. Green campaigns may connect with a certain audience, and be highly beneficial to your brand. Jenny takes a hard look at the building green campaigns in your business and gives you some valuable insights into the practices benefits, risks, and opportunities. Take a look.
Green Campaigns may have a major impact with your customers.
Jenny Holt,
June 14, 2019
Green Branding: Sustainability Is Always In Season
A recent survey found that 73% of Millenials are willing to pay more for a sustainable product over less eco-friendly options. From a branding perspective, that means green marketing campaigns have a lot of power in playing into the deep convictions consumers have about environmental friendliness. The fact is, people identify closely with the products they use, and so branding that stresses sustainability is branding that people want to be associated with on a deep level, whether the product in question is makeup, clothing, or even power tools. Since Millennial buyers are almost always thinking about how eco-friendly their products are, it’s never a bad time to bring a green perspective to your marketing efforts.
Green Credentials Set You Apart
This connection can be subtle: makeup that’s cruelty-free is more likely to be recommended to and remembered by friends. Similarly, even a simple gift like a scented candle can be more meaningful when it reflects shared values around sustainability. Then there’s the option of incorporating green branding as a core part of your brand itself, as Patagonia has done, building the central message of their branding on care for the environment and sustainable business practices.
The trick is to find how sustainability fits naturally with your brand. Not everyone can save an endangered species, or create major conversations about sustainability, but we can all take steps to be greener – and then highlight those steps in a marketing strategy. Switching to more sustainable materials, working with green nonprofits, and making sustainability a core part of any corporate responsibility statements are all good ways to foster an eco-friendly image.
Greening Up Can Create A Buzz
These changes can have effects beyond the eco-appeal too. Major changes towards greener operation are often news in their own right, and greening up can help generate a lot of buzz for your brand. Larger brands have even started their own movements by focusing on popular environmental causes. So, sustainability can be a powerful force in marketing, creating deep brand associations for your customers, all while garnering some positive press.
Even smaller operations can make a big impact through a green approach, especially by working with local government to support initiatives like compost programs, plastic bans, and reduced packaging programs. For instance, as a city considers banning plastic straws, local cafes can make a statement by offering customers reusable straw options, or making it a policy to only give out straws when they’re asked for directly. Not only does this help create a closer connection to customers by affirming shared values, but it also makes your brand more memorable than those who aren’t making changes in a green direction. From the direct benefits to the environment to increased attention and customer loyalty, there’s really no argument against going green when it comes to modern marketing.
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