The Argument for Green Marketing

The marketing landscape is shifting and traditional marketing techniques – some as recent as from only five years ago – are not adequate anymore to make a business successful. Marketers must now focus on three key areas to thrive: commercial success, environmental & ethical sense, and cultural change.

(Today I finally started reading The Green Marketing Manifesto, by John Grant. And quite a read it has been so far. I’ve never seen the argument for green marketing so well defined.)

With the green movement taking ground – and the demand for environmentally-friendly products growing so steadily – businesses cannot afford to remain at bay. Organizations are already feeling the pressure from inside, with employees pushing the sustainable and ethic agenda to the management team and board of directors. If we are serious about fighting global warming and make our planet liveable for the next hundreds and thousands of years, we need to push change. Marketing, being a social science promoting and driving our behaviour, must play a leader role. Please note I’m not endorsing consumerism; that is exactly what led us where we are, and I strongly believe consumerism is what we need to walk away from.

Let’s face it: marketing is about helping a business succeed. If companies are to give the example in reducing carbon emissions, they must first be able to be in business to begin with. This is where marketing first kicks in. There are many ways a business can make a profit, especially in the green arena. Because we have been leading such an unsustainable lifestyle so far, the number of opportunities for businesses to help consumers be more environmentally-sound is massive. From decomposable garbage bags and servers powered by renewable energy, to efficiency process management services, there are many companies already thriving while making a positive difference in our eco-system.

I’m not saying you need to dump your current job and start a green business from scratch (although, if you decide to do so, you have our full support). You can start by testing the waters in your current organization, and promote sustainable behaviours based on the 3 R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle. Look at your supply chain and identify how you can make it more sustainable. Create ethical and environmental guidelines for your partners, and make them stick to it. You can also add an eco-friendly version of your top products or services and see how they compare with your customer base. Any change towards sustainability is a positive change. Just keep in mind that it is possible – and easy – to be green and profitable.

The goal for us marketers is to push the change as far as we can, so we are actually making a positive impact – or, in better words, reducing our impact on the environment (and by “our” I don’t mean just marketing folks, but everyone). Maybe your company is only ready to push a green product line and piggyback on that differentiator – the commercial argument. That’s fine; it’s a good change. Perhaps in six months from now you can start making revolutionary changes, where all the areas of your company – your whole business model – must be evaluated not only based on financial metrics, but on environmental and ethical indicators too. This is what you should aim to, not just for the environment’s sake, but for your company’s success also: you’ll be building a competitive advantage, and that will reflect in your sales profits.

Green marketing is all about a win-win situation: it’s good for the business while being good for the environment (thus, good for the people). It cannot live without commercial success; it won’t survive without a cultural, long-term lifestyle change. For it is cultural adjustment the deciding factor on the global warming crisis.

It is marketing’s role to promote a change in behaviour in the general public. By funnelling the demand of sustainable products to eco-friendly, ethical companies, marketing is helping shape the general perception that green is not only for activists and hippies – it is for everyone, for everyone’s sake. It’s not only cool to be green; the public, especially in the West Coast, is making it a way of living. It’s becoming natural and easy to live a more environmentally-sound lifestyle. Most green products are already as efficient as their non-eco counterparts, and the premium cost is also fading away. As marketers, we need to keep pushing ahead and educating consumers that this is the way (and, most likely, the only way) for environmental sustainability. We need to make the cultural shift compelling, easy and normal.

For marketing to succeed, it needs to encompass commercial, environmental/ethical and cultural success.