|
GREEN MARKETING: OPPORTUNITY FOR INNOVATION
Preface
Since the
first edition of Green Marketing was published in 1993,
green shopping has virtually disappeared from newspaper headlines,
and "the environment" has been displaced from the top of the public's
worry list by such other pressing issues as crime, drugs, the
economy, and AIDS. However, such developments do not mean that
consumers no longer care about the environmental impact of the
products they buy. A peek inside voting booths, shopping carts
and recycling bins will prove that Americans are acting upon their
environmental concerns now more than ever.
Since the
late 1980's and early 1990's, anxiety over environmental ills
like the ozone layer depletion, oil spills and presumably overflowing
landfills has subsided and day-to day eco-related activities have
become the norm. Record numbers of consumers now recycle, seek
out eco-labels, and incorporate any number of other environmentally
sensitive behaviors into their lives. Businesses do more to address
green now more than ever, too. Motivated by a growing recognition
that environmental and economic goals can work hand in hand, many
now enlightened managers look for ways to green up their companies
and create win-win alliances with once former adversaries in government
and environmental advocacy groups.
After a misguided
attempt at green advertising and claim-making that nearly derailed
the modern day environmental consumerism movement of the 1980s
and early 1990s, marketers are finally getting green marketing
right. Bolstered by guidelines proffered by the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission, marketers now communicate their environmental product
initiatives without risk of misleading or confusing their eco-conscious
consumers. With the luxury of a raft of green product successes
(as well as failures) to learn from, and the benefit of time and
refined technologies, they introduce products and services that
balance consumers' primary needs for quality, convenience and
affordability with environmental soundness; indeed environmental
performance is now a critical factor in most product developers'
design criteria. Conventional marketing is out. Green marketing
is in.
Addressing
today's sophisticated green consumers requires new strategies
and the power to innovate. For readers for whom this book is intended—marketers
of consumer products and services and their advertising, public
relations and promotion agency counterparts, as well as entrepreneurs
looking to seize opportunities, this edition will serve as an
update on the status of the environmental consumerism trend. Using
case studies of the most successful green companies, products,
programs, and advertising, it will guide your planning and maximize
your opportunities, highlighting the strategies most associated
with addressing this trend profitably. Most importantly, it will
underscore the very specific opportunities that innovative green
strategies provide for revitalizing one's company, renewing one's
product lines and recharging the morale of one's employees and
colleagues.
My personal
goal in writing this book is to help skew the market to environmentally
preferable products and services, and with it, to help people
lead more environmentally sustainable and satisfying lives. My
hope is that the information contained within can accelerate this
global shift and reward its primary actors in the process.
Jacquelyn
A. Ottman
President,
J. Ottman Consulting, Inc., New York City
|
