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Hey, Nestle: Don’t Communicate --Eco-Innovate!
Posted on November 20 2008 by Jacquelyn Ottman
If only Nestle had used good green marketing efforts and communicated its efforts to green its bottled water business sooner, it wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in now. Right? Wrong!
Contrary to what Kim Jeffery, CEO of Nestle Waters, laments to BusinessWeek, the real issue with bottled water lies in consumers’ minds (and the advocates who influence them), not in pricey carbon analyses showing that lightweighting the plastic bottle is the solution to reducing the environmental impact of bottled water. The real issue simply stated is that it’s environmentally wasteful to ship water across …
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Eco-Logos: A Double-Edged Sword?
Posted on October 22 2008 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Eco-logos are all the rage - but how valuable are they as a green marketing tool? Are there some hidden risks that warrant a second look? Let's consider the three ingredients of an effective marketing logo - green or otherwise - and their implications for the savvy eco-marketer.
Here are the three factors at play:
1. Recognizability. Eco-logos can reinforce green messages, a welcome benefit for sure. But of the myriad eco-logos on the market, only a few are known to consumers. They consist of the, chasing arrows recycling logo, the Energy Star seal of energy efficiency, USDA Organic logo, …
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How Far, Pray Tell?
Posted on July 22 2008 by Jacquelyn Ottman
How far have your products traveled from manufacturing plant or farmer's field to market? Perhaps it's time to tell your consumer. In a marketplace where more and more consumers want to know their carbon footprint, and the marketers themselves are often confused about how to craft their sustainability messages, meaningful, easy-to-understand information is at a premium. Too many think, for instance, that bamboo (which travels 6,000 miles to get to your floor) and fair trade bananas are going to "save the planet," when the truth is that locally procured alternatives are the better environmental bet.
Finding ways to …
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It Isn’t Always So “Friendly” Being Green
Posted on July 22 2008 by Jacquelyn Ottman
Don’t join the growing number of marketers throwing around phrases like "environmentally friendly,” “Earth friendly," and "ozone friendly." While such claims have a calming ring, they can be very misleading. The simple fact is, there is no such thing as an "eco-friendly" product; all use resources and create waste to some degree. To avoid such confusion in the marketplace, the Federal Trade Commission introduced its Environmental Marketing Guidelines in 1992. Some key takeaways:
—Be specific. Marketers are liable not only for inaccurate statements but also for consumers' misinterpretations of their claims, as Shell recently discovered. So, don't just say …
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FTC Takes on Green Packaging Claims—And Not a Moment Too Soon
Posted on March 30 2008 by Jacquelyn Ottman
As companies scurry to appeal to a fast-growing eco-consumer base, the Federal Trade Commission is stepping in to bring clarity to the arena of green marketing. As I write, numerous stakeholders are developing their testimony for an April 30 hearing on environmental claims for product packaging. Here’s a rundown of the key issues, and why they’re becoming more important by the day.
In January, the FTC held hearings with the goal of updating its Green Guides to include standards for the marketing of carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates. Now it’s time for packaging. Among others, terms …
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