GREEN MARKETING

Green marketing includes product

modification, changes in production process, packaging changes and promotion to minimize detrirmental impact on the natural environment.

MEANING

Green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in it or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way.

IS green marketing only promotion or advertising of products with environmental charecteristics ?? ORIt is the incorporation of broad range of activities including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising.

WHY GREEN MARKETING?

As resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is important for the marketers to utilize the resources efficiently without waste as well as to achieve the organization's objective. So green marketing is inevitable.

BENEFITS OF GREEN MARKETING

Companies that develop new and improved products and services with environment inputs in mind give themselves access to new markets, increase their profit sustainability, and enjoy a competitive advantage over the companies which are not concerned for the environment.

ADOPTION OF GREEN MARKETING?

There are basically five reasons for which a marketer should go for the adoption of green marketing. They are -•Opportunities or competitive advantage •Corporate social responsibilities (CSR) •Government pressure •Competitive pressure •Cost or profit issues

OPPURTUNITIES-• Mc Donald replaced its clam shell packaging with

waxed paper.• Xerox introduced a high quality recycled photocopier

paper.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- Coca-Cola, Walt Disney GOVERNMENTAL PRESSURE- Laws and guidelines

A FEW ELEMENTS OF GREEN MARKETING

GREEN PRODUCT DESIGN Green product design involves choosing raw material and

production process so that the entire lifecycle of a product is taken into account, including its disposal/reuse/recycling.

DELL, APPLE, ELECTROLUX,PHILIPS,XEROX

SUPPLIER ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT[SEM] It involves screening suppliers for their

environmental performance, setting purchasing standards, collaborating for green product design and building environmental management capacity.

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, BOEING, FORD MOTOR, STARBUCKS,UNILEVER, BODY SHOP

SUPPLIER ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT[SEM]

Reasons for implementation-• Reduces costs• Improves Risk Management• Enhances quality• Increases Innovation and New Product Development• Protects Reputation and Brand Image

Green Marketing MixEvery company has its own favorite marketing mix. Some have 4 P's and some have 7 P's of marketing mix. The 4 P's of green marketing are that of a conventional marketing but the challenge before marketers is to use 4 P's in an innovative manner.

PRODUCT The ecological objectives in planning products are to reduce resource

consumption and pollution and to increase conservation of scarce resources.

PRICE Price is a critical and important factor of green marketing mix. Most

consumers will only be prepared to pay additional value if there is a perception of extra product value. This value may be improved performance, function, design, visual appeal, or taste. Green marketing should take all these facts into consideration while charging a premium price.

PROMOTION There are three types of green advertising: -• Ads that address a relationship between a product/service

and the biophysical environment• Those that promote a green lifestyle by highlighting a

product or service• Ads that present a corporate image of environmental

responsibility

PLACE• The choice of where and when to make a product available

will have significant impact on the customers. Very few customers will go out of their way to buy green products.

THE INDIAN SCENARIO

Due to multiple reasons –regulatory pressures, technological advancements, consumer movement, emergence of niche segments-Indian marketers are going green in new product development, product modification and packaging.

INDIAN INITIATIVES

Over the past years have started green initiatives to differentiate their offerings in a competitive milieu and partly to take advantage of the price premium possible, many companies have started offering branded products in several categories.

RENEWABLE ENERGY-TATA BP SOLAR : vajraHOSPITALITY-ECOTEL HOTELSFUEL- BPCLAUTOMOTIVE-HERO HONDA : 4 strokePERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS-Himalaya Drug Company

ECO PRACTICES AT THE RODAS HOTEL, MUMBAI

HANGER Made from saw dust

Kitchen garbage Uses nine vermiculture bins at the site

Personal care products Herbal products, manufactured under an ayurvedic license

laundry Uses reusable cloth bags

Shopping bag Cloth bag with environment messages

Stationery Eco friendly

Recycling bins Separate bins in each room

Footwear Handcrafted, from natural reed

wastewater Recycled

TATA GROUP OF COMPANIES• India’s oldest industrial house is stepping up efforts to reduce its carbon

footprint across the value chain — from manufacturing processes to distribution networks to ecofriendly consumer products.

• Tata Steel aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at its Jamshedpur plant from the current 1.8 tonne to 1.7 tonne per tonne of liquid steel made by 2012. The ideal global benchmark though is 1.5.

• Tata Motors is setting up an eco-friendly showroom using natural building material for its flooring and energy efficient lights. Tata Motors said the project is at a preliminary stage.

• One of the most interesting innovations has come in the form of a biogas- based power plant at Taj Green Cove in Kovalam, which uses the waste generated at the hotel to meet its cooking requirements.

• Launched a low-cost water purifier made from natural ingredients.

TOP 10 GREEN COMPANIES

• SUZLON ENERGY• ITC• TATA METALIKS LTD• TAMIL NADU NEWSPRINT AND PAPERS LTD• WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES• HCL TECHNOLOGIES• ONGC• INDUS IND BANK• IDEA CELLULAR• HERO HONDA MOTORS

CHALLENGES AHEAD

• Green products require renewable and recyclable material, which is costly

• Requires a technology, which requires huge investment in R & D

• Water treatment technology, which is too costly• Majority of the people are not aware of green

products and their uses• Majority of the consumers are not willing to pay

a premium for green products

STRATEGIES

The marketing strategies for green marketing include: -• Marketing Audit (including internal and

external situation analysis) • Develop a marketing plan outlining strategies

with regard to 4 P's • Implement marketing strategies • Plan results evaluation

A FEW IDEAS!!

• Work from home – allow staff to work from home more often. This will help provide added perks and could improve productivity.

• Teamwork – boost Company moral by setting a company wide goal of everyone working together to lower the businesses carbon footprint.

• Sustainable Packaging – replacing your existing packaging with “green” packaging materials such as BIODEGRADABLE. Or simply get creative by re-using old magazine pages.

CONCLUSION

Environmentalism has fast emerged as a worldwide phenomenon. Business firms too have risen to the occasion and have started responding to environmental challenges by practicing green marketing strategies. Green consumerism has played a catalystic role in ushering corporate environmentalism and making business firms green marketing oriented.