Desur Staff exchange meetingProvince of BolognaDecember 9th, 2013

Corporate Green Communication and Marketing

Green marketing: a definition

An activity that studies factors related to product, production, commercialization, communication, promotion in order to reducing the environmental impact, protecting the environment and, meantime, consumers health (A.Foglio 2008)

The Green Consumer

The so-called green consumer is a variable, ever-changing social actor who practices versatile and complex consumption options

Far from being a 'target' according to the classic marketing theories, green consumer instead represents a consumption style, that is a set of behaviours and practices expressing:

- a political vision of the world- style preferences- liking

Green consumption as political consumerism

Green consumers have enough information to

BOYCOTT or BUYCOTT brands

Green consumers pick up informations on enterpriese behaviour and

act consequently, rewarding or punishing a company by “economic

voting”, expressed through the daily shopping preferences

Green consumers boycott companies having a heavy environmental and social impact

Instead, green consumers buycott, reward companies having a green approach and policy

Main features of these ecologically aware

consumers derive basically from two

macro carachteristics:

Being a prosumer

Critically behaving towards development

models proposed by contemporary society

The Green Consumers

The prosumer

Prosumer reveals the active role that ever more subjects want to play in the consumption process: they intend to set themselves free from a mere role of consumer and demand to participate in the brand value creation process, offering hours of free working supporting what they consider their fascination.

Often they're very faithful to some brands and get together creating a community brand

A couple of examples of Prosumerism

Green prosumers usually have a high average level of technological literacy, a discrete social and cultural capital, sufficient availability of time: they are able to engage and influence others who, like them, want to play a leading role in the process of consumption.

They love to explore, modify, develop, customize their purchases and typically are the early adopters of certain goods.

The green prosumers

The green prosumers

The green prosumer is quite often connected andinformed, use the (internet) and networks (mutual aid) as the main means of transmission of information and value.

Green prosumers believe that businesses before an economic objective should have a social function and are therefore very careful about CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).

They require fair and just products because they

believe that another development model is

possible.

They're very careful about the repercussions of

their purchases and criticize the society of

consumerism, of waste, and they love to reuse

and recycle materials.

The green prosumers

Why did they become green prosumers

The main factors that have induced them over time to pay more attention to the green consumption, besides the obvious personal bent, are related to:

- rules and norms aiming at pushing eco productions

and purchases

- increased costs of fuel and energy

- social inequality

- economic crisis

- green is in fashion

Green consumers can drive market green

Background idea is as much simple as revolutionary: inside the market consumers represent the demand,

and it's these ones to lead the supply. Consumers spend money and choose a product and reject

others; through their "purchasing power" can orient the market towards production more respectful of

work conditions, environment and health

Technology enables individuals to increase their

own awareness of products and services.

Consumer used to be subjected by company's

communication.

Progressively situation has changed and consumer has been aquiring new control tools of the 'prosumption' and communication process

Communication among companies and consumers is no longer one-to-many, instead many-to-many

ICT enable and empower green consumers

ICT tools are ever more available and accessible, thus enabling consumers to communicate more easily among themselves and with the company as well.

Companies Stakeholders range gets wider

ICT enable and empower green consumers

Green, or willing to be green, companies can act on three different levels to keep on staying tuned with greenconsumers:

Technological level: a never-ending innovation process;

Core values level: these should be not change and preserved

Communication: company'd better change codes and language system, as well as media and channels through which it veiculates its core values communication, in order to make it as most effective and efficient as possible

Green companies for green consumers

J. Grant (Green marketing manifesto), underlines how ecological offer can be meant on three different ideal model:

Green: to establish new standards, to communicate

Company only aims at commercial objectives: products match with green phylosophy and the differences compare to other market offers is emphasized;

Greener: share responsabilities, collaborating.Company is willing to reach both environmental and

commercial goals: marketing operations are aimed at achieving environmental objectives, for instance proposing different fruiction modalities of the product;

Greenest: supporting innovation, remodelling culture.Company has also cultural objectives: for example it tries to

presente green phylosophy-oriented lifestyles and business models as naturally preferable compare to others

Three different approaches to the green marketing

Old-fashioned Marketing 4 P:

Price

Product

Promotion

Place

Green marketing compared to the

'old-fashioned' marketing

Marketing in the past: Finding ways to consume more

Green Marketing: Understand how to consume less and better

Green Marketing 4 S:

Safe products

Customer Satisfaction

Sociability of a product

Sustainability

Nine base rules of green marketing

Knowing the customer

Empowerment of the consumer

Being transparent

Greener products work better and are worth a premium price

Values guide consumer purchasing (once consumers bought solely on

price, performance and convenience)

Reputation count more than ever

The brands consumers buy and trust today educate and engage them

in meaningful conversation, especially through the Sns

Green consumers are strongly influenced by the recommendations of

friends and family, and trusted third parties

Nearly everyone is a corporate stakeholder

Greenwashing, is an attempt to provide a picture of a company without really changing it the ecological approach

It's a typical practice of trying to disguise corporate responsibility towards the environment by means of advertisements in defense of ecosystem and sustainable production which, however, are not reflected in the behavior actually adopted.

Often enterprises spend more time and money in communicating a fake green image, rather than thinking of an upgrade of values and practices and take action towards sustainability.

Greenwashing: how to paint business by using some shade of green...

It is clear that the greenwash can be an obstacle to the development of a sustainable economy. In fact, "can slow sustainability efforts by making people more skeptical of the environmental initiatives. The green wash also prevents consumers understand the impact of their buying decisions, because they find it difficult to differentiate between valid statements from false ones. " (J. Grant)

Greenwashing: how to paint business by using some shade of green...

Are we willing to adopt a green marketing strategy?

Yes we are.

Our products have

valuable green features

No, we are not.

We’ve too many doubts and fears to

developing a green communication

When does my brand new communication get started?

Today Tomorrow Never

Why adopting a Green Marketing strategy

New opportunities for innovation

More opportunities to improve further on

Increasing competitiveness

Strengthening the corporate identity and image

Strengthening the relationship with the internal stakeholders (employees, partners, managers, etc..) and external stakeholders (local communities, supply chain, public and private institutions, etc.)

Concern for the economic, social and environmental crisis

Convergence of objectives> Sharing corporate values

Fish could die or swimming in the seas and in the rivers could cause disease, there may be no more oil at the petrol distributors and the average temperature could rise or fall: as long as this is not communicated, there

will be no social effects(N.Luhmann)

Green communication: a social need

Three axis of the Green Communication

Communication

(sharing>bidirectionality of the action>participation)

Information

(base unit of the communication > answers are not expected

Education

(no answers, instead information acquisition > playfully

informing on environmental issues, its values and practices

to keep it safe, raising awareness of such issues)

Green Communication: Who?

Green communication players can be part of:

- Public bodies and institutions

- Third sector

- Private companies

And all planet stakeholders such as you, me...

It can't be communicate what hasn't been done:

Green communication represents a sort of finish line and a starting point at the same time, it can be implemented when the environmental performance of both products and corporate policy reached a good level, and from that moment on no one step back, just forward, by improving such green performances and, meanwhile, green communication

Green Communication: When?

Green Communication: to Whom?

To all corporate stakeholders

Stakeholder (a brief definition) =an accountant, group,

organization, member or system who affects or can be

affected by an organization actions

In this specific case, stakeholders can be: public

institutiones, environmentalist association, consumers,

suppliers, funders, collaborators, citizens, unborn....

Ever more people try to live more responsibly. Of course not too many are willing to make sacrifices, to disrupt their habits and to bear additional costs.

They expect companies to help them to understand why a certain product is better for the environment than another one and what a difference they can make by choosing to buy it.

Informed, they would be able to make purchasing decisions

Green Communication: to Whom?

There's no need to be sociologist to

understand that there's a huge gap between

being concerned about the environment and

being green consumers

Economic resource play an important role,

as well as the lack of confidence in the

company and a scarce knowledge of

environmental issues

Green Communication: to Whom?

Corporate green communication has to take into consideration the context it takes place, other than:

Influencer/Opinion leader (ecologist associations, experts in the field, politicians, public institutions)

Ground noise

Old and recent history of the area involved

Actions, tools, policies sustainability-oriented implemented in the past

Green Communication: to Whom?

Consumers no longer believe in whatever the

advertisement says

They don't trust the government and the institutions

and, more likely, seek for answers on the internet

where they'll find independent information, blogs

and social networks to discuss and share their

opinions

Green Communication: to Whom?

2009 % 2005-09 % change

Water quality 67 -1%

Hazardous, toxic and nuclear waste 61 -6%

Pollution from cars and trucks 54 +2%

Water conservation 53 +10%

Deforestation 52 +8%

Global warming or climate change 50 +2%

Overpopulation 50 +28%

Reliance on fossil fuel 47 +18%

Lack of open space or urban sprawl 37 +42%

Top environmental

issues of concern

How to communicate sustainability?

Effectivebut unfair

Fair and effective

Fair but ineffective

You must first define the communication

objectives, the budget, the audience you will

target and the timing, and then identify

actions, tools and resources needed to

implement the plan, and finally, identify

indicators for monitoring and evaluation of

the effectiveness of communication.

How to communicate sustainability?

The objectives of the Sustainable communication

may change depending on the

- type of stakeholders the company intends to

communicate with

- the reference context (ground noise, what's

previously done in that field) in which they develop

communication flows

In fact in some cases it may be important to raise

awareness and/or draw the attention on green

issues, in other cases offer warranties (including

forms of certification), or informing about green

products

Green communication goals

The budget for the green communication

It is important to

establish for each tool,

category, action:

The estimated

amount

The cost per unit

The subtotal and

total cost

The green communication plan timing

Green communication should be focusing on

two macro-areas:

the internal and external communication.

Internal and external communication

(green starts from inside)

The employees are in fact the first public to be involved, to make them aware of their responsibilities towards corporate green goals, and to engage them and increase their sense of belonging to the organization.

The main objectives of which should aim communication actions are therefore:- Motivate employees towards the company's greenstrategies;- To strengthen the sense of belonging;- To foster the relationships and synergies between different

business sectors;- Affirm the green values of the organization;- Create identity inside and outside companies.

Internal and external communication

(green starts from inside)

Bulletin board

E-mail

Poster designing and signage

House organ, booklets, manuals and magazines

Newsletter

Ethic code

Training sessions, workshops, conventions

Questionnaires and surveys

Intranet, social networking and business website

Several internal communication tools

Advices for a sustainable internal communication

If it's really necessary, it's recommended to print by using recycled paper, or FSC certified paper,

and eco-font76

The external communication has to take into

account all the aspects previously mentioned

that that characterize today's market, where

companies get in touch and set a relationship

with consumers who are ever more aware of,

informed and involved in sustainability issues

and to whom transmitting green-social values

consumers trust in

External communication

Quality and certifications

Saving and performances

Products Life Cycle Environmental

committment

External communication tools

Environmental certifications

- EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme)

- ISO 14001

- ISO 14020, ISO 14021, ISO 14024, ISO 14025

- FSC (Forest stewardship council)

- CoC (Chain of Custody)

Accountability tools (Corporate Social and Environmental Report)

Corporate publications, catalogues, ect.

Newsletter

Packaging

Corporate press agency

• Internet

• Corporate building

• Concept store

• Billposting

• TV and radio commercials

• Guerrilla marketing

• Ambient advertising

• Events

External communication tools

The 7 sins of Greenwashing

Sin of the Hidden Trade-offA claim suggesting that a product is ‘green’ based on a narrow set

of attributes without attention to other important environmental

issues. Paper, for example, is not necessarily environmentally-

preferable just because it comes from a sustainably-harvested

forest.

Sin of No ProofAn environmental claim that cannot be substantiated by easily

accessible supporting information or by a reliable third-party

certification. Common examples are facial tissues or toilet tissue

products that claim various percentages of post-consumer recycled

content without providing evidence.

Sin of VaguenessA claim that is so poorly defined or broad that its real meaning is

likely to be misunderstood by the consumer. ‘All-natural’ is an

example. Arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all

naturally occurring, and poisonous. ‘All natural’ isn’t necessarily

‘green’.

Sin of Worshiping False LabelsA product that, through either words or images, gives the

impression of third-party endorsement where no such

endorsement exists; fake labels, in other words.

Sin of IrrelevanceAn environmental claim that may be truthful but is unimportant or

unhelpful for consumers seeking environmentally preferable

products. ‘CFC-free’ is a common example, since it is a frequent

claim despite the fact that CFCs are banned by law.

Sin of Lesser of Two EvilsA claim that may be true within the product category, but that

risks distracting the consumer from the greater environmental

impacts of the category as a whole. Organic cigarettes could be

an example of this Sin, as might the fuel-efficient sport-utility

vehicle. Sin of FibbingEnvironmental claims that are simply false. The most common

examples were products falsely claiming to be Energy Star

certified or registered.

The 7 sins of Greenwashing

Which tools we're gonna

be using

Traditional

mediaStores

Traditional

shopLarge

retails

Stores

Press

Television

Product

packaging

Environment

al features

Environment

al

certifications

Shopping

assistence

Exhibition

corner

Advertising

campaign

Cause

related

marketing

Cause related green marketing

How to evaluate communication

How to evaluate communication

How to evaluate communication

How to evaluate communication

How to evaluate communication

Thank you for your attention

Umberto Mezzacapo - CesCoComStudies Center on Consumption and Communication

Department of Sociology and Business Law

University of Bologna