Joel Makower of GreenBiz.com just declared that green marking is dead, or in his words, “Green Marketing is Over.”  To quote Mark Twain, “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  I think the same can be said of green marketing.

Here at Mind Over Markets, we’ve been saying for years that green marketing messages have not been communicated correctly and effectively right from the start.

The first task of green marketing, like all other marketing, should be an analysis of benefits. First to the consumer, and then to the planet. Too many opted for the latter, save the planet, as though you could with your cleaners and your pizzas. That never made any sense to me and it never will.

When Nissan Leaf used a polar bear hugging a man in their commercial instead of laying out the many advantages of EV’s to me and my life, when they don’t position their vehicles as personal benefit producers, when they don’t tell me what’s in it for me, then yes, green marketing is over.

When organic food isn’t positioned as better for your health, better tasting, fresher, more local and ultimately more enjoyable, no wonder it’s hard to justify the higher costs. The success of Whole Foods is probably based more on their gourmetness than on their greenness. They have the recipe right and continue to succeed.

The last time I saw a green marketing obituary it was centered on the failure of Organic Ragu Sauce. As though any organicite or foodie was going to buy Organic Ragu or Organic Heinz Ketchup.  That wasn’t a failure of green, but a failure of logic. When the largest manufacturers of caustic and corrosive cleaning solutions suddenly turns green, its no wonder that consumers scratch their heads and wonder if it’s real or just a mask.

When Kimberly Clark tells us they they’ve done “green right” instead of telling us that recycled paper is a better, saner way to make napkins and toilet paper than destroying old growth forests, no wonder we yawn and walk away.

To my mind, it’s not the failure of green marketing, but the failure of green marketers to have thought it out long enough and strategically enough to hire true green marketers and visionaries who actually understand not just the heart of green consumers, but the minds of the greater population.

Instead they wheeled out Kermit the Frog and melting icebergs. They should have been selling their products to me instead of making my purchases seem like a cause, charity, public service or a sacrifice that I have to make. By the way, you can’t actually save the planet all by yourself.

Talk about naive. At a time when people aren’t sure they can save themselves, much less the planet, is it any wonder that kind of thinking or marketing is on the endangered species list?

What’s saddest of all is that all the so called “green experts” failed in their expertness when they didn’t alert marketers that they were on thin ice right from the beginning. When they didn’t understand the balance of message, the need for benefits, and the need to tell consumers that they were not only doing what was right, but what was smart.

It really is a shame that the lemmings will watch the green hearse go by and help drive green even further off the cliff. That others will continue to not only sell, but tell things wrong and then lament the passing of one of the most significant opportunities to actually make things better for all of us.

– Irv Weinberg

Read what Jacqui Ottman says in her post “Green is Alive and Kicking”.

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A message to the corner office. Congrats on offering the world a line of recycled paper products.  That’s the good news. The bad news is your message, “Green Done Right,” has got it all wrong.

We say this for a number of reasons. First of all, the green market has matured.  It’s reached the point where you actually have to say something meaningful and not the first thing that comes to your mind. Things have progressed to the point that green products have to stand on their own merits and tell their story to all of us, not just the narrow slice of the market where green began. That’s so 2004.

We’ve said this over and over again, but it still bears repeating. You can’t make your message meaningful if all you do is recycle green clichés.  ”Saving the planet one (whatever) at a time” and “It’s easy being green” had their place once, but that’s ancient history now. 

Of course, we understand the sensitive area you’re in as the paper company that manufactures one of the leading disposable diapers on the market, Huggies. Well, according to the EPA, did you know that18 billion diapers are thrown in landfills each year and they make up 3.4 million tons of waste or 2.1% of all U.S. garbage in those landfills? Not to mention that disposable diapers are made from petroleum by products.

Do you see why your new tag line, “Green Done Right” is so wrong for you, Kimberly-Clark? Our BS meter is way up on this one. 

Instead, why not tell me that all that paper we have been so judiciously collecting and putting in the right bins right next to my cans and bottles are returning as useful products? Why not tell us that your new product line is recycling in action? Why not tell us that you’ve found a way to make disposable products not dispose of so many trees and forests?  Why not tell us that you’ve joined our recycling efforts and developed products that keep landfills cleaner and less stressed? Why not tell us about the tons of paper that has been reclaimed, reused and recycled and how you’re doing it? 

Why not tell me something that actually means something to me and encourage me to do more so you can do more? Then, of course, do it in a clever and memorable way with some real thinking and creativity. One of the most persuasive things you can do is show us your passion for leading an effort not just hopping on the band — or should I say “brand” wagon.

One look at the shelves in most markets today attests to the fact that mass consumer interest is shifting green and that’s a good thing. We even support you cashing in on the trend as long as the ultimate effect helps us all and the planet we all share. But have enough respect for all of us not to leave your communications in the hands of the junior team at your advertising agency who really knows little or nothing about this market. 

Personally, we’re tired of hearing that going green is a sacrifice that we have to make in terms of inferior products and performance.  It no longer is. 

As a long time marketing communicators, we can’t believe that most of us won’t be happy about seeing more and more green products emerge. But our fear is if marketers don’t do green right, they will eventually turn consumers off with empty messages and empty promises and that will set us all back.

So when we see you, Kimberly-Clark, doing something good with all that paper we’ve recycled, we know there’s hope. We just hope you listen and tell it better.

Carolyn and Irv  

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