Getting the green message right.

The current controversy about Ethanol brings into sharp focus the need for clarity in green marketing.  If you take everything being said and written about Ethanol at face value, it’s easy to blame Ethanol producers for rising food costs, when in truth they are responsible at most for a 2-3% increase in world food prices.  It’s really drought, increasing demand and, most of all, the sharp spike in gas and diesel prices that have driven food prices so high.  

So, why all the finger pointing at Ethanol?  Two reasons.  First, the need to shift blame away from spiraling fuel prices and the weakness of the U.S. dollar, and second, the Ethanol industry’s inability to effectively communicate its own position.

This is yet another reminder of the need to bring green communications down to earth.  We have to illustrate that green products are more than just lofty concepts and ideals. We have to show consumers that our green products have real, practical, and economic value.  If Ethanol has the potential to free us from dependence on foreign oil, outrageous prices, and further degradation of our environment, isn’t it worth trying?  Shouldn’t we be taking a hard look at all alternatives to fossil fuels to meet our energy needs without running us into the ground?  

As green marketers, we need to clearly explain to consumers that purchasing our products will bring them real, practical, and tangible benefits today, rather than lofty, esoteric, and poorly-defined benefits in the future.  Ethanol is a perfect case in point.  It may not be “the solution” to our energy problems, but it may be part of the solution if it isn’t undermined by bad PR and ineffective communications. 

What do you think?