Hasta La Creative!

Since I moved to Seattle, I’ve become much more aware of environmental issues and groups that draw attention to them. But where I came from, it’s another story.

We’ve seen many attempts in recent years by marketers to capitalize on a growing awareness by consumers of environmental issues. Today’s New York Times reports on the efforts Clorox is making with its line of Green Works products. And up until now, the bottom line seems to have gotten in the way:

When Green Works was first launched, it came out of the gate with a lot of investment by Clorox,” said Jason Gere, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “Initially it started to do well, but then the macroeconomic environment took over. Clorox realized that in this consumer-led recession, having products even as environmentally friendly as Green Works’ are, but charging a 20 percent-plus premium to conventional cleaners, was not working.

Green Works has launched many digital and social initiatives, including its “The Green Housewives” web series:

It’s hard to tell anyone on a tight budget to pay more for environmentally-friendly products. But marketers will keep trying to push “green” products. So does the environment really matter to consumers when they’re shopping? Is more, or different, consumption really the answer? Or are we becoming simply too jaded for all the marketers’ green efforts?

Marketing with a focus on the environment is tricky. There are arguments to be made for less energy consumption, use of better (or recycled) raw materials, or even reducing a lengthy supply chain in making products. But consumers don’t often take those into consideration. And as we’ve seen, quite a number of politicians and supporters refuse to believe there’s even a problem, or a need to be more sensitive to how we treat our earth and its natural resources.

If you’ve had any experience with clients or brands looking to push their environmental efforts, leave a comment and let us know how much success you’ve had.

The post It’s Earth Day. Do Consumers Really Care about “Green” Products? appeared first on AdPulp.

Peter Seligmann, CEO-chairman of Conservation International, delivered a keynote address at Advertising Age’s Green Conference in New York yesterday, telling brand managers it’s okay to be not perfect.

In the current environment, accusations of “greenwashing” have become the norm, but that’s no excuse to sit on the sidelines.

None of us are pure. None of your brands are pure,” he said. “We need an aspiration to be pure. We’re not going to achieve that if we wait until we’re pure to say something. We’re going to be silent. And we can’t afford to be silent.”

I agree that we all need to move in a better direction, but I also believe striving is not enough. We actually need to reach our environmental goals.

Later in the piece, there’s a mention of a program at Fairmont Hotels where guests go shopping for organic produce with chefs from the hotel restaurants. I like that.

In today’s installment of “Consumed,” New York Times Magazine writer Rob Walker shines a light on FIJI Water’s attempt to paint itself green. It’s not an easy task for a company that ships a heavy product in plastic containers many thousands of miles to market.

“Any time you see negative stories in the press, you have to figure out how to respond,” says Rob Six, FIJI Water’s vice president for corporate communications.

One response is to launch a site called FIJI Green, complete with a blog where fundamental tenets of ecological thinking are challenged head on.

We here at FIJI Water hear a lot of complaints about “food miles,” ours in particular. The concept is that the longer your food travels, the worse it is for the environment.

We think this is a load of hooey…and so do scientists who have studied lifecycle carbon footprints. The key word here is lifecycle – how a product is developed or packaged, what the transport mode is, and other factors can have a far greater impact for better or worse than the mere distance traveled.

People commenting on this post take FIJI Water to task. Luizhou says, “Fiji Water’s attempts to project a green image is nothing short of hilarious.” But it looks like FIJI Water is getting the last laugh. Their sales volume was up 30 percent in 2007, and the company says the brand is experiencing double-digit growth this year.