Is green marketing the future of business?

“The tipping point has been reached and the issue affects everyone. Green is no longer just a first world affluent or educated consumer cause,” says Greg Garden, of Nedbank Group.

“And contrary to popular mythology, South Africans also see the importance of green issues. Green is moving in from the fringes and will become the central consumer issue of our time, which means we have entered the eco revolution,” Garden points out.

Vox populi, vox dei (people's voice is God's voice), says a Latin proverb.

When the people rise and say enough is enough, analysts say marketers have the duty to heed that call and change the way of doing business.

And failure to accommodate these changes might lead to some brands being ‘recalled' by consumers, leading to serious corporate repercussions.

New marketing mindset required

Garden explains: “A new consumer consciousness requires a new marketing mindset and a very different marketing approach. Companies, brands and markets that fail to adapt will face extinction.”

From Cape to Cairo, from Alaska to Antwerp and from Sydney to Stockholm, environmental issues have become one of the most-debated topics in households, offices, schools, pubs and churches, with many deploring world powers' ‘bad faith' to push for green values in a severely-damaged earth's atmosphere.

South Africa emits about 50% of Africa's total greenhouse gas (GHG) and 1.4% of the world's GHG, and Eskom and Sasol are said to be the country's worst polluters.

Nevertheless, Garden says companies must wake up now and acknowledge that green is no longer a trend, but has become a movement.

“Green will rapidly become table stakes for companies and brands, and environmental credentials will be a key part of consumer decision-making,” he says.

It's not just a shift, but a fundamental realignment

“For brands, green is rapidly transforming from cause to imperative.

“The green consumer will recede as a segment - all consumers will, to a greater or lesser extent, expect or demand green.

“This is not about a new green communication strategy - it is a fundamental reappraisal of your business model, value proposition, and service and fulfilment strategies.

“Content will only drive marketing goals within appropriate context.”

An increasing number of companies - in SA and overseas - are said to be planning to ‘go green' or claiming to ‘have gone green', which in reality appears to be nothing but a publicity stunt to seek the public's attention.

Don't even think of ‘greenwashing'

Garden calls this futile and misleading exercise ‘greenwashing', which he says will be quickly punished by consumers.

He says: “Many consumers are deeply sceptical about large corporations claiming to go green, as very few companies are seen as honest to begin with.

“Consumers have high expectations and if you disappoint them they will make their voices heard. Everything will be out in the open.

“The marketing approach of making a brand seem special, when in truth it isn't, doesn't work in sustainability. In traditional marketing, rational or tangible or intrinsic over-claim sometimes bites back.

“In green marketing, emotional or intangible over-claim (or even veneering) will bite back even harder.”

He also says that the days of being able to ‘image-wash' the reality of your product - the how, where, by whom, with what, from where, among others of its make-up - with lifestyle, cultural or metaphoric images, celebrity endorsement, or dramatic analogy are coming to an end.

“Green, which is a principle and not a proposition, will be a consumer revolution that will force marketers to rethink the marketing manual, he concludes.