Tailoring the message to the current economic situation helps. In a survey of over 100 green print ads, U.S.-based environmental communications firm the SOAP Group found that the word “green” is no longer the most popular term in environmental advertising—now, it’s the word “less.” Environmentally friendly products are still seen as more expensive than their counterparts, yet two-thirds of Canadians don’t understand why they should be. This creates a real opportunity, says Bensimon, for green products “able or willing to price against the conventional.” Those that let consumers save money while helping the environment—like fuel-efficient appliances, for example, or cold-water laundry detergent—are ideal.
Of course, there are some common pitfalls many green marketers can make. The “biggest mistake,” Bob Garfield says, is “greenwashing”—stretching the truth of environmental claims—which will lose consumers’ faith altogether. Earlier this year, Ottawa-based environmental marketing firm TerraChoice published a survey of 2,219 products in the U.S. and Canada that make green claims. It concluded that over 98 per cent of these were guilty of some kind of greenwashing, from being too vague (promising that a product is “all natural,” for example), to offering no proof of their claims. Cosmetics, cleaning supplies, and products aimed at kids were the most likely candidates for greenwashing.
Green marketers also must consider the tenor of their ads. Since almost everyone accepts that the environment is of concern, fear-based messages are pointless: “You don’t need to show polar bears stranded on ice floes,” Bensimon says. “People are very aware we’re cooking the planet.” Having a light touch is key; consumers respond to humour (like the B.C. Hydro campaign) or a sense of community (think of David Suzuki’s ads for powerWISE in Ontario, which show everyone on the same street screwing in energy-efficient porch lights).
Patty Jones is the group account director for DDB Canada in Vancouver, which crafted the B.C. Hydro ads. Above all, she says, green advertising is about presenting people with small, manageable steps they can achieve to go green. “We’re not asking everyone to retrofit their house,” she says. “We’re saying, ‘Dip your toe in the water and let’s get started.’ It’s everybody’s planet, and everyone has a stake in it. Do the right thing, and we’ll all be here cheering you on.”
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