Green Marketing: What Works, What Doesn’t
By Gail Nickel-Kailing on January 22nd, 2010
The Environmental Leader has recently released what is already one of the most relevant green marketing studies ever made. Green Marketing: What Works, What Doesn’t takes a critical look at green marketing and digs up eye-opening information such as the green marketing effects on product pricing, what media are most used in green marketing campaigns, and which of these are most effective.
Marketers recently turned very strongly to green marketing tactics as firms look for “green” business partners and businesses jump on the corporate social responsibility bandwagon.
Because they perceive it has value, marketers are engaged in green marketing. Marketers are backing up their beliefs of the company’s level of “greenness” with marketing campaigns, rather than creating green campaigns to be part of the trend, or more cynically, to deliberately shore up a known weakness.
The research suggests that management first buys into “greenness” and, later, green marketing, rather than beginning green marketing efforts simply out of a desire to appear green.
Some of the study’s key findings:
- Most marketers intend to spend more on green marketing.
More than 80% of respondents indicated they expect to spend more on green marketing in the future. - Marketers believe green marketing is more effective, not less.
28% of marketers themselves think green marketing is more effective than other marketing messages. - Smaller firms spend more.
Companies with smaller marketing budgets tend to spend more on green marketing. - Internet tops green marketing media.
By far the most popular medium for green marketing was the internet, with 74.2% of respondents having spent money online, followed by print (49.8%), direct (40%), outdoor (7%), radio and TV (7%), and mobile (6%). - Green marketing is more effective than some marketers think.
Those firms that used the most trackable media are also those that said green marketing worked better than the average marketing message. 48% of respondents who employed direct marketing in their media mix said it was more or much more effective. - Marketers that track marketing spend and its relation to sales believe people will pay more for green products.
When asked if customers would pay more for green products or to a green company, it was the direct-oriented media that showed the more positive results. - Larger companies are more likely to target employees rather than customers.
Companies with media budgets of more than $10 million annually showed a much higher proclivity to have their own employees as their target audience. Firms with budgets less than $250,000 were about 80% more likely to target customers directly. - Marketers and management say marketers have control.
50% of management tended to agree that control of the sustainability program is in the hands of marketers. - Firms are already taking active steps to become green.
About half the companies reported that they are consciously taking steps to become more green. - Smaller companies think green marketing is more effective than larger companies.
Nearly half of respondents said the decision makers at their companies hold green marketing in regard. Companies with decision makers who have a low regard for green marketing tend to be those with larger marketing budgets.
Buy a copy of Green Marketing: What Works; What Doesn’t – A Marketing Study of Practitioners here.
