The move towards eco-friendly practices is not a new fad – in-fact Green Marketing began in Europe in the early 1980s when certain products were found to be harmful to the earth's atmosphere. The trend towards supporting green initiatives, products and services has seen a substantial increase in recent years as consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about climate change.What is a ‘Green Policy’?
Like any formalised policy drafted for your business, a Green Policy (also known as an Environmental / Sustainability Policy) is a document that details your commitment to environmentally friendly operations and your activities which uphold them.
A comprehensive Green Policy is measurable and will detail your current green activities, your objectives for the future and the steps you plan to take in order to reach your goals. Ideally any claims to green practices should be substantiated with evidence which may include scientific and targeted investigative reports where necessary.
Why Communicate Green Policies?
While Green Policies need to be drafted for the good of the environment and not to generate more profit from increased marketing activities, communicating Green Policies to clients and consumers does assist to build awareness around environmental issues and favourable green practices. As organisations add weighting in terms of suppliers green practices to their procurement decisions, suppliers who actively undertake to operate in a measurably green manner will find themselves more competitive now and in the future.
How should Green Policies be communicated?
How Green Policies are communicated to clients and consumers is worth a good deal of genuine forethought specifically as younger generations (X & Y) display the highest level of concern over the environment, yet are the most cynical in response to green marketing messages they receive.
When communicating Green Policies and practices, organisations should always seek to deliver information that is indeed measurable, constructive and accurate in order to develop and sustain client and consumer trust in the ethics of the organisation.
Green Marketing must satisfy two objectives:- improved environmental quality, and customer satisfaction. Where specific products and services are concerned, the same marketing technique of communicating benefits (for the client) first must be adopted and followed by detail regarding measurable benefits to the environment.
Green Marketing is a subject for hot debate at present and it certainly requires more sensitivity and thought than virtually any other form of marketing strategy and communication. In future posts, we will delve deeper into the practical applications of Green Marketing and the more specific dynamics of this fascinating subject. We welcome any ideas and questions that you may have in the interim.
