OgilvyEarth, the sustainability practice of Ogilvy & Mather, is circulating a guide for successful green marketing called From Greenwash to Great.
“This handbook was developed for marketers who aspire to develop great sustainability-related marketing rooted in authentic activities,” explains Freya Williams, Managing Director of OgilvyEarth.
Done right, sustainability-oriented marketing can do more than build brand loyalty and establish corporate leadership; it can change the way people look at the world and ignite much-needed cultural change.
Some of the recommendations in the OgilvyEarth report include:
- Partner for content and credibility
- Make honesty a priority
- Find strength in humility
In related news, Inhabit is running an article on the Top Five Dumbest Greenwashed Earth Day Gimmicks. Their number one gimmick is ‘Eco-shaped’ bottled-water.
Eco-friendly bottled-water campaigns around Earth Day are probably the most worst examples of greenwashing we’ve ever seen. Does anyone really fall for Poland Springs ‘Eco-shape’ b&!!$#!t? What is an eco-shape exactly? According to Poland Springs, “As part of our ongoing effort to reduce our environmental footprint, we redesigned our new bottle and cap to contain 30% less plastic than our original bottle.” Gee, thanks Nestle Corporation – that is so honorable and so ‘eco’ of you! How ’bout you just stop sticking tap water in plastic bottles, lying and saying it is from a ‘spring’, and selling it to gullible consumers as ‘healthy’ and ‘natural’ in the first place, thus spewing millions of tons of carbon into air and the clogging up landfills with 50 billion non-biodegrading ‘recyclable’ plastic bottles per year. That would be the truly ‘eco’ thing to do.
