Green Marketing and Ingredients to Its Successfulness - Essay Example

Environment Issues in Business al Affiliation) Green marketing and ingredients to its successfulness Green marketing refers to the process of selling products or services packaged in an environmentally friendly way with an assumption that the consumer will see the “greenness” of the product or service as a merit and base their purchasing decision accordingly. On the other hand, conventional marketing is the use of media like radios, television, internet and other digital methods to sell your product to the targeted consumers. The successfulness of green marketing will only be achieved if certain key ingredients pertaining to the products, services or the manufacturer are adhered to. For instance, comparing and contrasting the marketing performance of Earth light and Marathon CFL light bulbs from Philips Company. We realize that the marketing flop and success of the two products respectively relied heavily on whether consumers requirement were met or not, packaging and branding of the product and other factors as discussed below (Connoly 2003). Any product that a manufacturer releases to the market should meet the direct needs of the consumer, in accordance to its primary use, and should not be positioned to offer ‘green’ benefits more than its main benefit. These green credentials are irrelevant and therefore manufacturers should make the product appealing to customer by ensuring that the product satisfy the requirements of the consumer. These green benefits should only be used to supplement the product’s appeal by adding more value to the consumer. Market result of Philips’ company light bulbs: Earth light and Marathon CFL clearly proof this. The two bulbs provided light, their primary function, however, Marathon CLF thrived well in the market that Earth light. This is because it had a U.S. EPAs ENERGY STAR label that added its credibility while Earth light did not have. We therefore conclude that ‘green’ tags should be used to add appealing effect to a product so as to lure them buy it but the primary focus should be placed on the use of the product (Kangis 1992). Secondly, when manufacturer specify that their product are green, they should mean it for their green marketing to be successful. The green specifications should also be clear so as not to mislead consumers into thinking that they are wholly focusing on environmental issues. Taking a look at Marathon CFL it was an energy saving bulb as Philips had claimed. Consumer who had it saved $26 in energy cost over the lifetime of the build. This was indeed green since the element of energy conservation was respected and upheld. Manufacturers should therefore define clearly what they mean when they say their products are green as it is an ingredient to success of marketing of the product. Moreover, organizations that claim to uphold and support green marketing, should do it in a transparent, sincere and credible way. It should be understood that green marketing is more than a brand building strategy. It is a way of creating new valuable innovations, generating revenue streams for the organization while cutting down cost and adding value to all the organizational aspects, products and services (Lee 2008). In this regard, Philips has met its sustainability goals defined in its “EcoVision4” program and this has led in increased sale of its green products hence increasing revenue for the company while exercising what they communicate. Firms should also manufacture products that conform to the standards of government regulations. These regulations are imposed to protect consumers ensuring that manufacturers do not produce harmful goods or by-products and that a consumer is able to analyze the environmental composition of goods. Therefore, firms that work to maintain a green marketing strategy should adhere to publicized environmental regulations designed to control green marketing. Philips products conform to the environmental legislations on lighting. Their green legislation clearly redefines their lighting requirements that positively impact the legal life of consumers. We realize that when an organization engages in activities that are aligned with government’s laws pertaining to maintenance of environment, they are at higher position of selling their products to consumers and this is a key ingredient to the success of green marketing. Finally, pricing of products and services should be affordable to consumers. Consumers must be willing and able to afford premiums. If the cost is too high compared to substitutes of the same, consumers will shift to the substitutes. Philip’s Earth light bulb did not perform well in the market because it cost $15. This was too expensive when compared to price of incandescent that was 75¢. As a result, consumers had to opt for incandescent in favour of Earth light bulbs, the result was, and the Earth bulb could not climb out of the green niche. As to conclusion, green marketing entails more that the claims of marketing of a firm. Firms are manufacturing environmentally friendly products but it is consumers who purchase these products and create problems to the environment. Destruction of the natural environment is brought by both firms and consumers. Sustainability reporting Sustainability reporting is publishing of a company’s or organisations financial, economic, environmental reports and social impact caused by its day to day activities. It presents the value and the governance model of the organisation and clearly defining how its strategies and commitment to a sustainable global economy are linked. Sustainability reporting has emerged as a common practice in the current business era. It helps organizations manage their social and environmental impacts thus improving efficiency and effectiveness in their operations. Through sustainable reporting, a firm’s reputation and trust, from consumers, is enhanced. When transparency is expanded and positive deeds of a firm are brought out to the public, the public trust the firm more. This is because; the firm is viewed to be transparent and genuine in its activities and operations (Lee 2008). As a result, the firm’s reputation is improved. Moreover, firms which have transparency attract investors by identifying new markets and business opportunities. Investors prefer to invest in transparent corporations due to higher trust they have for them. This makes these firm have an easy access to capital from outside. In addition, firms that foster sustainability reporting, show are more creativity, innovativeness, efficiency and produce less waste in process and business. These firms employ social and environmental start-ups as opportunities to gather information about them. By engaging community and letting them be source of insights and information, can ease how firms make decision. Also, these firms are able to predict and manage risks emerging from sustainability-related aspects of business. Moreover, undertaking sustainability reporting may also allow a firm to prepare, in advance, for concerns in community of operation. Community may be concerned about their health, safety and other perils brought about by the firm’s activities. It is therefore the responsibility of the firm to assure community of safety. Finally, firms will also be in a position to prepare for future scarcity of materials and prior understanding of saves companies time and money (Lorz 2009). Firms that engage in sustainability initiatives increase firm’s success. The art of publicizing the firm is also like a marketing strategy. Creating awareness draws consumers into the organization which in turn is the success of the company. With ones information in public, no one will struggle knowing what the firm engages in. This minimizes social negative influence and brings benefit to society at large and reaps huge social benefits. Constantly communicating corporate responsibility like number of voluntary and uncompensated hours a worker has worked. This reputation of being responsible and disclosing such information can help when recruiting. New employees will have trust on the firm since it is responsible and transparent on their working schedule. Firms thrive on how well their mission, visions and strategies are laid. Through sustainability reporting, a comprehensive analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is done. This coupled with engagement of stakeholders, lead to wide and robust organizational strategies and visions (Lozano 2011). On the other hand, companies can use sustainability reporting to avoid providing meaningful insights into sustainability of their operations. This is achieved through, withholding data collected from field research or response to something. When a company publishes about themselves they get responses, some which pinpoints to the firm’s weaknesses. Though this information is crucial for correcting, the firm may withhold it in order to protect their image. This prevents provision of meaningful insights into sustainability of their operations. Secondly, companies may decide to withhold publishing information that affects workers either due to fear of being confronted by government or their own interest. Failure to do so conceals insight about workers in that organization. Some firms, in order to protect their reputation, will publish wrong information about their organization; they present it in a vague manner. For instance, they may over quote their value of fixed assets so as to hide their current bankruptcy level or to attract more investors. As a result it is therefore frequently difficult to assess how companies are performing against their own corporate a responsibility policies and commitments. Also use of sustainability reporting methods like Global Reporting initiatives prevents an integrated view of business sustainability. This method insists on separate non-integrated indicators which are never the right ones. Changes required in a western lifestyle to achieve sustainable consumption Sustainable consumption is the consuming of basic services and goods yet maintaining a better life with the motive of minimizing natural resources and maintaining a healthy environment for the future generation. In order to make sustainable lifestyle, facilitation towards the change needs to be enabled so as to develop new visions by setting frameworks that promote sustainable lifestyles. Greening policies have been developed in many western countries. Such policies stimulate creativity in businesses and create market products and consumer demand (Michelle 2011). Urban restructuring and policies like provision of parking encourages scaling down pollution and congestion. Developing efficient public transportation while subsidizing houses and installation of solar. Once infrastructure is in place, consumers can easily change their behavior by interacting with the infrastructure. For instance, in Sweden shared laundries are provided in multi-store houses. Residence do not have to purchase own washing machine unless one want to. Economic policies supporting sustainable lifestyles, such as taxes and charges, should be complementive. Information and advance access to transport justify the London congress charge. Governmental grants for business innovations enhancing sustainable lifestyle can be effective. Governments and international initiatives should provide education, communication and marketing sustainable consumption and lifestyles .Their efforts should aim to increase awareness about sustainability issues by coming up with strategies for including sustainable consumption into the agenda of all those handling such related issues bring into existence the concept into the formal educational curricular (P.W 2008). Businesses supports sustainable lifestyles by designing products and services, and by adding flavor to preferences through digital advertising. Markets for sustainable products should be created through advertising, education and eco-labeling. Some have shifted from selling products to offering systems solutions via energy-efficiency services or chemical management services. There is public provision of public transportation from companies like Volvo and Benz. Hotels have introduced hotel and lodging facilities to attract tourists. Channeling environmental and social information to consumers asserts to be a smart business strategy for growing new markets. Provision of life cycle financial and environmental know-how by some companies to stimulate buying of their green products as well as advertising sustainable products and services through digital media. A number of retailers who have developed their own brand names are supplying ecological and eco-social products. However, using advertisements, marketing and retailing in promoting sustainable lifestyles is still untapped. Consumers can greatly bring effect to the sustainability of their lifestyles by choosing sustainable products and services. The market for environmentally and socially sound products is booming. Enormous potential also exist in promoting activities supported by NGOs or organized by people themselves. Instances of global movements are the Slow Food and Slow Cities movement and simplicity ideas, such as the New American Dream. Specific examples of such initiatives include, common practices of renting out cottages to several people throughout a year or hotel sharing programs, book exchange networks and green consumer clubs. Car-sharing is also in many cases organized by people themselves (Wilson 2013). Co-housing communities, eco-villages and creative communities have all similar goal – to respond to the basic needs of todays households and provide childcare, social contact and economic efficiency by combining private dwellings with the merit of community living. In eco-villages the motive is also to live in environmentally sound way. An important contribution to sustainable lifestyles are “grass roots” movements of schools and universities. This movement incorporated eco-schools, the green campuses, greening conferences or parties where travel expenses were compensated for with planting trees or buying of carbon certificates. Many campuses have car pooling programs and exchange networks for everything from student flats to clothes. How to create, promote and mainstream  visions of more sustainable living for different countries or regions and for diversity in culture. This question holds to be challenging. It will be fundamental, for instance, to look into what representations of ancient and worldwide lifestyles people in developed and developing economies have and how images of more sustainable lifestyles can be established on heritages of different countries (Peattie 2001). Another challenge is how to support and promote innovation for sustainable lifestyles by governments and businesses. Policies to enabling infrastructures require governmental policies, business initiatives and public-private partnerships. It is vital to understand how technology can help create new models of sustainable lifestyles and how business can use its communication power to deliver a different vision of society, aiming at improving quality of life and not only at increasing consumerism. Perhaps the most profound challenge is how public authorities can support and strengthen bottom-up initiatives. Here combination of the hardware (provision of physical spaces, grants and financial schemes) and the software (information dissemination, research and education) is clearly needed, as well as chipping in and support of NGOs, education institutions and communities. The overarching challenge regards the role of communication and education in supporting and promoting and normalizing visions of sustainable lifestyles. For that it is important that SCP ideas are introduced from pre-school to university education programs, but professional and vocational training. In this way, the social capital – the awareness of the critical mass of population and the capacity for change can be created. A basic ordeal is that the right for more sustainable lifestyles and access to know-how for sustainable (Connoly 2003) (Lorz 2009)consumption ought to become a universal right. Therefore, maturing of more sustainable societies should include devising visions of lifestyles for “non-consumer” level and coming up with solutions and policy measures for less affluent parts of the world population. Bibliography Connoly, Prothero Andrea and John. "Sustainable consumption: consumption, cosumers and the commodity discourse." Consumption Markets & Culture, 2003: 275-291. Kangis, Peter. "Concerns about Green Marketing." International Journal of Wine Marketing, 1992: 21-24. Lee, Kaman. "Opportunities For Green Marketing: Young Cosnumers." Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 2008: 573-586. Lorz, Bettina. "EU policies for Sustainable Consumption and Production-the Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy." Journal for European Environmenta & Plannign Law, 2009: 277-300. Lozano, Rodrigo. "The state of sustainability reporting in universities." International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2011: 67-78. Michelle, Janet. "Sustainable Consumption: Towards Action and Impact." Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 2011: 164-164. P.W, P.D Panagiotakopoulos and Jowitt. "Sustainability assessment and reporting in property development: a case study ." Proceedings of the ICE - Egnineering Sustainability, 2008: 93-99. Peattie, Ken. "Towards sustainability: The Third Age Of Green Marketing." The Marketing Review, 2001: 129-146. Wilson, Martha. "A Critical Review of Environmental Sustainability Reporting in the Consumer Goods Industry." Journal of Management and Sustainability, 2013: 1. Read More