Greenwash is not an environmentally friendly soap.  It is the ecological equivilent of whitewash.  Wikipedia gives a nice definition and provides a classic example.

a term that is used to describe the actions of a company, government, or other organization which advertises positive environmental practices while acting in the opposite way…

The term is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices. This is often portrayed by changing the name or label of a product…

A commonly cited example of greenwashing is the George W. Bush Clear Skies Initiative, which environmentalists have argued actually weakens air pollution laws.

And there is some evidence that consumers are wary of being greenwashed according to one report from Ipsos, a market and advertising research firm. (Qutoe taken from Research Brief, since I can’t afford subscriptions to every research firm out there.)

According to an Ipsos Reid study conducted this spring on behalf of Icynene, seven in ten Americans either ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ agree that when companies call a product “green” (meaning better for the environment), it is usually just a “marketing tactic”.  

FYI: Icynene is “the leading producer and marketer of light-density foam insulation for the global building industry, and sooner or later every building will have it.”  They are certainly touting their green credentials, listing their green trade association memeberships right on their homepage (accessed 10/2/2007).

However, another Ipsos study, this time for videoconferencing company Tandberg (taken from Environmental Leader), finds that world wide 53% of consumers prefer to buy from a company with a green reputation.  That number was considerably lower here in the United States, only 42%. 

Those two numbers seem some what contradictory.  What is a marketer going to do? Is it smart to market a product as green or will it just be a waste of money?

The answer to that question, like so many others in life, is, it depends.  Some questions to ponder?

• Are you trying to greenwash your product?
• Is your product/service greener than the compeitions?
• Does your company live out the implied ethos of being green or socially responsible?
• Does your marketing consist of more than just a nice “green” label?
• What does your market value?
• How much of a change does your product entail from your customers?

These and other questions will be the topic of future posts. 

Question: What do you think should be factors to consider for whether to market a product as green?