Wave of green marketing

Every day, signs of change towards low carbon economies and lifestyles pop up. Among the service industry, advertising companies bring their contribution in helping companies, governements and NGO to create green messages. They conduct research on consumer behaviors,

they boost awareness and publicize earth-friendly products. They organize conferences, seminars and courses on this hot topic in the EU and the US. We believe that it is just a beginning.

In February, the Financial Time reported that AMV BBDO, JWT, Ogilvy, RKCR/Y&R and Saatchi & Saatchi, UK’s leading advertising agencies, believed green advertising will grow in the next 12 months.

Agencies say communicating green values is fast becoming an act of “corporate hygiene” needed to retain competitiveness and standing with customers.

Farah Ramzan Golant, chief executive of AMV, said: “We’re at a tipping point. I really believe we are going to see more of this.”

Lee Daley, chairman and chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi UK, said: “Brands will not be able to opt out of this. Companies which do not live by a green protocol will be financially damaged because consumers will punish them. In the longer term, I do not think they will survive.”

Now, ride the green wave. The quality and quantity of eco-related messages has shifted strikingly in the past 6 months. Whether you believe it is trendy or not, this is no longer a peripheral activity. It could even become mainstream in the coming years.

We are all catching those messages. In fact, a recent EU survey (Eurobarometer) shows that European citizens put environmental issues on top of their concern. So, it is clear and obvious that marketing companies are following our “brand” new behavior.

In the research field, Ipsos-Mori, for example, explores the public’s perspectives on climate change in new report entitled “Tipping point or turning point? Social marketing & climate change”. Published in July, 01, it explores how they think and behave in relation to the issue and what their values and aspirations are. It examines the complex issues that behaviour change policy has to engage with and the role that social marketing could play.

Another study, “What assures consumers on climate change?” carried out by AccountAbility and Consumers International has been released in June. It looks at consumer attitudes to climate change and to their role in tackling it through changes in behaviour.

Regarding awareness raising, institutions, governments, artist and NGO are on the front line. One of the best example is certainly the campaign initiated by the European Commission. The purpose of “You control Climate Change” is to educate individuals on the factors affecting climate change as well as to influence them to make a contribution to stop its progression. Greenpeace has his channel on You Tube. Friends of the Earth campaigns for solutions to environmental problems by proposing a video contest. Check here and here. Artists such as the Blue Man Group are also giving their piece. See here

Companies try to “clean” their brands as much as they can. In the automobile industry, SMART is leading the way ahead of Toyota Prius, VW Blue Motion and Saab Biopower. From Philips with “Saving the polar bear“to Tesco to HSBC, businesses blitz the airwaves with concern for a healthy planet. BP, for example, advertises its investments in renewables as it rebrands itself with the label “Beyond Petroleum”.

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AlisonBurns, chief executive of JWT London, said “Once a company makes an environmental statement, its direct competitor is now conspicuous by its absence if it hasn’t too. Consumers are suspicious of that silence. This isn’t restricted to a particular industry. It is in-creasingly pervasive. There is an underlying expectation that we are asking more questions about companies’ intentions. That is partly a phenomenon of the digital age where consumers are used to interviewing brands like they might be interviewing people for a job.“

As it becomes more and more crucial for businesses to communicate with clarity, thoroughness and responsibility on their sustainability performance, events on the subject are organized around the world. London will be the venue for a Green Marketing Forum on November 28-30. That event will feature “14 incisive case studies,” offering insight “from early adopters [about] what works and what doesn’t.” Participating companies include Barclaycard, BMW, Intel, Marks & Spencer, Philips Lighting, and Virgin Trains. Sustainable Brands ‘07, will take place in New Orleans on September 26-28. On October 3, PRWeek is hosting Target Green: Collaborating for Change, in Washington, D.C.

High performance building costs overestimated shows study

While many companies are increasingly integrating green building into their practice in order to foster their competitiveness, a new survey has found that most key players in real estate and construction overestimate the cost of green buildings by up to 300%.

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The study, carried out by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and based on a global survey of 1,400 individuals active in the property industry, reveals that most property professionals assume building “green” means spending around 17% more on materials and construction. But this is more than three times more than the average extra cost for significantly reducing energy waste in buildings in most developed countries, claims the WBCSD.

“Key players in real estate and construction misjudge the costs and benefits of ‘green’ buildings, creating a major barrier to more energy efficiency in the building sector,” according to the WBCSD, a CEO-led grouping of 200 multinational corporations.

According to the study, among member states, Germany has the highest involvement of building professionals in green building projects, followed by Spain and France.

The Commission estimates that proper implementation of EU legislation to improve energy efficiency in buildings “will permit a gain estimated at some 40 Mtoe (Megatons of oil equivalent) between now and 2020″. But most member states have delayed implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD - see our LinksDossier), citing a lack of professionals qualified to produce the building energy certificates required by the Directive.

Energy-efficiency buildings can be of a major importance for companies seeking increases in their profitability. It reduces operating costs and exposure to fossil fuel price volatility & higher water rates. Moreover, it favors employee productivity and health as well as provides faster lease-up rates and higher building values. Finally, it allows to credibly and publicy demonstrate environmental responsibility. Build green isn’t a sacrifice of profits but a real chance to gain competitive advantage in a carbon-constrained economy.

Green jobs on the rise

Climate change is generating a sustained demand for new technologies, products, and services aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. By meeting that demand, eco-entrepreneurs, governments and environmental groups are creating a constellation of new careers.

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Research carried out by UK-based recruitment consultancy Acre Resources shows there was more than a 130 percent increase in specialist jobs relating to climate change between May 2006 and May 2007, most the result of heightened activity within major companies. Acre is the leading recruitment agency specialising in Environment, CSR / Sustainability and Climate Change.

Barbara Whittaker, New York Times journalist, reports on how the engine works.

Nowhere is that more obvious than in the trading of credits tied to emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases related to global warming.

“This is a very dynamic and fast-growing market,” said Wiley Barbour, executive director of Environmental Resources Trust, a Washington nonprofit group that is working to foster emission markets.

“I can’t even hire all the people I need. It’s really hard right now to find climate change experts.”

Emissions programs in the United States set a cap or limit on the amount of a pollutant that can be released. Companies that cannot stay under the limit buy credits from those that emit less than permitted.

His group has set up a voluntary registry for companies that want to buy or sell greenhouse gas reduction credits, which are also called offsets. Environmental Resources would verify the emission credits.

The market for these types of jobs has evolved much more in Europe, which has agreed to curb greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol, a United Nations treaty. But in the United States, which has not agreed to the treaty, the job market is blossoming as businesses realize that more legislation to cap emissions is inevitable. Already, California has passed laws to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Voluntary efforts are growing as well amid heightened awareness of the dangers of global warming. For example, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a group of Eastern states, is creating a program for trading emission credits.

Jobs tied to the carbon markets include company project developers, who find ways to reduce emissions; brokers and traders, who bring together companies that want to buy or sell emission credits; and verifiers, who go to a business to validate the credits being offered.

Barbour says the people he hires as verifiers typically have science or engineering backgrounds and have a broad understanding of climate change policy. Verifiers with limited experience typically start at an annual salary of about $50,000, he said, with salaries more than $100,000 for experts.

In the corporate world, there is growing demand for “greenhouse gas coordinators” and “sustainability directors,” whose jobs include managing how much carbon dioxide their company is generating.

Environmental advocacy groups are looking for people to create programs that will ensure that the trading of carbon emissions credits meets standards and cuts emissions.

To read the full article, click here (International Herald Tribune website)

More info :

1. For Job Market, Green Means Growth (Forbes)
2. Climate Change creates specialist job boom (Green Guide)