One Green Company Marketing Another

BrandChannel (Interbrand's newsletter) reports on the growing Fair Trade market in the U.K. but also offers some useful tidbits for people interested in Fair Trade marketing worldwide. 

"Enter a new breed of enterprise, firms with a mission to restore fairness to trade and promote economic development in the world's poorest countries. From humble beginnings, the Fairtrade movement has blossomed into an international labeling organization endorsing brands in nineteen markets around the world. In the UK, the largest national Fairtrade market by volume, sales of products bearing the Fairtrade mark are running at around £100 million per year (US$ 187M)."

Health-conscious consumers are increasingly opting for organic packaged foods over natural foods and beverages, suggests a new report from the National Marketing Institute (NMI)

Sales of packaged organic foods and beverages soared 18 percent in the last year and have now reached $10.9 billion – up 18 percent from $9.2 billion in 2003. This performance narrows the gap with natural foods and beverages, which retained a small advantage with sales of $11.3 billion but grew just 4 percent over the period.

George Carpenter, Director of Corporate Sustainable Development at the Procter & Gamble Company, explains how the company envisions to link business opportunity with corporate responsibility to create a concept called 'corporate social opportunity. The article has an interesting paragraph about why a green marketing backlash happened at the company, and also talks about green marketing as an aspect of sustainable Development.

As we enter 2005, people are leading messy lives as they try to reconcile seemingly contradictory elements of how they live, shop and buy. This aspirational goal of balance continues to grow in importance for consumers. Whether it's balancing the stressful rigors of work with high-quality downtime or balancing one's personal food indulgences with those of a more ascetic, health nature, the enlightened consumer relies on balance as a way of managing the realities of every day.

As part of this balancing act, many people are finding a need to live their lives more intensely and more authentically. This quest plays out in a number of ways, from the widely reported and renewed interest in religion and spirituality, to the stories about people changing their careers and giving up high-paying jobs to commit more time and energy to activities that are perceived to be of "true value."

How will this "true value" play out in the coming year? Here are The Hartman Group's 10 Trends to Watch in 2005:

SAUSALITO, Cal. -- Responding to last week's release of the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World," Natural Capital Institute's Director Paul Hawken called the new ranking another example of the "black box" effect of social and environmental business research, and urged the SRI industry to increase the transparency of its evaluative processes.

According to its website (www.global100.org), the Global 100 is a list of "the 100 most sustainable corporations" based on ratings by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. The project, co-sponsored by Innovest and Corporate Knights, defines a sustainable corporation as one "that produces an overall positive impact on society and the environment." According to Hawken, such a definition is "nearly meaningless and has no value to science, people, or ecosystems."

The 2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship Study shows that Americans have grown to
expect companies to play a more active role in addressing the needs of their community. Compared to the results of Cone's 2002 survey, consumers say that a company's commitment to social issues affect them in the following ways:

• Where I want to work... 2002: 77% 2004: 81%
  
• Which stocks or mutual funds to invest in... 2002: 66% 2004: 70%
  
• Which companies I want to see doing business in my local community... 2002: 84% 2004: 85%
  
• Which products and services to recommend to other people... 2002: 75%
  2004: 74%
  

While support of community issues can improve trust in a company, Cone's research also shows that consumers stand ready to act against companies that behave illegally or unethically. The consequences for business can be devastating and long-term. Consider how consumers report that they respond to company's negative practices:

• Consider switching to another company's products or services (90%)
  
• Speak out against that company among my family and friends (81%)
  
• Consider selling my investment in that company's stock (80%)
  
• Refuse to invest in that company's stock (80%)
  
• Refuse to work at that company (75%)
  
• Boycott that company's products or services (73%)
  
• Be less loyal to my job at that company (67%)
  

Read more about the Cone Corporate Citizenship Study here.