This past July, outdoor apparel and gear company Timberland held a Stakeholder Conference Call on eco-labeling. The speakers included: Jeff Swartz, President and CEO of the Timberland Company (www.timberland.com), Joel Makower, Executive Editor of GreenBiz.com (www.greenbiz.com), and Mindy Lubber, Executive Director of Ceres (www.ceres.org)
We caught up with Joel Makower this week to talk about some of the eco-labeling issues that came up during this recent discussion.
Kate - There are hundreds of eco-labels in the marketplace: 308 at last count. One of the comments that kept coming up during Timberland’s stakeholder call is a need for standardization among the many environmental labels. How important would a standard be, given the rise in companies designing their own eco-labels?
Joel Makower - It would be very important, but I don’t honestly think it can be done. Each of the 300 or so eco-labels has its own approach, agendas, methodology, and levels of independence. Most can’t be compared apples to apples, or even fruit to fruit.
However, there could and probably should be some overriding principles for what makes a credible label, not the least of which is that standards be specific, transparent, and verifiable. That alone would go a long way toward warding off activists’ and consumers’ concerns, along with the concomitant charges of greenwashing.
Kate – Consumers are becoming more and more confused and suspicious of eco-labels. Is there something marketers can do to better promote “green” products?
Joel Makower - I think what makes consumers confused and suspicious are the marketing claims that go with many products. They tell us that “it’s easy being green” and that we can “save the earth” by making smart purchase choices. I think most intelligent people recognize that both of those claims are overblown, if not outright lies. And yet such hyperbole is all too common among green marketers.
I think marketers would do better to put their claims into context, leveling with consumers that the company recognizes that their environmentally better product is one small step consumers can take. And that the product itself is far from perfect, from an environmental perspective, but that its manufacturer is working to continually reduce its environmental impacts.
I think consumers can accept imperfection, and will probably embrace it, recognizing that just like them, companies are struggling with how to make changes. Which, in fact, is exactly what’s going on.
Kate – According to The Morning News out of Arkansas (article found here), Wal-Mart is looking for its buyers to submit products for selection that have an environmental impact that consumers care about and understand. They want their products to tell a story. What do you think about this approach?
Joel Makower - I think Wal-Mart is on the money. So much of marketing is storytelling, and it’s no different here. In fact, when it comes to sustainability, storytelling takes on an ever greater importance. That’s because sustainability involves, on the one hand, extremely complex, scientific, geeky stuff, about which even the experts don’t agree. But on the other hand, it’s about our bodies, families, and future. So, it’s head and heart. And you can’t emphasize either too much or you’ll lose much of your audience. Storytelling is the best way we know how to integrate head and heart, along the way making companies more transparent and, yes, more human.
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Check back for more conversations with Joel as he gets ready to launch his newest book “Strategies for the Green Economy” later this fall.
Posted by KateRusnak in Environmental standards, Marketing