Is your business in the sustainability and environment industry? Or are you just keen to green your business more and market it as green? With my background in branding, I recommend creating and building a solid brand from day one, using sound and proven brand strategy principles. The same applies to businesses in the sustainability/environmental sector, and to businesses who market themselves as ‘green’. Consider the following when you brand and market yourself as green:

• Be precise and specific

If your business has genuine green credentials, make sure your claims are precise, detailed and give evidence.

• Provide full ingredients

List all ingredients in your products, in plain English, not just the ingredients you are required to provide by law. Be transparent and honest.

• Whole life cycle

Consumers now want to know the whole life cycle of product, not just a part of it.. Planned obselence is a fine-tuned business, and consumers are now wary of it. Do not emphasise one eco-friendly aspect to hide or distract from other non-eco-friendly qualities.

• Third party certified

Make sure the certifications and standards you use are genuine and honest. Good ones, such as Choose Cruelty Free, GECA, Forest Stewardship Council and Smart Approved Watermark are OK. So is ISO (International Standards Organisation), but ISO14001 simply means a business is currently improving their environmental management process, not that their product has a low environmental impact. (Similarly with food: ‘lite’ can mean light in colour, not necessarily low in fat, sugar or salt)

• Helpful contact info

Your eco claims should be backed by solid evidence, and your consumers should be able to access or find this evidence easily. Have such info available on your website or by customer service line, and make sure all your staff are well-trained and knowledgable about your products.

• More info

If you would like more info on ‘Green Marketing and the Trade Practises Act’ and ‘Green Marketing and the ACCC’ reports, visit www.accc.gov.au

Source: Darren Baguly & GreenPages