Thinking of "going green" by changing a few light bulbs in your showroom? If you're hoping to use that eco-friendly change as the center of your next marketing campaign, think again.

According to a recent AdAge.com story, consumers are losing their patience with companies that offer hollow marketing claims about eco-friendly corporate practices. Many times, the result is bad publicity for the offending businesses.

"Corporations can't do everything in one fell swoop, but need to be authentic and transparent about the steps they are taking," says Jessica Hogue, research director at Nielsen Online.

Nielsen Online recently published "Sustainability Through the Eyes and Megaphones of the Blogosphere," a report that attempts to track the level of satisfaction among bloggers writing about issues of sustainability on popular green Web sites, including www.treeHugger.com,  www.worldchanging.com , www.biopact.com, www.theoildrum.com and www.alternativeconsumer.com.  According to the story, the total number of blog postings on the subject has jumped more than 100 percent since September 2006, from 83,000 to 172,000, and Nielsen Online estimates that at least 25 percent of those messages are aimed at the contradictory green policies of companies.

What are these bloggers so upset about? For many, it's the wide gulf between companies' real environmental practices and highly publicized marketing campaigns. For instance, an increasing number of bloggers have slammed General Electric Co., www.ge.com, for "running extensive marketing touting its environmentalism," but failing to deliver on many of the promises made.

"Bloggers claim GE has an inconsistent — and often contradictory — track record, but praise Whirlpool, www.whirlpool.com,  for focusing on smaller measures, such as energy-efficient appliances and its partnership with Energy Star," according to the report.

Another frequent offender? Starbucks,  www.starbucks.com, a company many bloggers claim plays "lip service" to claims of corporate eco-friendliness.

Not all companies were hit with negative reviews: In addition to Whirlpool, Dunkin Donuts, www.dunkindonuts.com, got praise for its low-key use of fair-trade coffee, as did clothing maker Patagonia's Footprint Chronicles, www.patagonia.com/usa/footprint, an online campaign that clues customers into the company's environmental good deeds and misdeeds (chemicals in synthetic material jackets, for example).

Read more on Nielsen Online's report by clicking here.

Find out about some of the floral industry's environmental initiatives, published in the July 2007 issue of Floral Management. And visit the new sustainability page on www.safnow.org.

--Mary Westbrook
mwestbrook@safnow.org

 

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