By Elizabeth Snyder
As we discussed in my last blog post, there are so many ways
to get involved with sustainability. A large concern for many businesses
however is, “will my consumers even care?”
In this blog post I will analyze a few Big Data trends on how consumers
feel about sustainability and how to strategically target them with your green
messaging.
Ultimately, it comes down to one big idea, using big data to
market sustainability better. This first comes into play by looking at data on
opinions of how your consumers feel about your current green practices or lack
there of.
I looked at data and journals about how the public feels
about sustainability and their opinions on how brands share topics. It is
important to note this key finding before moving forward: According to a recent
report from The World Economic Forum and Accenture, sustainability is in “desperate
need of a makeover.” Despite millions of dollars spent marketing the concept
over the past decade, only 28% of people know what terms such as “sustainable,”
“responsible,” “eco friendly” and “green” really mean. Thus, perhaps the first
step toward marketing sustainability to your consumers should be educating them
on exactly what it is and how your efforts are a part of that mission. The same
report stated that just 44% say they trust green claims coming from big brand.
This statistic makes sense considering the lack of knowledge, how can one trust
what they don’t understand?
Thus, my second big point for this blog is the idea of
“Market Better, Not Greener.” While your sustainability goals should be for the
good of the world and the future etc. it is also a sub-goal to use it to gain
loyal customers who look at your brand as a leader and good role model. Educate
them on what sustainability means to your brand and why it is important. Be
sure to simplify your message in terms they will understand- don’t over
complicate.
Another insight I saw in my research was to keep the
conversation positive, not focus on the “excessive gloom and doom.” If all of
your messaging focuses on how the world is ruined and going to burn up from
global warning, you are more likely to deter people from following your brand.
Instead, keep things positive perhaps by providing rewards or loyalty points
for buying your greener products.
A great example of this is Starbucks recent holiday
drink launch. On November 2, Starbucks released its winter holiday beverages.
They posted on social media announcing the release and said that on the day, if
you ordered one of the holiday beverages they would give you a free reusable
red cup with your purchase. Rather than pushing out continuous messages about
recycling and reusing, they provided the reusable cups and as a reward, said you'd receive a discount on their coffee through December when you bring in the
reusable red cup. Starbucks saw a lot of traffic of consumers wanting to get
their hands on a reusable cup, to many perhaps as they ran out quickly. Many
claimed on social media that they went to get the beverage that day solely for
the cup-, which shows just how effective this marketing tactic was, and the
interest there is in helping the environment- especially if it is not at an
additional cost to them.
A key tactic Starbucks used in this holiday cup campaign
aside from reward was the idea of “Show don’t tell.” It is important for
companies to “walk the walk, not just talk the talk.” I think a key reason that
there is so much distrust of companies is that they say a lot of things that
they will do or want to do, but how much of that actually comes to fruition? Or
perhaps it does come to fruition but no one knows about it.
A Forbes article stated that one of the issues facing companies
is that there is still a lack of information on what companies are doing and
the impacts of their actions. Thus, we as marketers need to be aware of this
lack of information and distrust and instead of telling people what we are
doing, show them how our products and services can contribute to more
sustainable environmental and human systems and how it will make their life
better. We’re all about making our consumers lives better, right?
This is why show don’t tell is so important. Show your
consumers what you are doing, be active and engaged and most importantly get
them involved! Don’t just tell them “hey we are a green company” show them.
Starbucks could have said, “We believe in being green. Buy one of our $20+
tumblers or mugs and bring them back instead of throwing a cup away each time.
Thanks.” Instead, they showed their activism toward sustainability by providing
reusable cups and a discount for using them- motivating consumers to help them
achieve their goals.
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