www.mbainfoline.com Source: E-mail:dt.11.6.2011
Innovative
Branding Strategy
(Green
initiatives –A move towards a better way of brand building)
Devi Premnath
Lecturer
Sree Narayana
Guru Institute of Management Studies
Balachandran S
Lecturer
Sree Narayana
Guru Institute of Management Studies
Abstract
The drastic change in the climatic condition,
Global warming ……the blame is on developed and developing countries that are in
the race of development and industrialization. The present world pleads for a
green world for a sustained and healthy environment. The thrust to maintain a green
world has now come upon the companies. The green initiatives is a modern
concept which has got its essence in almost all the functions of management
like production, marketing, human resource etc. People give a lot of respect
and prefer using the products of the companies who have an eco friendly
approach in their business. Branding is one such area where the nuances of
green are now utilized more for positioning the product in the market. The
value of such environmental initiatives, extend beyond the aspects of social
responsibility, and even further beyond simple advertising tag lines, and
present a competitive opportunity for both top and bottom line growth, brand
differentiation and - given consumer expectations - increased profitability.
This paper tries to bring out the relationship between the top 25 green brands
and the brand loyalty index.
Keywords: Green initiatives, branding brand loyalty index, environment
Full Paper
What is Green Marketing?
Green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based
on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be
environmentally friendly by itself or produced and/or packaged in an
environmentally friendly way. It is a modern concept where both
environmentalism and marketing go hand in hand Man is ever inclined to nature
and thanks to all environmentalists has made the consumers aware of the ecological
implications if the green strategy not followed. This psychological inclination
has been passed on to the products which are inclined to green technology. The
obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view a
product or service's "greenness" as a benefit and base their buying
decision accordingly.
While green marketing is growing greatly as increasing numbers
of consumers are willing to back their environmental consciousnesses with their
money, it can be dangerous. The public tends to be skeptical of green claims to
begin with and companies can seriously damage their brands and their sales if a
green claim is discovered to be false or contradicted by a company's other
products or practices. Presenting a product or service as green when it's not
is called green washing.
Determinants of Green Marketing
1) Credibility Profess the green mantra only if you are
green, otherwise it will lead to anti publicity of your product.
2) Consumer Awareness - Consumers are already aware of the climatic changes
that are taking place. We as consumers all have a guilt that because of
industrialization and the use of unwanted items like plastics our ecology is
bearing the brunt of it.
3) Customers
Opportunity means personalizing
the benefits of your environmentally friendly actions; normally through letting
the customer take part in positive environmental action
Ever Green Brands
Before delving into the strategies
for sustained growth let me first introduce the
readers to the green brands available in the market
Infosys
Green
IT equals to data centers optimization; but even if greening the data centers
is an urgent imperative, Green IT is far broader than that. It also concerns
areas like office automation infrastructure, end-user practices, IT
procurement, CSR and the use of ICT as a way to reduce the CO2 footprint. On
the other hand, more and more environmental regulations are into force and
questions come from the Board, the CEO and the CFO, putting more pressure on
the IT department.
Taj Hotels
51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and
Residences, has been dedicated to the 'Green' cause now for many a year, well
before it became trendy. The Taj philosophy of community integration and
environmental responsibility goes to the core of the activates here in the
hotel.
Earlier this year Taj relaunched an Environmental Policy to bring it up to date
and ensure it is relevant to guests and associates. They aim to reduce energy
and water consumption by 15%,
The property has had an active Green
team since 2003, including staff from throughout the Hotel, driving forward all
types of green and considerate initiatives.
Go Green Marketing Strategies for Sustained Growth
Go green for a
sustained life in the market is new mantra which is coming up. Selling green or eco-friendly products is a great and
profitable marketing model these days. Many companies are directly investing on
different green social initiatives to promote their brand. After few years, you
might find that it is no more a marketing gimmick. It is just like the packet
of a product – a stapled item that every company is offering.
Environmental
sustainability in business is the art of profiting from the customers’ needs
without harming the world around us. Of course, some industries have more
environmental impact than others. Over 70% of technology executives say they
believe their companies do little harm to the environment.
An identical
percentage believes that although consumers say they want green products, buyers
are, in fact, highly resistant to paying the higher prices associated with the privilege.
This is a major problem which has been faced by the companies in India also.
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