Sustainable marketing agency Noughtilus argues that the environmental impacts of the marketing industry are significant however, citing paper manufacture as the fourth largest user of energy with 3,600,000 magazines and 7,600,000 newspapers printed annually in the UK. Not to mention direct mail, promotional material and billboard advertising.
Keith Jones, group leader of multi-industry solutions and services at Acxiom, agrees something has to be done. It’s simple marketers who don’t adopt more environmentally friendly policies won’t keep their jobs past the end of the decade, he says. If you are not considering the environment, you are not only damaging the planet, you are also limiting your chances of reaching your audience.
Here are five steps to help you get started.
The first step must always be to identify what impact you already have on the environment. Every marketer should be considering the carbon footprint of every campaign. This evaluation should apply to every stage of the marketing process, from production through to usage and disposal. Few marketers have experience in this area, so you may find it useful to bring in environmental consultants to measure your carbon footprint. You may be surprised at the extent of that footprint and where it occurs.
The next step for most marketers will be to reduce their output of printed materials. There is some potential to do this by reducing stocks of brochures and promotional material, but by far the most significant savings can be made with direct mail.
The Customer Partnership estimates that UK businesses could save themselves over £500 million a year by using more effective direct mail targeting techniques. Much of this will be in the consumer marketing arena, but with recent developments in digital printing allowing vastly greater personalisation of direct mail, there is now little excuse for B2B marketers to favour quantity over quality in their direct mail.
Julian Berry, director of The Customer Partnership, says, The Direct Marketing Association has stated that the status quo of direct marketing is no longer tenable. Given the rising green agenda, it’s almost impossible to justify campaigns that achieve response rates of one per cent or less. We know we should be mailing less, and our work suggests this is not only possible, but can be done while at the same time increasing the return on investment significantly.
Some marketers are thinking laterally about how they can cut unnecessary mailings. Roger Christiansen, UK marketing manager at InfoPrint Solutions, says, Direct mail is often linked with wastage. We are developing ‘transpromo’ solutions which combine transactional documents (such as statements) with promotional documents (such as direct mail) to reduce paper usage and provide more relevant marketing for end users. This has the added benefits not just of reducing cost but also improving response rates.
Once you have reduced your output as much as possible, you can look into minimising the harmful impact of what you do produce. One way to do this is to check the green credentials of your suppliers. Richard Owers, marketing director at Pureprint Group, says, Print often represents a large part of a B2B marketing budget. One way to make your marketing greener is to switch your print spend to an environmentally responsible printer. Look for a printer that uses vegetable oil based inks, and paper that is either recycled or certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council. These can achieve the same quality at no extra cost while protecting forests, and some papers now come with a low carbon label.
He continues, It’s not just about being carbon neutral. For example, we only use energy that comes from renewable sources. We have power-stepping devices that allow the machines to only draw what they need.
There is much you can do to improve the green credentials of the collateral you produce yourself.
Steve Middleton, marketing director of print finishers Celloglas, says, Biodegradable and recyclable materials are the future. We have recently launched an eco-friendly laminate that businesses are using on marketing literature to illustrate their commitment to the environment. This laminate is marginally more expensive but it means that once the literature has served its purpose it can be recycled.
Once you have done all this you will not only be doing your bit to protect the environment, you will also have a strong marketing message to send out to your existing and potential customers. However, you must be careful about how you present this message. Above all else you must be sincere.
Geoff Beattie, MD at PR agency Cohn & Wolfe, says, It’s become fashionable for companies to fly the green flag, regardless of what substance lies behind their policies, and far too many organisations are promoting initiatives which do little or nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or improve other aspects of the environment. Savvy bloggers and mainstream media commentators are suddenly starting to notice this. Given the importance and complexity of these issues, marketers cannot consider them simply as just another marketing tool. Green policies and practice need to be treated with the seriousness the issue deserves.
He argues that whatever your green story is, you must ensure it is rooted in facts and has credibility. Make sure your green initiatives have been endorsed by a respected third party organisation, and that you can explain them in some depth to anyone who wants to know more. Crucially, avoid exaggerated claims.
Kim Stoddart, MD of Green Rocket, an ethical media relations agency, agrees. There is so much green-washing going on that businesses are becoming more critical so getting it wrong can cause serious damage to your image. If you can’t make lots of changes at once, be honest and tell your customers about the changes you have made and those that are planned and why they can’t be made now. They will appreciate this approach and be more inclined to trust what you are saying.
It is hard to see green marketing not becoming even more important. In the short term we can expect to see increased regulation such as the recently-announced alliance between Acxiom, the DMA, Royal Mail and the BSI. Over the next 12 to 18 months they will work together to produce an environmentally-conscious best practice standard for direct mail campaigns.
In the long term, all marketing may be green marketing. As Tim Bonnet, CEO at marketing agency Tequila, says, Green marketing will become common practice across our industry. The term ‘green marketing’ will be the norm and anyone not adhering will be left behind.
Related articles
Green is the colour of money – 15-10-2007
Or use our enhanced search functionality to find other related articles
