Green marketing: Promoting environmentally friendly products

Green market Promoting milieually favorable proceedssAbstractGreen market is trade of products that are milieual safe. Companies marketing their potassium achievements were once a small segment of forward-thinking arrangings, but since grown into a group of unlikely advocates that includes an oil family and the worlds largest retailer.Environmental palsy-walsy mathematical product is vital in trail incoming economies. By nature, plants take carbon dioxide from the air and give oxygen in respiration process. By doing this, they make ecology sensible and sustainable. Companies should stop polluting the environment and make their existence sensible and sustainable. They should go squirt.This paper discusses what is colour marketing, and to what extent are companies integrating its principles into their communications i.e. positioning green and green thinking into their trading operations? Paper in any case focuses on what is the effect of green marketing in the satisfa ction of the needs and destinys of consumers.The challenges in an effort of going green are also put in the paper. Positioning strategies for Green i. e environment-friendly products are suggested in the paper.Keywords Green marketing, positioning green, environmentIntroductionAccording to the Ameri chiffonier trade Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each separate an fount of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological MarketingGreen marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based o n their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way.The obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view a product or services greenness as a benefit and base their buying finality accordingly. The not-so-obvious assumption of green marketing is that consumers will be willing to pay more(prenominal) for green products than they would for a less-green comparable alternative product an assumption that, in my opinion, has not been proven conclusively.While green marketing is growing greatly as increasing numbers of consumers are willing to back their environmental consciousnesses with their dollars, it can be dangerous. The public tends to be sceptical of green claims, to begin with and companies can seriously ill-use their brands and their sales if a green claim is discovered to be false or contradicted by a companys other products or practices. Presenting a product or service as green when its not is called greenwashing.Green marketing can be a very powerful marketing strategy though when its done right.Also Known as Environmental Marketing, Ecological Marketing, Eco-Marketing. special K Misspellings Geen marketing, gren marketing.ExampleChads green marketing campaign bombed becEnvironmental crossroad StrategiesThere are a large number of environmental issues impacting on the production of goods and products. For exampleWhat is the impact of production, sourcing of materials and packaging on the environment?Can minimum levels of packaging and/or environmentally friendly packaging be achieved without compromising product quality or appeal?Supplier practices i.e. are they at least as environmentally friendly as the plaque they are supplying?Environmentally friendly products can increase and decrease production costs environmentally friendly production may increase costs for organisations and their suppliers but this may be trigger by depleteder fuel bills through energy efficiency measures or an increase in sales caused by a positive product image. An organisation may able to pass increases in production costs (caused by EFS) to consumers. However, this will depend on the level of increase, typewrite of consumer, competitor prices for the same type of product and the strength of the economy. For example during times of recession consumers will place price above galore(postnominal) if not all of the factors making up the marketing integrate.Environmental Place StrategiesAll organisations will need to carefully time when their product reaches consumers exact time of distribution will depend on the product or service being distributed. Such timing may overhear an environmental implication.Some products will need to reach the consumer shortly after production for example fresh food in order to retain freshness, taste or nutritional value. The fastest method of distribution may damage the enviro nment. conversely a more environmentally friendly method e.g. via canals may impact on speed of distribution and consequently quality of the product. A method of distribution that combines speed with environmentally friendliness may increase distribution costs as some of these processes are still under development e.g. galvanizing vehicles.In addition to the type of transport used for distribution, an organisation will need to review distribution techniques For example timing deliveries so that they occur during off aggrandizement hours and do not contribute to congestion. Some organisations attempt to make fewer deliveries, whilst others promote concentrated products (e.g. fabric conditioner) as they increase the number of products that can carried in each delivery vehicle.Even if environmentally friendly distribution is not at the top of an organisations list of priorities, government policies may elevate it to the top. Congestion charging and low emission zones have been introd uced in the London. Apart from the obvious increase in costs emanating from observance of such policies, a failure to observe environmentally friendly rules and regulations will lead to fines and sanctions and consequently negative publicity.After reviewing internal distribution methods an organisation will need to review supplier and subcontractor distribution as consumers and the media stay organisations claiming environmental credentials to only liaise with other environmentally friendly organisations.. For example do the subcontractors use Bio-fuel? Are the subcontractors actively managing their carbon footprint or energy use?Environmental Promotion StrategiesDue to the consumer, celebrity and government appetite for protecting the environment environmentally friendly practices are used as promotional materialal tools. For example the award of ISO 14001 (which certifies that an organisation has certain environmental standards, as certified by an independent external auditing o rganisation) is often quoted in marketing literature.Product packaging that can be recycled will have a message on the packaging clearly stating the recycling properties for the packaging. Similarly organic products will be labelled, not only on the packaging but also around the shelving displaying the organic produce.Some organisations have sought to reduce costs through the promotion of environmentally friendly strategies. The use of pallbearer bags has changed dramatically in the UK over the last 2-3 years. Retailers actively promote the benefit of reusable bags as they have many benefitsLower costs for the retailerConsumers feel good as they believe that the use of a reusable bag is helping the environmentFewer carrier bags go to landfillAnother example is hotels offering guests the opportunity to engage in fewer linen and towel changes. Such strategy is environmentally friendly as it reduces the use of detergents and energy but it also reduces costs for the hotel and improves corporate image.Some organisations providing products and services which may harm the environment have added off setting methods to their portfolios and marketing literature. The idea behind off setting is that the consumer is offered the opportunity to indirectly engage in an activity (such as tree planting) that benefits the environment and therefore balances/evens out the damage they caused for example through flying. Such schemes attempt to ease the consumers conscience and retain a positive image for the organisation providing the environmentally unfriendly product or service.Environmental Pricing StrategiesThroughout this article we have discussed how environmentally friendly strategies can either increase or decrease organisational costs. The ideal marketing intermingle is a reduction in costs and/or an increased in costs which is exceeded by an increase in profits.Pricing must reflect the requisite for the product an incorrectly priced product will reduce demand this is no w further complicated by the impact environmental issues have on pricing. If an organisation is paying more for raw materials because the supplier is environmentally friendly it may decide to pass on this price increase to the consumer, the get the ideal amount will be dictated by the target consumer.On the other hand companies cutting costs and increasing profits at the expense of the environment may be risking negative publicity, fines, sanctions or may simply lose out to organisations actively promoting their environmentally friendly practices even if such competitors offer more expensive products and services.SummaryThe environmental marketing mix is becoming extremely important in todays business world. Firms will have to carefully manage this mix if they are to successfully operate in a world which is becoming increasingly aware of climatic changes.Wheres the beef? may not be the just almost accurate phrase, but its the first that comes to mind.Seriously, thats the only tho ught I could come up with in the face of this news McDonalds is swapping out the red in its logotype for a deep hunter green to tout its environmental credentials in Europe.From an Associated Press article by Mary MacPherson LaneAbout one hundred German McDonalds restaurants will make the change by the end of 2009, the company said in a statement Monday. Some franchises in Great Britain and France have already started using the new color scheme behind their Golden Arches.This is not only a German initiative but a Europe-wide initiative, Martin Nowicki, McDonalds Germany spokesman, told The Associated Press. The company has warmed to greener practices, including environmentally friendly refrigeration and converting used oil into biodiesel fuel.With this new appearance we want to clarify our responsibility for the preservation of natural resources. In the future we will put an even larger focus on that, Hoger Beek, vice chairman of McDonalds Germany, said in the statement.Leaving as ide the fundamental unsustainability of the fast food industry as a whole, this is not to say that there is nothing behind McDonalds claims of environmental action the company is working on green buildings, electric vehicles and published a report earlier this year highlighting its best green efforts.Who are the green consumers?Understanding the demographics of green consumerism can help entrepreneurs explore the environmental market, and home in on likely prospects. Research has shown that green consumersare sincere in their intentions, with a growing commitment to greener lifestylesalmost ever judge their environmental practices as inadequatedo not expect companies to be perfect in order to be considered green. Rather, they look for companies that are taking substantive steps and have made a commitment to improve.However, they alsotend to overstate their green behaviour, including the number of green products they actually usewant environmental protection to be easy, and not t o entail major sacrificestend to distrust companies environmental claims, unless they have been independently verifiedlack knowledge about environmental issues, and tend not to trust themselves to evaluate scientific information about environmental impacts. However, at the same time they are eager to learn, and this mode that consumer education is one of the most effective strategies that entrepreneurs can use.The most responsive age group tends to be young adults, many of whom are influenced by their children. In addition, women are a key target for greener products, and often make purchases on behalf of men.The best green customers are people with more money to spend. As a result, the most promising products for greening tend to be at the higher end of the market. The most promising outlets for green products are retail stores frequented by better-off shoppers.In general, green consumers have the education and intellectual orientation to appreciate value they will understand evid ence that is presented in support of environmental claims.In the US, children and teens are generally more concerned than adults about the environment, and are more knowledgeable about green alternatives. Increasingly, they influence their parents purchasing decisions. Equally importantly, millions of them will reach matureness in the next decade, and gain purchasing power of their own.At the opposite end of the age spectrum, US consumers born before the 1950s are the least green. As their numbers diminish, their share of consumer purchases will dwindle.In Canada, children and parents alike tend to have strong environmental concerns. Older people, too, tend to be active green purchasers.