November 21, 2007 | Category: Branding | Tags: Branding

Going green or being eco-friendly is a rising business trend today. Thanks to the compassion and passion of the late BodyShop founder, Anita Roddick, many companies, big and small, are venturing to this direction.

But how important is green branding in your business? Lee Daley, chairman and chief executive of a famous advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi UK, painted a grim picture when he said:

Brands will not be able to opt out of [being green]. Companies which do not live by a green protocol will be financially damaged because consumers will punish them. In the longer term, I do not think they will survive.

Although it is a bit extreme, there are other reasons why it is important to add green branding in your business:

1. A survey among 15,000 online consumers in the U.S. and 16 other countries has revealed that Americans chose damaging the environments as the main reason they would think that a company is socially irresponsible.
2. That same survey above also shows future American consumers, between the ages of 18-29, are more likely to spend more on organic, environmentally-friendly or fair trade products than other age groups.
3. Another study conducted by eggusa.net also shows 1/3 of American consumers are exhibiting green behavior and another 1/3 have mixed attitudes and behaviors, but clearly aware of and open to green brands.

However, it is a common misconception of many small business owners that green branding is all about changing their eco-friendly logo design or packaging and doing some public relations campaign. That’s basically called greenwashing.

For established businesses, it can even be a major overhaul from your raw materials, production, packaging, and branding campaigns.

Via Marketing Green