CANNES, France — Going green is red hot in the ad world. Paint companies, laundry-detergent makers, soft-drink producers and locomotive sellers are among a multitude of marketers trying to position themselves as environmentally friendly.
Green “has gone mainstream,” says Allen Adamson, managing director at branding agency Landor Associates and author of BrandSimple. “Everyone has jumped on this bandwagon.”
And that has made “eco-marketing” a hot topic of discussion here at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the industry’s biggest global trade and awards show.
It’s also on the official agenda. On Friday, former vice president Al Gore will be here to speak on what advertisers and ad agencies can do to “raise awareness of the climate crisis around the world.”
Gore’s seminar follows a discussion on Wednesday hosted by global ad giant Havas that examined good and bad attempts at green marketing.
Also here, the non-profit ACT Responsible group of ad and media pros sponsored an exhibition of socially responsible ads with a large section for green ads.
On a lighter note, Alice Audouin, sustainable development director at Havas Media in France, will lead a group of ad industry women in swimsuits on a cleanup of litter on the Cannes beach on Saturday. She says they aim to show that social responsibility can be fun and even “sexy.”
The popularity of Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, along with an increased emphasis on climate issues in schools, are two huge factors fueling consumer interest in the green movement, Adamson says.
That has companies taking action, from buying alternative energy credits to reducing plastic packaging to donating loads of money to Earth-friendly charities. Levi Strauss introduced Levi’s Eco jeans last year, made from 100% organic cotton.
They’re also spending to let people know about their goods, services and events that relate to the environment. In the three months ending June 14, marketers shelled out a combined $18 million on green-focused TV ads, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Those ads ranged from Earth Day sales promotions to commercials for hybrid cars.
While an environmentally sound stance is good for Earth, it doesn’t hurt a marketer’s brand reputation — and increasingly it is a path to higher sales and profits.
About 35 million Americans regularly buy green products, according to research group Mintel.
And research shows many folks will pay more for eco-friendly goods or services, says Adamson.
Adamson and other marketing experts warn, however, that when it comes to touting an eco-friendly message, marketers had better be ready to back it up — or face backlash from consumers.
“You’ve got to show that there’s substance behind what you say,” says Hamish McLennan, global CEO of ad agency Y&R, which is hosting the Gore seminar. “Otherwise, it could backfire.”
Dozens of marketers — including oil companies and automakers — have been criticized in the media and on blogs for what appears to be more hype than action on the green front. There’s even a term for playing up an eco-friendly stance when a company may actually be doing, on balance, more harm than good to the environment: “greenwashing.”
Joanne Bradford, chief media officer at MSN, says she is well aware that tying with a green issue comes with scrutiny. Microsoft’s MSN is lead media sponsor of the upcoming series of Live Earth concerts to raise awareness of global warming.
Microsoft has touted its success in reducing fuel emissions, and Bradford says her team has worked to cut paper use. But she is open about the limitations on a person or company going completely green: “We’re just trying to be thoughtful about it. There are all sorts of little things that you can do every single day.”
In posting online content, MSN also has to balance its green focus.
“Whether you’re buying natural ingredients for your skin care or deciding what type of fuel economy you want with your car, we want to provide you with that information,” she says. “But I don’t think you’ll see everything we do be green. It’s not going to be the all-green auto channel, because people want options.”
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