Last week, as you might already have read on CATALYST, I went to the first D&AD White Pencil Symposium. It was instituted to award creative work aiming to make a positive change in the world. The event hosted an impressive line-up of speakers. One of these was Kim Slicklein, President of OgilvyEarth. She held an interesting and entertaining exposition based on the OgilvyEarth paper ‘Mainstream Green’ and I would like to share with you a synopsis of the paper and her best points from her talk as well as a selection of brilliant and hilarious ads!
‘Sustainability is the outcome, not the communication strategy’
If we are to achieve our sustainability goals, mainstream consumers must be shifted to a more sustainable way of living. In order for them to do so, the available sustainable products and services need to be marketed in a way that speaks to them, in a relevant way. This means taking into account all drivers of mainstream consumption rather than just the sustainability factor. By solely and overly green-labelling you risk setting yourself up for the niche market of green consumers, which makes up less than one fifth of the market. To really make a change, it is necessary to appeal to the majority. This is important, as it is in our human nature to do and to continue doing the things we like. So for sustainable behaviour to be in itself sustainable, it needs to be desirable and appealing.
‘Make it normal’
An important element for behaviour to be desirable and appealing is that is considered normal. People want to fit in and be normal – it is a very simple truth about human behaviour. We are social creatures and look to others around us to help us make decisions in how we live our lives because we want to feel accepted. This means that often behaviours drive belief systems much more than the other way around.
You can do this by letting people feel that everyone does it. Simply start moving people to environmentally friendly behaviour by telling them what those around them are doing.
I really like the commercial for the Rainforest Alliance as it shows brilliantly the conundrum we often struggle with when we start feeling guilty of our lifestyles and then want to make a positive difference and then often only think of the most radical way to do so…. It is hilarious so enjoy it!
‘Make it personal’
Companies that can link their products to highly personal benefits are better positioned to succeed. It might be a bit strange to link green marketing to cancer, but the insight that OgilvyEarth has taken from it, is I find a good one
From their Mainstream Green Paper:
“A cure for cancer and our new 3Ps of green marketing.
Fully 70% of Americans claim they would rather cure cancer than save the environment. Cancer marketing has the new 3Ps in spades. To close the Green Gap, we should take a page out of the cancer marketing playbook.
• Personal: One out of every two men and one out of every three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, translating into in a personal understanding issue on a human level for everyone in America. So the relevance factor is built in. On the contrary, the environment feels too abstract and remote compared to the immediate concerns of our everyday lives.
• Plausible: We’ve cured other diseases, so why not cancer? On the contrary, there’s no analog for “curing” the environment.
• Positive: The messaging around curing cancer has been incredibly positive, especially around breast cancer - the pink ribbon is a modern icon of hope and optimism. Contrast this with the apocalyptic
messaging of environmental doom and gloom.
We need to get out of the game of crazy calculus and cataclysmic inciting and start to motivate people with something tangible they can relate to personally — with a good dose of hope thrown in to counteract all the doom and gloom and crazy calculus.”
‘Lose the crunch’
Just because the product is environmentally friendly, doesn’t mean that it has to marketed in an off-the-grid hippie way. Rather it needs mainstream hip! And sometimes the best way to do this is by not mentioning the ‘Green’ factor in marketing communication at all. Or by positioning green further down the benefit hierarchy. The brand 'Method' has done just that, rather than focusing on eco-friendly, they focus on design and performance, marketing all their eco-friendly products with the line: 'To make a happy, healthy home revolution.'
Notice how in the ad: 'clean like a mother' they speak to all mothers' concern of keeping their kids safe from 'ikky' bacteria but also highlighting that the Method products are keeping the kids safe from harmful toxins in other ordinary cleaning products. The lyrics to the song are hilarious! Watch the video!
‘Turn eco-friendly into male ego-friendly’
OgilvyEarth’s study has shown that being green is associated a female virtue. When respondents to the study were asked the question whether they thought the green movement was more masculine or feminine, a whopping 82% answered they considered it more feminine. Making sustainability manly hence makes for an interesting marketing challenge. I absolutely love how the AXE advertisement brings across the message of the importance of saving water – creativity at its best!
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