I came across this article today on green marketing.  It wasn’t quite as interesting a read as I thought when I first read the title.  However, I still find it relevant to what we talk about most on this blog – your brand.  It seems many more companies are using “green marketing” speak to capture the almighty green dollar (no pun intended).   However, it doesn’t seem their green claims are as strong as their green purse strings.

My thought was this… yes, consumers can get caught up in the excitement of something and buy on impulse.  But, then the consumer becomes smart.  If the product really wasn’t as green as it claimed to be, they figure it out.  The know the brand is failing to deliver on its promise.

But, if the brand itself backs the green marketing of its products, then both the consumer and the brand are winners.  Take New Belgium Brewing for an example.   They can claim that putting beer in cans is better for the environment with utmost belief because everything about them communicates a green existence.  From the construction of their building to the delivery of their product they truly care about their green-ness.  So, when they make a statement about changing from bottles to cans, we believe it.  Maybe we wouldn’t give the same courtesy to someone like Anheuser Busch.  They haven’t made the green claim to date.  So, for them to come out and start touting green and green cans and a green way, then even though they are a Goliath compared to New Belgium, they wouldn’t be able to pull off the story…

So, what is the moral of the story?  Like most of the things we write about it is staying true to your brand, developing a brand promise and repeatedly delivering the brand message.