12 FOCUS

Budapest Business Journal www.bbj.hu | June - July

Making green stuff seem normal

Global firms are stepping up marketing activities focusing on environmentally friendly topics as they realize its appeal for consumers, with the trend also taking root slowly in Hungary.
Andrea Fazekas

GREEN, NOT GREENWASHED It is mostly those companies whose operations are generally considered harmful to the environment that like to flaunt their green activity, such as companies in heavy industries, chemicals and transportation. One of the most criticized green advertisers is BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, went through a comprehensive re-branding in 2000, changed its name to Beyond Petroleum and introduced a new logo that emphasizes its activities in alternative energies. But critics pointed out that while BP gives much publicity to its relatively minimal investment in renewables, it still spends the most on fossil fuels, namely natural gas. According to one group of shareholders, BP spent more on its new eco-friendly logo than on renewable energy in that year, wrote Kenny Bruno, an adjunct professor at New York University. Active in the second most environmentally polluting sector, BMW represents a more developed philosophy. Although it already has energyefficient solutions on the market, it admits this is just the short-term solution, and even hybrids are just the second step the company believes that the auto industry must make more headway on the road to clean energy, through electric cars to zero-emission hydrogen power. Why do firms find it important to switch to new technologies? They want to be the first in line when these new models for transportation turn into a reality. And what is a better way to achieve this than introducing the new technol-

It is time to do away with the notion that green issues and marketing are mutually exclusive. Each side of this business that we call green marketing can benefit from collaboration. Environmental ideas need more advertising than ever, and companies also have to respond to increasingly strong public expectations. But it also makes a difference whether a firm supports a cause in and of itself, or is simply using it to support its own agenda. The biggest misconception about green marketing is that it is about making companies and brands look eco-friendly. This trend in communication, which has been in use already for 30 years under the name ecological marketing, officially means the marketing of products that are environmentally safe. Green marketing is mostly about making green stuff seem normal and not about making normal stuff seem green, a book called The Green Marketing Manifesto declares, referring to the conflict with greenwashing, which is considered the dark side of green marketing, present as a constant temptation and also the biggest pitfall of the field.

ogy yourself? Hungarian oil major MOL is trying to follow a similar strategy, by being in the front line on the domestic market of providing geothermal energy. At some companies, there is a manager that is passionate about the topic, but there are others, where only the firms interests are being considered. Then some are forced into responsible corporate behavior only by NGOs or the authorities, said Stuart Smith, an expert at PR consultancy Hill & Knowlton, who attended the first Hungarian green marketing conference in June. A 2008 survey by research company McKinsey Global showed similar results in the factors that influence companies to take climate change into consideration. The survey, based on responses from over 2,000 top executives around the world, found that firms in every industry put reputation at the top of the list. Other important factors included customer requests, media attention and investment opportunities. ECO-MARKETING BENEFITS Other major benefits of eco-marketing are amending the corporate image, brand-strengthening or differentiating the trademark. International star presenters at the Budapest conference pointed out that various agencies have different strategies for exploiting these benefits. Andrzej K. Moyseowicz and his agency Saatchi & Saatchi believe in lovemarks. This is a marketing strategy intended to replace the idea of brands, which says that products that can achieve respect, but not love from consumers,

have to be connected with some cause through which they can gain both. McCann-Ericksons focus is trust. The firm sees modern consumers as hedonistic idealists, who want to contribute to the good of the world comfortably. This is a massive opportunity for marketers, since they only have to make consumers feel that the simplest way to support the planet is to choose their brand, said Mike Longhurst, senior VP at McCann EMEA. GREEN FATIGUE Longhurst and Smith both warned about the pitfalls of greenwashing. Many people are already getting sick just of hearing the term sustainability or global warming, and this trend, despite the relative infancy of eco-marketing in Hungary, can be seen here as well. The big challenges we have to meet are getting it right and getting their interest at the same time, added Longhurst. The situation is made harder by the results that surveys usually show about consumer interest. Although western firms are not deterred by public indifference to the topic, in Hungary only a few companies believe in pre-empting customer demand. Based on the findings of a 2008 survey presented at the Budapest conference, research firm GfK advised firms that targeting average consumers is not worthwhile, and agencies should instead focus only on intellectuals and affluent people. In turn, representatives of a few firms, such as Budapest-based gas provider FGZ, said that were they to do that, they would be excluding the majority of their clients.