Next time you are watching television and the ubiquitous ads come by, just count how many of the products advertised are talking ?green?. From low carbon emission cars to toxic free paints to recyclable packaging to eco-friendly detergents to energy efficient refrigerators to bio-degradable cleaning solutions, each of them touts their green credentials. From what she eats to which car she drives and to even where she lives, the Indian consumer today has a ?green? option for whatever she decides to buy. Even though the veracity of the claims made by these products is a subject of closer scrutiny, going green is definitely on the rise among Indian companies.
While the emphasis on caring for the planet is encouraging, marketers are sticking the green label on their products because they know their consumers want to see that. Clearly companies not just in India but world over are putting their best foot forward to come across as responsible entities. And there are enough reasons for the same. A lot has changed over the past few years that has only compounded the need for companies to take ?green? matters seriously.
Consumers are increasingly getting more aware and alarmed about environment degradation. Concerted efforts on thepart of the civil society and the global community to raise envirnoment issues and also to pull companies blindly promoting consumerism, are some of the reasons why companies are trying to project themselves as responsible corporate citizens.
?Today companies talk of three bottom lines – profit, planet and people. Even in the western world, this is theoretically still a concept but many companies are trying to implement it,? says Anand Kumar Jaiswal, assistant professor of marketing, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
So, when TV news channel CNN decided to air special programmes on environment and more specifically on the link between environment and businesses on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of world earth day, sponsors lined up to spread the ?green? word. The list of sponsors for these shows includes an energy company Masdar, automobile giant Renault, telecom equipments maker Siemens, among others. ?There has been increasing interest from corporates to be associated with our environmental programmes? Over the years, we have seen more and more companies adopting a green charter to make their businesses and supply chains sustainable,? says Sonali Chatterjee, sales director, India and South Asia, CNN International.
Marketers acknowledge that it pays to wave the green flag. ?We feel that being environmentally responsible also has its business benefits. It improves our risk management, often makes good economic and business sense operationally, and reinforces our brand. It is also an important area that employees and external stakeholders can connect with the company and a shared value that all can support,? says Ambrish Bakaya, director, corporate affairs, Nokia India. The company started a campaign for recycling mobile phones in 2009 and then followed it up with ?Planet Ke Rakhwale? campaign towards the end of the year which extended the take back campaign to 28 cities.
Paints maker Kansai Nerolac has recently launched two TV ads featuring actors Mona Singh and K K Menon for its Eco Clean range of paints which have low VOC (volatile organic compounds) and no odour. The company plans to spend Rs 20 crore on promotion of these products this year. ?We made all our decorative range of products lead free last year,? said H M Bharuka, managing director, Kansai Nerolac Paints. ?In case of automotive coating, we made our products lead free five years ago. We have also reduced VOC from other range of products like Excel, Suraksha to meet western standards on VOC?Whatever is good for the customer is good for the company.?
When it comes to marketing green products, pricing is very important. For Kansai Nerolac, the cost of manufacturing lead free paints was higher compared to regular paints. The company claims it has absorbed a large portion of the cost increase and hiked the prices only marginally, so as to ensure that these products find buyers.
?Our experience has been that unless there is a tangible benefit to the consumers, he is not likely to pay a premium for the product?, says Kamal Nandi, vice-president?sales and marketing, Godrej and Boyce. The company was the first appliance maker to introduce CFC (chloro fluro carbon) free refrigerators in the country. Today, instead of CFC, the energy efficiency ratings are used to market the product. Simply because it translates into actual savings for the consumer and that is what she is looking at.
The sentiment is shared by automobile makers. ?In our country, the consumer awareness is not so high. We expect in the next 5-10 years this to ratchet up,? says Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Till then, according to Singh, ?it is very important that being good corporates we generate awareness?.
That has led to companies increasingly involving their customers in their green campaigns. Printing devices maker Xerox India signs contracts with customers to recycle wastes. ?Corporate India is warming up to green technologies for business competitiveness and cost efficiency. Though this paradigm shift is primarily driven by cost reduction needs in all segments, however today more and more companies and customers are looking ahead towards products that consume less power and are easy to recycle at end of life,? Vipin Tuteja, executive director, marketing, business support and international business, Xerox India.
?In most countries, the earliest ones to use the ?green? language and logic are the ones who are the guiltiest of spoiling the language of green through their products and services. Auto companies therefore are the first in line on this. I do believe the same ones will be the first to evangelize the language of green marketing in India as well,? says Harish Bijoor, brand strategy specialist, explaining the surge in environmental marketing for products ranging from laptops to skincare products.
In a survey done by market research company, Synovate Research, when people were asked whether they would buy their ?dream car? or a ?green car? if money were no object, 47% of the respondents in India said that they?ll go for their ?dream car? while 30% said that they?ll opt for a ?green car?. For 15% of the respondents the dream car meant a green car. The report further adds, ?Green, as a concept is still nascent in India. To consumers at large, going green means saving money, especially on running costs. In the consumer durables segment this has already started to make an impact. Most manufacturers are communicating this very heavily. In the FMCG segment, going green means healthy.?
Biscuit maker Parle Products spends 10% of its total advertising spends on ?My Green Planet??a new campaign in which Parle directly interacts with school kids, a substantial chunk of its consumers, on environmental issues and organises competitions which involves kids collecting and sending Parle product wrappers back. ?Advertising is still considered a commercial activity. What we do is a little different?Company gets benefit of a positive image in the long run,? says Mayank Shah, group product manager, Parle.
Associating with a larger social cause has been a key weapon in the battle for the consumer?s wallet. Remember the Idea Cellular ad with actor Abhishek Bachhan as the tree which asked people to save paper by using mobiles or the Aircel ?Save the tiger? campaign. These campaigns were able to register a stronger brand recall because of the causes they espoused.
For Aircel it was a part of their social responsibility. It?s the same for Idea Cellular that claims ?Idea celebrates powerful thoughts and ideas which have the power to change the society and the way people live?. Though the companies are not willing to share how exactly this benefits them in terms of addition to subscriber base, associating with a social cause helped these brands gain considerable brand equity. ?Even though the campaign is not directly related to the product, using a larger cause is becoming a common practice,? says Jaiswal.
?It is indeed admirable on the part of a telecom company to come out with such an innovative campaign. But it has to go beyond the campaign. There has to be a business strategy associated with the cause, which is not visible in this case,? says Unni Krishnan, managing director, Brand Finance India, a brand valuation consultancy firm. He cites Tata Tea and FabIndia as companies which ploughed back the gains to the various stakeholders in the value chain.
But then there are inherent risks in using such a marketing technique. ?It is powerful. It plays to our emotions. But it does not tell us what is being done, or should be done. It does not tell us how we, the consuming classes, can be part of the solution to safeguard the tiger,? writes Sunita Narain, director, Centre for Science and Environment, on her blog.
That brings us to the issue of greenwashing?is all the ?green? talk just a smart marketing gimmick or is it integral to the product or business strategy? Many products that claim to be green or organic may have only one ingredient or material that fits the bill. ?The ?green? language cannot be only about advertising language. It needs to be about the green footprint and the long-standing issue of green-advocacy as well,? says Bijoor. He adds that a majority of the companies are just paying lip service.
Unlike some of the western markets, India currently does not have any specific guidelines which govern environment marketing. That allows companies to go overboard with their environment-friendly claims. ?Our general guidelines code of truthful and honest advertising is applicable to all aspects,? says Alan Collaco, secretary general, Advertising Standards Council of India.