JKR

3. With sustainability, brands have to act responsibly before they can act sexily.

“Greenwash” has become an industry by-word for shoddy and opportunistic green initiatives that can backfire when consumers sense they are only getting half the story. There are many seductive case studies of brands which have made their green credentials look sexy, but a closer look will generally confirm that such communication is based on foundations of being at least up to industry standard in all the obvious ways that a green footprint is measured. That noted, design could make a dull solution appear stunning. Ecloean milk pouches use a chalk-based substrate, which “returns to the earth” as the pack biodegrades. They are also lighter and more space efficient than regular Tetras. But the designs can look very average. However, it only takes one inspired re-brand (right) and the same item wins D&AD design awards and a place in urban trendsetters’ fridges.

Returning from the sexy to the responsible for a moment, here is a basic checklist, which we use to assess how good a green shape our clients are in before we start jumping to prematurely sexy initiatives:

Have you exhausted internal opportunities for sourcing, processing, material or energy savings?

Are you vulnerable to external criticism?

Have you undertaken a Green Health Check?*

Have you benchmarked your environmental impact against competitors?

Do you have a plan that would be formidable to the toughest legislation?

Have you polled opinions from your customer/consumer base?

Do you have a series of pro-active initiatives underway?

* Such health checks are available from bodies such as The Carbon Trust and also customers such as Wal-Mart.

Once we are in a position to make the responsible sexy, the best way to do it is by looking at the brand’s personality overall….

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