JKR

12. “Blue Sky” is a good place to look.

When brainstorming green thinking with clients, we recommend looking for the “answers” in two areas. The first is to better express things the brand is already doing. The second area is to jump straight to crazy “what ifs” such as “what if your capacity to produce new packaging was taken away from you?” If one imagines a world in which packaging itself is banned, it’s interesting what vistas suddenly open up for brand behaviour that won’t be inspired by more conventional (though vital) light-weighting initiatives and the like.
The value, or pitfall, of this approach (depending on one’s perspective) is that it misses the big area in the middle – how the line, distribution, etc, etc. can be pragmatically improved. This, of course, is where much of the real progress can be made, but the truth is that it tends to be the preserve of folk outside the marketing department. A “let’s change to bio-polymers” suggestion to the experts on the line will probably be met with rolled eyes and a lecture on the naivety of such an idea in the real world. There are always a thousand reasons why not to do things. This is not to suggest that the line is full of negative jobsworths (although it might be!), but rather that mostly if it could be done, it would already be underway. Getting the thumbs down for idea after idea can take the steam out of even the most evangelical brand manager’s plans. More momentum can be gained by setting out a bold vision that leapfrogs today’s technical barriers and gives the whole organisation a target to aim for.
This is not to be confused with setting out another glib green “plan” which promises the earth but is actually used to excuse a lack of genuine intent. There are enough of these floating around for consumers to smell the green wash at 5 paces.

13. “Perfect is the enemy of good”.

Eugenie Harvey was one of the folk instrumental in launching the Anya Hindmarch designer “green” bag. The idea was to promote the choice of re-usable over plastic. It launched with a fantastic amount of publicity, and Harvey went off on her honeymoon. On her return the negative backlash had begun.

The bag wasn’t 100% organic cotton. And was its manufacture in China all that ethical? Her response was philosophical: “perfect is the enemy of good”. In other words, if we wait around for the perfect solution we will probably do nothing. To conclude where we began, sustainability sometimes feels like a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” topic. But those of us involved in branding have the fantastic opportunity to effect genuine change, and the chance to look our grandchildren square in the eye. Along with occupying a planet with the freakish yet precarious good luck to support life, it’s a privilege we should celebrate.

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