Avoiding The Big Green Brush

This a guest post and the second article in a four-part series about greenwashing written by Buzz Chandler, president and founder of Asean Corporation, manufacturers of the StalkMarket family of Earth friendly products. The purpose of the series is to help fellow ecopreneurs better understand greenwashing, how to avoid being mislabeled as a greenwasher and what to do when you are.

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to create a venture designed to have a positive impact on society. Ecopreneurists are, simply, social entrepreneurs focused on the environment.  While a social entrepreneur’s business may be a for-profit enterprise, the driving force behind it is the desire to do something meaningful.

Generally speaking, social entrepreneurs are not involved with greenwashing (at least not blatantly or intentionally). However, being an ecopreneurist does not automatically give you immunity from scrutiny. The fact that so many companies have jumped onto the green bandwagon has created an environment of skepticism among potential customers that any company claiming to be green must overcome.

For companies that are on the up and up, this skepticism is something to be embraced. It drives consumers to become more educated about the solutions your company provides (and any associated environmental trade-offs). It provides an opportunity for companies to engage in a meaningful dialog with customers. Ultimately, it provides you with an opportunity to show (not just tell) customers why you deserve their trust. These are the building blocks for long-term brand loyalty. And once customers become genuine believers in your brand, they often serve as your best and most effective sales people.

Below are some of the most effective ways to help customers get to know your brand:

Be honest and transparent – The truth is a powerful communications tool and is the foundation of any meaningful long-term relationship. Strive to provide customers with EVERYTHING they need to make an informed buying decision. Provide them with context and an overview of the problems your company is working to solve. Let them know what is great about your products. Just as importantly, let them know about product limitations or trade-offs.  Make this information easy to find and easy to access.

Make specific and accurate claims that can be proven – When it comes to making claims about your products, it is better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around. Provide customers with the data they need to substantiate what you are saying. If possible, provide third-party validation (Biodegradable Product Institute validation of compostability claims, etc.).

Follow EPA/FTC or accepted industry guidelines – The Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission both publish guidelines on how various green products should be marketed (for example, what types of products should be classified as biodegradable). These guidelines have largely been put in place to protect consumers from greenwashing. Even if they aren’t mandatory, they deserve consideration.

Two-way communication with customers - Online forums, social media, blogs and Websites are communications vehicles of choice for the green community. They give you instant access to topics that are most relevant. Listening to virtual conversations – and participating as appropriate – provides an excellent method for companies to communicate directly with customers in a meaningful and unobtrusive way. Participating in forums, monitoring blogs, commenting on relevant posts and maintaining your own company blog are all very effective ways to build your brand.

Conversation does not need to be limited to the online world. I also find that attending trade shows and engaging attendees directly is a great way of getting excellent one-on-one dialog and insight into what the public is thinking.  Doing all of this requires a serious commitment, but the rewards are huge.

Make product information clear and easy to find - It is not uncommon for people to pass judgments on solutions or innovations before they know all the facts. While it is impossible to prevent this entirely, the more information you make available about your innovation (context, how it works, etc.) the better. In addition, if someone does make an incorrect claim about your product, your point of view becomes much easier to defend and substantiate if you’ve already made the facts available.

Taking these steps should do a lot for building your brand. They will also help insulate your company from being mislabeled as a greenwasher. Of course, there is still the chance that someone doesn’t find your product or solution as green as it should be and may resort to accusing you of greenwashing anyhow. In the next part of this series, we will address how to best handle that situation (spoiler alert – don’t panic).

In the next part of our series, we will discuss what to do if you are mislabeled as a greenwasher and how to best respond to your critics

Photo credit:  Velo_city at FLICKR under Creative Common License