Eco-Libris: An Interview With Orly Zeewy, a Branding Consultant, on Green Branding
Orly was born in Israel, grew up in Tel Aviv, Paris and Lausanne, Switzerland and now lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Hello Orly. Firstly what is a green brand?
A brand that makes an authentic connection between its “green” products and its sustainable business practices and policies. It’s not only about the green products/services it sells but also about how it runs its business.
What does a green branding consultant do?
Help create messaging and positioning for sustainable companies that will resonate with their target audience and increase awareness around green issues.
Is it more difficult to build a green brand comparing to a regular brand?
I think it’s actually easier since a green brand is working hard to make a positive impact on the environment, the community and in the world. So from a public relation perspective, it is easier to promote “doing good.“
Do you think retailers really benefit from a green image?
Absolutely. As the number of “green-conscious” consumers increases, expectations around sustainable issues will become more commonplace and brands will be expected to flex their “green” muscles. Since Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, committed itself to “green”, a lot of other household brands have followed suit and started to incorporate green practices into their business.
I believe this trend will only grow as demand for green products increases. And it’s good to remember that retailers have been losing ground with consumers in recent years and with profit margins slipping further because of the economic downturn, they are all looking for a way to stay relevant. I believe that “green” is the way they will do this.
If I’m a company, have a good and solid brand, and I want to green it up —where do I start? What do I do? Can you please share with us some of the insights on how it’s done?
The first thing you’ll need to do is have a green product! Then be sure to communicate about the ways you are changing your business and business practices—for instance one of my green clients is a large construction management company and they have committed to recycling 98% of all of the waste that they generate on a construction site.
Letting their clients know about this commitment and showing how they are doing it has had a tremendous impact on building their “green” brand awareness and increasing customer retention and loyalty.
Many companies who already have sustainable business practices need to make those practices more transparent to their customers. Target is a great example of “greening” an existing power brand. They have a link devoted exclusively to the environment and where their recycling efforts are catalogued. One such example is the 385 million garment hangers that are reused each year (instead of being put into landfills). These kinds of numbers help bring home the idea that a major brand can have a huge impact on the environment and by extension, reinforces that we as consumers, by shopping at Target, are a part of a global effort to reduce waste.
