Buzz Word: "Green"

With Earth Day around the corner, a number of companies are rolling out or hyping-up their efforts to become "green" or "Eco friendly." With more and more of the U.S. population becoming environmentally aware, this is a brilliant marketing strategy that not only is effective, but constructive as well. What makes this buzzworthy is the fact that big name, big box stores are among those taking the plunge and they are supporting it with incentives, events and advertising campaigns.

Wal-Mart, as mentioned in the article Wal-Mart: The Average Joe is Greener Than You Think, "more or less represents the devil" in the eyes of some consumers. When certain people look at Wal-Mart, they see the embodiment of "the man", mistreated workers, and waste on a giant scale. This is why Wal-Mart, in correlation with Earth Day, is launching its "Live Better Index." There is an explanation of the push in a press release that can be found on the website dedicated to busting Wal-Mart myths, Wal-Mart Facts. By really making a commitment to environmentally friendly practices, Wal-Mart hopes to decrease its ecological footprint while probably at the same time improve any unpleasant associations with the image of the company. The corporation has actually been working on this environmental initiative for quite some time, but Earth Day provides a timely way of spreading the word about it. The hope most likely is that people will see new products in the store, take the survey, and then talk about Wal-Mart with others. I remember when I first read about Wal-Mart's work with sustainable production; I was very surprised and shared that news with others.

Another big box store looking to change in a big green way is Home Depot. According to the article Home Depot Steps Up Its Eco-Friendly Game, the store is relabeling 2,500 products already in stock with an "Eco Option" sticker. This label allows consumers to recognize what they can purchase to live sustainably. The underlying purpose of this service though, is most likely to show that Home Depot has a global conscience and helps a consumer purchase responsibly. Not only is Home Depot bringing value to the environmentally conscious consumer by offering a variety of sustainable products, it is also "walking the walk" as far as its corporate behavior by fighting against carbon emissions and refusing to harvest trees from vulnerable plots. Home Depot is turning the launch of the "Eco Option" label into an event, creating some discussion by passing out 1 million free CFL bulbs on Earth Day. As of right now, one can see the CFL bulbs featured on the front page of the Home Depot website.

Initially, this blog post was focused on big retailers and the push towards providing more organic products or materials made of recycled fibers. However, there is another way for non-retail corporations to get a piece of the goodwill that comes with sustainable business practices. Featured in the article HSBC Sees Green in Green, HSBC is familiar with the good image of sustainability, and moreover, how such tactics can translate to an improved bottom line. One method utilized by the London-based bank is cutting paper costs by switching to online transactions. HSBC was actually named "Sustainable Bank of the Year" for their efforts. HSBC will be rolling out an entire campaign with the tag line "There is No Such Thing as Small Change" over the next few months, starting with Earth Day this Sunday. HSBC will be offering various sustainable events until June 8 and passing out a "Green Living Kit" to those who pay their bills online three times. You can check out their sense of corporate responsibility and sustainable initiatives on this page of the HSBC website.

I couldn't help but cover these interesting promotions/campaigns/events for Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and HSBC. I have never seen corporations develop entire campaigns for Earth Day.

The cases are interesting to compare because:
All three companies have the same idea in mind, to establish themselves as green companies in order to enhance customer opinions and to fulfill their duty as a an active member of the global society. I know it is trendy to be sustainable, so perhaps that isn't so strange come to think of it. However, the fact that all decided on a major push for Earth Day is kind of humorous. Each is trying to promote discussion about earth friendly habits, and at the same time involve themselves in that discussion. I will be curious to see if there are any news stories on Sunday or Monday about the events these companies have planned.

All three articles were featured in Marketing Daily this week.