There is more and more talk about Green Marketing, but very often brands do it only to paint themselves in a bad light. This facade of environmentalism is so exploited that everyone now recognizes it as Greenwashing (a strategy, used since the seventies, to build a deceptively positive image regarding environmental impact) or, more recently, as the Bla, bla, bla evoked by Greta Thunberg, which stigmatizes those who speak instead of taking action.

For this reason, we thought it made sense to talk about some emblematic cases of true Green Marketing, effective not only in capturing the attention of the general public but also in truly making a difference compared to competitors.

Before presenting them, we would like to clarify one thing. If the goal is to induce, in the long term, a change in the lifestyles and consumption patterns of all of us, then we believe that green marketing must stop being associated with individual activities and communications aimed at marketing specific products that can generate a lower environmental impact.
Rather, in our opinion, it should be understood and used to define the entire image of one’s brand, and thus build a value proposition that is not solely tied to profits and earnings.

Patagonia

We all know Black Friday: the Friday following Thanksgiving, which marks the start of the Christmas shopping season and when companies throw themselves into it, with advertising campaigns and advantageous discounts, in order to attract a large number of customers. The name apparently refers to the entries in the merchants' accounting books that traditionally went from the color red (losses) to the color black (profits).

In 2011, however, a company broke the rules of marketing, whose purpose is to promote purchase, to do the exact opposite: Patagonia, the brand founded in 1973 by internationally renowned climber Yvon Chouinard, famous for producing high-quality outdoor clothing for sports enthusiasts and nature lovers.
How? By publishing an advertisement in the New York Times on Black Friday with a photo of their best-selling boss accompanied by the claim in cursive letters “Don’t buy this jacket”.

At the bottom of the page, the environmental costs of producing a single jacket were listed, along with a vade mecum with tips and good habits aimed at its customers to minimize their impact on the environment. In this vein, in the following years Patagonia also launched recycling services and made available to its customers guidelines for repairing their own clothes, as well as organized tours where Patagonia vans traveled across America to offer a home-delivery service for Patagonia and non-Patagonia clothing.
The message was clear, albeit seemingly counterproductive: do you really need it or can you do without it? The announcement, although it did not achieve its goal – sales increased by 30% after the campaign – increased awareness of an increasingly pressing problem.

In the era of rampant consumerism, where our standard of living is often cited as a major contributor to climate change, this type of communication served to raise awareness among customers about the environmental costs of the textile industry, and to position Patagonia among the top green brands. Today, it is known as one of the most sustainable companies in the world, with clothes designed to last thanks to its attention to the use of materials and the working conditions of its employees, guaranteed by the fair-trade certification of its garments.

Don't miss the next issue of The Orange News.
Already next week we will return to discuss this topic with an interesting case study dedicated to Saltwater Brewery, a small American company… a great example of Green marketing.