Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Another thought on screaming that you're green
The Chevy Volt? OK I get that it's electric but does average joe consumer looking for a fuel-efficient hybrid car want a car called Volt? Maybe the focus groups said yes. Maybe the name is a way to draw consumers to look at an American car company and think it's green. But calling it Volt? Typical, Chevy. It sounds uncool. Set it up to fail.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Screaming green.
I'm not sure if it's because I live in a city and state where more people are questioning the green movement than, say, in my former city of San Francisco, but when it comes time to name and market a green or sustainable product, I've started questioning the process.
On one hand, how will the people searching for green products know your soap is green unless it says 'GREEN SOAP!!!' on the label? How will people striving to be sustainable be able to make that sustainable choice? Hopefully they've done their research. On the other hand, why must GREEN SOAP!!! be treated as something so 'different'? By being labeled as green or sustainable or anything earth-related, does this turn off the large number of consumers who think 'Oh. Green...Green = more expensive, possibly liberal-related, weird-looking, not as effective...' and on and on.
I heard the question asked early on of the electric car. Obviously in something as large as a car, there were design differences. But even today, what if an average American from the Bible Belt wanted to buy a car without screaming to his fellow church-goers (totally stereotyping here, pardon me) "I'm driving a hybrid, please don't judge. I'm still a Christian voting for McCain, I just want to lessen my carbon footprint." Finally, it seems car companies, as the demand for hybrids increases, are getting that people want cars to look like cars, hence the Ford Escape Hybrid. The original electric car was made perhaps for geeks who wanted something different but what about the latest from Reebok, the NFL-line of apparel called Reebok Sustain?
Why can't I just have Reebok apparel that's made from recycled, biodegradable material without shouting it to the world? How about, instead of choosing toxic soap vs green non-toxic soap, we can depend on companies to start manufacturing non-toxic soap in biodegradable packaging and treating it as completely normal in its packaging design.
Wishful thinking at this point, and I understand why marketing green products as we currently do is necessary, that there are larger economic forces at work. Yet I still think that for a majority of the population, going into Target or Wal-Mart and buying something green would be easier - on their concious and beliefs, and our ecosystem, if it didn't scream GREEN SOAP!!! or GREEN SHOES!!!
We've already started down the path of automatically incorporating eco-friendly actions into everyday objects, by enacting laws and policy changes within manufacturing, packaging, and distribution, we can begin to think that our products are a little more eco-friendly without needing a starburst telling us so. 35% post-consumer recycled paper in a Starbucks cup? If only we could assume that it was going to just automatically be 100%.
On one hand, how will the people searching for green products know your soap is green unless it says 'GREEN SOAP!!!' on the label? How will people striving to be sustainable be able to make that sustainable choice? Hopefully they've done their research. On the other hand, why must GREEN SOAP!!! be treated as something so 'different'? By being labeled as green or sustainable or anything earth-related, does this turn off the large number of consumers who think 'Oh. Green...Green = more expensive, possibly liberal-related, weird-looking, not as effective...' and on and on.
I heard the question asked early on of the electric car. Obviously in something as large as a car, there were design differences. But even today, what if an average American from the Bible Belt wanted to buy a car without screaming to his fellow church-goers (totally stereotyping here, pardon me) "I'm driving a hybrid, please don't judge. I'm still a Christian voting for McCain, I just want to lessen my carbon footprint." Finally, it seems car companies, as the demand for hybrids increases, are getting that people want cars to look like cars, hence the Ford Escape Hybrid. The original electric car was made perhaps for geeks who wanted something different but what about the latest from Reebok, the NFL-line of apparel called Reebok Sustain?
Why can't I just have Reebok apparel that's made from recycled, biodegradable material without shouting it to the world? How about, instead of choosing toxic soap vs green non-toxic soap, we can depend on companies to start manufacturing non-toxic soap in biodegradable packaging and treating it as completely normal in its packaging design.
Wishful thinking at this point, and I understand why marketing green products as we currently do is necessary, that there are larger economic forces at work. Yet I still think that for a majority of the population, going into Target or Wal-Mart and buying something green would be easier - on their concious and beliefs, and our ecosystem, if it didn't scream GREEN SOAP!!! or GREEN SHOES!!!
We've already started down the path of automatically incorporating eco-friendly actions into everyday objects, by enacting laws and policy changes within manufacturing, packaging, and distribution, we can begin to think that our products are a little more eco-friendly without needing a starburst telling us so. 35% post-consumer recycled paper in a Starbucks cup? If only we could assume that it was going to just automatically be 100%.
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