GreenBiz on SustainAbility workshop series: "Green Branding is Necessary, Presents New Challenges"

17 Sep 2008 – SA in the News

From the article:
Long-standing companies that have never had green issues at their cores are experiencing more difficulty in transitioning their messages, said Raphael Bemporad, co-founder and principal of branding firm BBMG.

Wal-Mart’s critics, for example, were not immediately or easily won over when the company began delving into issues like eliminating waste, redeveloping packaging and transitioning to renewable energy. But Wal-Mart has made a concentrated effort to keep green at the top of its message. While some companies like Wal-Mart are changing their overall brand, some are taking smaller measures.

GE’s Ecomagination line has received criticism because it is such a small part of GE’s overall operations, said Chris Guenther, client services manager at consulting firm SustainAbility. But GE knew it would not be able to change all of its products at the same time, he said, and the Ecomagination line has actually experienced better growth than the rest of the company and led the way for GE to improve more and more products.

Others have tried to buy sustainability, such as Clorox’s purchase of Burt’s Bees. While many look at that purchase with a wary eye, such a situation can be vastly positive, Guenther said. The purchase means the larger company is interested enough in the smaller one to gobble them up, and the situation gives the greener partner a way to influence the other’s operations.

Read more at GreenBiz.com.