In this article we delve into one of the processes of most painful learning in the transition to an economy sustainable, the concept of Greenwash and what is Greenwashing and its techniques from the perspective of companies before your clients.
Companies that have sustained their policy since the sale of products and services based on a lifestyle artificial, with sustainability and some more than large profits, they have not always played fair in their sales strategies in front of their clients or consumers with the intention of getting ahead of the market.
Businesses use marketing techniques and strategies green marketing and labeling ecological where they sell us an idea, when in Actually the product does not always meet that external image what we observe It is to reinterpret the image to sell more!
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The Greenwashing concept is a term in English ("Green" means "green" + "washing" means "lavado") used to see the bad practices that some companies carry out when present a product or any proposal as respectful towards the environment environment although in reality, it is not.
It is a "make-up" for the observer or possible client to give a false idea about something that in reality is not not as "green" as it appears, nor do they practice circular economy in their companies.
The techniques are varied in the world of « ecopostureo » and marketing agencies are increasingly more insightful in managing brands. Mainly Five notable types of greenwashing :
The Greenwash is an evolution of the concept traditional whitewhash or whitening of image . This is where highlighting values comes into play. culturally positive companies or institutions ( business and social responsibility ) than in many cases have little ethics or crimes that affect other people or institutions and that through this method, they intend to clean up your image so as not to lose or recover clientele .
E l concept of Greenwash is understood as “ the misleading the public into error or perception different , emphasizing credentials environmental aspects of a company, person or product when these are irrelevant or unfounded.”
In a few words, it is the use by the companies or any institution, of the susceptibility and morality of people who consume the preference of certain services or products, which reinforce their consistency ethics and morality to develop a behavior that from the social perspective is accepted, based mainly on values of sustainability and environmental protection environment or Earth.
This concept was nicknamed by David Bellamy, on the occasion of the celebration of Earth Day in the year 1990. In that moment already highlighted the hypocrisy of some companies, which they placed their products accompanied by wonderful and beautiful images of nature, highlighting a commitment to the environment that was really questionable.
In the following image we can see which are Greenwashing techniques in the face of users – customers from a marketing perspective.
In an effort to how to prevent Greenwashing , both to warn customers and companies, we can find it in a relevant report that gives us the keys of how the Greenwashing from a guide interest “Understanding and Preventing Greenwash: A Business Guide” (Access from HERE). an interesting Material that shows the reality of Greenwash which is practiced in some developed countries, where In addition, some recommendations are shown. 10 simple ways to identify them….
Another indicator of interest is… «The Sins of Greenwashing» from a Canadian environmental marketing consultancy TerraChoice, which ranked seven ways to identify the Greenwash (Access from HERE) and that, in general, covers more or minus the previous 10 points.
The ways to identify Greenwash are mainly through communication visual , however, this is only a part of the recommendations that companies could improve to be more consistent with its final and objective clientele.
Developing an honest relationship is a priority that should be raised for the benefit of all. Identifying them is useful and necessary for the person – clients who are transformed gradually, in responsible consumers – instead of using marketing techniques green .
No one wants to be listed and labeled as an example of Greenwashing , but the reality is that companies have reached a subtlety amazing to communicate and transmit without teaching us the background of their acts and produce many examples of green products mimicked.
We start with this video from Greenpeace Spain…
From the Greenwashingindex portal (No longer working) you can see many ad examples with advertising Greenwashing that perfectly comply with the guidelines outlined previously. They are companies "green" on the outside and on the inside "black".
We start with the names; labels with the review of ecological, biological and organic, as well as their abbreviations usual ("bio", "eco", etc.), were protected so that they do not are used fraudulently in food products that do not comply with European legislation (HERE).
Do you remember the famous «bio», because the name had to change!… Although many of us continue with the mind of the product more healthy, it is actually examples of marketing green to “fool our mind”.
Another well-known case of example of Greenwashing is the one of McDonalds, a company accused more than once of bad practices. Communication tries to sell you getting your stuff raw is increasingly sustainable. In addition to painting green many of its restaurants and leaving aside the old red color that has always characterized it.
A little more convoluted we find them, for example, in the topic of bioplastics that are also widely used in advertising to
One issue is that the bottle can be recycled – that we assume so – and another that is made based on of plants instead of oil. They lead to believe that It is an organic material that can be part of the compost, but the reality is that it is not. (We remember a article on how to make a homemade machine to recycle plastic)
Overcome Greenwashing companies before that image wash or wash green , it does not necessarily happen by bringing the companies to more environmentally sustainable production and sustainable with the environment, although ideally it should if so.
Business development should be valued from the sustainable perspective (See also the interesting blue or green economy article), taking the aspects sustainable aspects of the brand or company or even its weaknesses, to communicate them honestly to your clientele and incorporate it in its evolution a more respectable ethic.
