Green Marketing

Getting a grip on environmental impact through your ERP

[Note: Chris Lemoine, the regular author of this blog, is out on a month-long sabbatical. This guest post is from his colleague, Tyson Supasatit.]

I was at the bus station this morning when a small headline in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer caught my eye. Microsoft had released its much-anticipated Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX, the company's foremost enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. The dashboard tracks four key environmental impact metrics, as standardized by the Global Reporting Initiative:

Direct energy consumption, such as on-site use of fossil fuels

Indirect energy consumption, including energy bought from utilities

Greenhouse gas emissions from the total energy consumption

Greenhouse gas emissions from standard business practices, such as transportation, commuting, and business travel

Businesses can use this information to communicate their progress on environmental sustainability to business partners, investors, government agencies, or when applying for tax credits. It's a great addition that enables companies to capitalize on their ongoing environmental sustainability efforts.  

Creating change in a conservative culture

Environmental business consultant Anna Clark writes wise words in an article about introducing environmental change in conservative cultures, such as you sometimes find in large companies or certain industries. She writes:

"As specialized as the sustainability field is becoming, the gulf between where the experts are heading and where everyone else still remains continues to widen. In trying to solve complex problems, we create solutions that make sustainability ever more confusing for conservative cultures to embrace. ... In order to get green off the ground within a change-resistant culture, try going back to basics. Even a program as simple as the three R's: reduce, reuse and recycle, can be effective. Companies that put into place a simple but measurable program may see enough positive evidence to inspire more strategic actions down the road. Slow and steady wins the race."

Accomplishing our two main goals: Tools, resources needed

As environmental marketers, we always look in two directions. We serve the business interests of our clients and employers as well as their customers and stakeholders. At the same time, we look out for ecological and social values and do our best to keep ourselves and our audiences accountable and engaged. Nothing new there.

But, things become more difficult when you try to verify whether eco-themed marketing actually helps accomplish any desirable outcomes in terms of environmental or societal benefits. There are many more resources and tools that help us validate the business value of the marketing efforts. So, this short note is really a cry for help: Where are the best practices, measurement tools, and resources that help verify the "green" and "social" results of eco-marketing?

So, where to start over? Maybe a visit to EcoAmerica is worth a few minutes of your time. I'm encouraged because I don't see the same old ideas there, but some new approaches and practical resources. And, if it's really true that the public mindset regarding environmental concerns is changing with the souring economy, we need to get a lot more creative and engaging.

And, by the way, should green marketers get into issues such as, for example, population control and find connections between their more traditional practice and those other urgent concerns? Or, in case of population control, has that train left the station and we just have to wait? Not that I would want to ruin your day.

It's still too early to retire the g**** word, but if you carry on this way, we'll have to

Apologies if you've seen too much of g**** as a noun, verb, adjective, or plain buzzword, including all the tired expressions the poor word features in so frequently. It really shouldn't be this easy being g****. I promise I won't use the g**** word in this post, so you can enjoy a break from it.

The language mavens at Lake Superior State University definitely hit a nerve when they declared g**** and "going g****" to be on top of their 34th annual list of words to be banished. Not only has that article been copied, excerpted, and recycled ad nauseam, there's also been a lot of discussion—much of it less than reasonable—about the merits of the banishment. Google it and your eyes will be hurting in a minute. A client recently told me her company was moving away from using the g**** word entirely and instead would be using "sustainability," "ecologically responsible," and other alternatives.

G**** fatigue is not just a result of remorseless overuse and loss of meaning of that poor word. I believe many of us also associate the word with a nagging sense of wanting or having to do something, of being nudged to take some or other responsible action, and of being unable to make up one's mind quite properly. G**** has become attached to a sort of limbo. On the other hand, some people may also doubt that environmental concerns are really that urgent and interesting when they're stuck to such an obnoxious label.

To get us past g**** burnout, just follow this one simple suggestion. In your marketing and other communications, don't use terms you can't define or don't really understand.

If you know what g**** means in a given context and can be certain that your readers will understand it exactly that way, no problem. If you have any doubt, find another way to express yourself. Also, don't use the word g**** when you could substitute something more practical or precise. I've seen good replacements including "accountable," "conservative," "careful," "smart," "responsible," and others, even "sustainable." But don't replace g**** with another cliché. If you can't define to yourself, for example, what "sustainability" really means, stay away from it.

When you address consumers of a product or service, I would discourage using g**** at all. Many people are sick of it and feel they're being conned by being told something is g****. If you can confine g**** to internal discussions and keep it away from marketing communications, that's probably a good idea. Or at least aim your content carefully at a well-understood audience and use the term within a proper context. If you want to do a little homework, download issue 18 of The Architecture Journal from MSDN and examine how g**** is used in the articles. Does a reader receive enough context to make the term meaningful, or would it have been preferable to replace it?

And if g**** is making us all blue this time next year, we should definitely retire it for good.

Go ahead, ask her

The Biomimicry Institute "is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to nurture and grow a global community of people who are learning from, emulating, and conserving life's genius to create a healthier, more sustainable planet." Some weighty assumptions feed that statement. As a green marketer, how much time do you spend thinking about fundamentals such as "life's genius"? Sometimes it feels as if nature were just about the most distant concept you could imagine, but nonetheless, it is not going anywhere. We are it, not just in it.

Recently, you might have thought all that's left to environmental marketing is presenting an effective synergy of sustainability and economic benefits to business decision makers and consumers. For now, given current economic conditions, that may well be the case. You need to move elegantly and effectively along a very narrow path. If you do that well, you can be spectacularly successful on behalf of your clients and the environment. If you get tired along the way, find ways  to refresh yourself.

Try, for example, Ask Nature, a community site offered by the Biomimicry Institute. It's currently available in a beta version. Even without registering and handing over all kinds of personal information, you can review articles and discussions that you might find inspiring and surprising, especially if (like me) you never were all that interested in science, because it always ended up with mathematics, which was too bad. Much of what's presented here plays directly into how we live, work, make and market products and services. And you never know when the survival skills of the thorny devil lizard or the self-cleaning ability of the sacred lotus might come in handy for a client, colleague, or yourself. Watch the video if you can stand a handful of fascinating ideas in rapid succession. Enjoy!

Fine green marketing from Microsoft. Expect to see it imitated.

If you've been distracted from environmental concerns by watching successive bailouts sputter, take heart. There are actually companies doing good work in green marketing. In recent months, Microsoft has much increased its visible, public participation and leadership in the green story. As recently as last spring (particularly late this year), I went to a technology event where a Microsoft manager talked about the company's green data centers to a rather reserved, slightly surprised audience. He might have an easier time today. Starting with the Microsoft environment homepage, you can find a wealth of ideas and resources that can help companies understand and realize good environmental practice.

It's refreshing that Microsoft offers very little of the we-are-firmly-committed fluff that so many companies have published to garner ridicule. Instead, the focus is firmly on "find out how." The people in charge of this content must know that green technologists and business people want tools they can use, no preaching or vagueness. The environment homepage connects a visitor directly to practical, interesting material, maybe even more so than the company's homepage.

We'll take a closer look at some of the sections here later, but for now, let's consider the business solutions tab. Once again, the content appears to be pleasantly multidirectional, with a strong emphasis on metrics, savings, and managing costs along with environmental impact. After a glance you realize that most of the links occur a couple of times on the page, once as text-only and once more with imagery next to them. I assume people read in different styles; I looked at the links with graphics first and let the simple listing sit off to the side.

Our case study and white paper writers have already run into the Environmental Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX many times over. If you're not familiar with the Microsoft Dynamics family of solutions, Microsoft Dynamics AX is a full-powered ERP system originally created in Europe, acquired by Microsoft, and  more and more popular with companies in North America.

The dashboard helps companies monitor and control greenhouse gases from energy consumption and business practices as well as from direct and indirect energy consumption, using internationally recognized standards. Companies can use the information to make environmentally sound decisions, if they so choose. The dashboard page recommends doing so, because "environmentally conscious businesses have a competitive edge." And it gives well-substantiated reasons why that is so.

Do take a moment to consider the language and tone used on the dashboard page. My guess is this content is the result of many team discussions, pared down to what needed to be said for it to be meaningful and compelling. It may seem wordy to some readers, but I know from experience with Microsoft Dynamics customers and partners that these people don't want to be tempted by high-level indications. They'd rather absorb documentation and make up their own minds. The writing here treads a difficult-to-accomplish middle ground between providing enough to show that the dashboard is real, without giving away the store or scaring away visitors who just want the giraffe perspective. It's not easy to do, and I'm glad to see it done credibly here.

Keep those microbes motivated: Our first green-marketing contest

As reported in Technology Review, "Researchers at the University of Duisberg-Essen in Germany have discovered a bacterial enzyme that creates a key raw material for making acrylic glass and acryclic paints. This enzyme could provide a new pathway to producing acrylics without using fossil fuels or generating much toxic waste."

According to the researchers, those new materials could reach the market in about ten years, assuming they find a way to move the microbes essential to the process to work hard and produce sufficient quantities of acrylic glass and paints to make sense for a manufacturer and the marketers who need to tell the world about them.

Evonik, a German chemical manufacturer, bought the rights to develop the academic research into patentable, sellable intellectual property and products. Because it mentioned sustainability, I clicked on the biotechnology copy on the homepage, which took me to the research and development page. Where did sustainability disappear to? Instead, I saw the following statement, which probably was not offered ironically: "Our R&D activities are determined by the needs of the market. Where possible, we take customers’ requirements into account as soon as new products and applications are designed, especially in our Chemicals Business Area."

I remember working for a company that considered customer needs "where possible." I was one of thousands of people getting laid off when the company realized what customers really wanted. Anyway, I did a site search for "sustainability" and found 1,841 results, most of them a few layers removed from the top levels of the company's website.

If you're a career marketer, you might still be around working when Evonik reaches the market with those biologically created, fossil fuel-free acrylic glass and paints. Now would be the best time to get in touch with Evonik and help them bring their environmental marketing to a higher level of visibility. By the time the acrylics products become available, Evonik could be a deservedly familiar household name.

If you're too busy, don't think these developments are interesting, or find hardworking microbes creepy, you can still join our contest. Here's what you do:

1. Think about what Evonik (or a company much like Evonic, if that makes it easier) could and should do to give its environmental marketing more visibility and credibility.

2. Come up with a few strategic, out-of-the-box, even wild ideas and share them here.

I'll send a box of organic chocolates to the three people who make the most interesting suggestions, and will make sure that you and your ideas get exposure in my green marketing group on LinkedIn. I look forward to hearing from you! Share your ideas by commenting here or mail to me at chris@washburncom.com.

The ground shifts beneath your feet. It warms up, too.

While I was out traveling and working with and for clients during the last couple of months, economies fell apart, thousands of people lost their jobs, and many green marketing mavens were wondering if anybody still had any interest in business with an environmental edge. When gas prices fell to a more reasonable level,I read way too many op-ed pieces that lamented the imminent death of anything green.

However, more and more businesses and their customers will discover that green marketing and green business, when done well, can make companies as recession-proof as they can be. Green business practices and marketing communications consistently emphasize efficiency, smart use of limited resources, creating great results with minimal impact on the world. And personal as well as business customers are waiting for companies to take leadership in providing green innovation and benefits that are meaningful in environmental terms.

Consider AltaRock Energy, for example, a company that dedicates itself to bringing us sustainable energy from an almost entirely untapped resource.

AltaRock Energy is a renewable energy development company focused on the research and development of Engineered Geothermal Systems (“EGS”). AltaRock has filed patent applications for a portfolio of patents in the EGS area and holds exclusive licenses for related intellectual property.

Wonder how this works? Take a look at the graphic and description on the EGS page.

Much like many other companies with interesting ideas, valuable intellectual property, and solid green credentials, AltaRock makes almost no environmental marketing claims at all, except to state that the energy development it has in mind is renewable. We hear where the offices are, a little about leadership, a couple of news items about financing (important and encouraging), and a pile of pertinent links for diving further into the topics. AltaRock presents in a highly sober, rational manner. But, in contrast, there's a lovely image of what I assume is a geothermal power plant, which I assume is forward-looking. Where is this supposed to be, Marin County? The California/Oregon border? Somewhere in Ecotopia, I'm sure. We'd love to have it, especially if the company is solid and construction doesn't turn into an expensive boondoggle.

I'm no energy expert, but maybe one of you readers is. Do you think what AltaRock proposes is viable, and why would it be more sustainable than any other natural resource? Let me know by commenting, would you please?

What should green marketers do next?

I'm about to head out of town on a few weeks off and won't be back with this blog until the middle of October, so no new posts until then.

I'm wondering, and maybe you, too, have been wondering: What's next for environmental marketing and the practitioners? Will companies catch up with consumers? Will consumers push companies to become more dedicated to ecological causes? Will we see new business models and marketing strategies that respond more immediately to urgent issues, including social issues that connect to environmental concerns?

Please comment in this blog, or send me a note at chris@washburncom.com. I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks for your engagement!

Resurrecting garbage

A while ago, BusinessWeek published an article with an irresistible headline, Reverse Logistics: From Trash to Cash, pointed out by colleague and fellow blogger Bart Preecs. As we see so often when we consider environmental marketing issues, reverse logistics has the potential of combining ecological benefits with costs savings and business efficiencies. Says Business Weekly:

"But with oil and other commodity prices surging, some companies are reconsidering trash. They recognize that used-up products are the sum of their raw materials, energy, and labor: With another wring of the sponge, more value can be extracted. So they're essentially running their supply chains backward, a process called 'reverse logistics.' ... ... ... A recent KPMG study suggests companies can recover up to 0.3% of annual sales this way. (That's $100 million in the case of Best Buy.) Genco has even spun out a reject-pile brokerage business, called Genco Marketplace, that connects sellers and buyers with $5 million a day in junked goods."

The article introduces the reverse-logistics practice at outdoor gear-maker Patagonia, making new products from recaptured materials from products entering the waste cycle.

The reverse-logistics service provider highlighted by BusinessWeek is Genco. The snappy Web site hints of speed, acceleration, and efficiency, without any hint of environmental messaging. The company's brief mission statement does not address ecological concerns even at a high level. The reverse logistics page offers a detailed description of the service. Genco summarizes the value proposition for its reverse logistics as follows:

"GENCO Supply Chain Solutions understands the reverse-product life cycle and can deliver improved cash flow, customer satisfaction, management and operational control. Through continuous process improvements, we have designed best practices that reverse the cycle of losses and uncover hidden value for our customers. In the process, our customers have experienced:

• A comprehensive return stream for improved cash flow
• Technology that is scalable and reduces costs
• A fully integrated system that reduces cycle times
• A consistent process for improved business controls
• Diverse remarketing that increase liquidation values
• An adaptive transportation process that improves transportation effectiveness."

As you see, these statements are opaque as regards any direct environmental positioning. But you wouldn't be reading this if your imagination couldn't see the huge potential in reverse logistics to help manufacturing businesses, their supply chains, and their customers practice environmental responsibility at a much higher level of accomplishment. And, for them to generate the cost and efficiency advantages that reverse logistics can help bring about.

Reverse logistics has been around for many years, but is not all that well known unless you are in touch with manufacturing and supply-chain management, or deal with ERP systems. One useful introduction, written before green marketing and the backlash against it became ubiquitous, appeared in Material Handling Management in 2001. The newsletter of the Reverse Logistics Association, if you care to sign up and expose your contact information, provides updates on the cautious, but firm, greening of reverse logistics.