Green Case Studies Galore

As I mentioned yesterday that I was going to do, I sat through the Green Communications Case Studies webinar today. I've sat through more than a few dull webinars in the past, but this one was worth the time. Apparently, a lot of people agreed with me. Conference organizers said they had more than 1,000 people registered for the online event...five times the crowd in attendance.

If you weren't one of the 1,200, you can access an archive of the conference by clicking here. I had a few random reports and observations from the event:

Steve Etzler of the Business Development Institute stressed that the event about green communications was itself green. Steve said that no paper was used in marketing the event, no bottled water was available, corn silverware was used with the food and all materials are printed on recycled paper." Similar to the Fuel Ethanol Workshop (PDF) I attended earlier this year, those running green events had better be consistent and it sounds like they have it covered.

I missed the National Geographic presentation due to a meeting. I'll have to catch that one on the archive.

The first presentation I heard was from Linda Recupero of HSBC, who talked about the company's initiatives under the presentation title: "It's not easy being green." Recupero said that being green has to go much deeper than just writing a check to an environmental organization. HSBC wants to be not just a leader in their industry, but a leading brand in CSR.

Three things stood out to me from her presentation. First, she said that HSBC took a look at their own environmental footprint. That peek led them to introduce their first carbon neutral, LEED certified bank branch in upstate NY. Recupero said that being green meant being green in all parts of their business.

Second, Recupero talked about a marketing campaign launched earlier this year that introduced our environmental stewardship. She described the decision to market their greenness as "risky," but said they felt it was too important to them not to talk about. The campaign tried to avoid chest-beating and impart a softer message. Recupero described it as, "We're still finding our way and inviting people to come along with us."

The tag line for the campaign is "there's no small change," which is also the URL of the web site: http://www.thereisnosmallchange.com/. The campaign gave new customers a "green kit" to help them make small changes in their personal lives and asked them to participate in paperless checking. They backed up the campaign with events in major cities and got employees involved.

Third, media relations played a prominent role in their campaign. Recupero said that a story in AdAge was picked up by the NY Times, and led to the broader consumer coverage that the company has received for their sustainability efforts. They also started an annual Climate Confidence Index, a global climate change index that tracks consumer attitudes around climate change. Launch of the index generated more coverage for the company.

Recupero was followed by Usha Raghavachari, communications manager for the Ford Escape Hybrid. The primary selling point listed for the Escape Hybrid should be an eye-opener to green marketers. Raghavachari said that consumers want green, but they don't want to give anything up. In other words, "You can have your hybrid and your SUV too."

Ford launched the Escape Hybrid in Fall, 2004 with a small volume of vehicles and thousands of pre-orders. They targeted intellectuals on the coasts with PR events and didn't push them into the marketplace. Only now, with increasing public interest in all things green, Ford implemented a more mass approach with Kermit the frog as the spokesperson. The mass market campaign was launched during the Super Bowl last year and accompanied it with print in national publications, lots of PR and a big online effort. To see Kermit, just go to the web site. According to Raghavachari, you don't have to be too serious, even when you're communicating serious information.

I missed some of the presentation from Jim Hartzfeld of InterfaceRAISE, so I'll comment on that one after I've had time to listen more closely to the archive. What I heard sounded good, so I'll definitely listen in.

The final presenter was Deb Berlin, the marketing manger for the EPA Climate Leaders program. "Climate Leaders" is a voluntary program on climate change strategy and the largest domestic program of its kind in the country. Participating companies receive help from the EPA with setting and achieving climate change goals. Berlin stressed that working with the EPA makes companies' goals credible and prevents them from being accused of greenwashing.

Those are just a few random thoughts I had after listening to the event for several hours. I may have further thoughts after I've listened to the archive. But don't just take my word for it. Give it a listen yourself.