Marketing sustainable development
(08/04/06)


Stimulators:
Dave Welch - BP
Damien Collins - Influence

Other guests:
Lisa Huggins-Chan - Cadbury Schweppes
Keith Johnston - Going Green
Zlatina Loudjeva - Shell
John Swannick - Lloyds TSB
Scott Colvin - BAA.

Dave Welch kicked off with an introduction to BP’s climate change campaign, featuring print and TV advertising drawing attention to the issue. He stressed that it was a corporate, rather than a product, campaign, aimed at increasing the "favourability" of the company. It aims to engage the audience, educate them about the issue and invite them to find out more (eg by assessing their carbon footprint on the BP website www.bp.com/carbonfootprint).

The campaign – which runs mainly in the US, UK and Germany - is aimed at non-experts. It is careful not to preach to people, which is the role of government, not business. Nevertheless there is a public service element in the campaign, as well as supporting the BP brand/corporate image.

Damien Collins talked about an impending campaign for the European Commission, to be launched on 5 June (World Environment Day). It is based on research which suggests that there is already widespread awareness of climate change and a willingness among the public to take some responsibility.

This is greater in countries where there has been more public debate, suggesting an awareness campaign in other countries could help to stimulate personal action. The approach is to tell people they can take responsibility, by turning down thermostats, turning off standby equipment, recycling and walking.

Discussion centred on the attractiveness (or otherwise) of marketing "negatives" (such as not driving and turning down heating) compared to the conventional promises of consumer marketing to deliver material benefits.

This might work if "conscience consumerism" becomes widespread. Social and environmental factors become part of the brand values for such consumers. But if they remain a relatively small niche, marketing sustainability to the mainstream might need more traditional, positive attributes.

The "conscience segment" does appear to be expanding, and climate change is certainly on the mainstream agenda. This means that low carbon will become one of a product’s perceived benefits for a growing number of consumers. The marketing profession in general does not appear to be sufficiently aware of this, and may well be lagging changes in the market.

In any event, companies which want to be seen as leaders may benefit (from consumer perceptions but also government relations) from raising awareness on sustainability issues. In that case we could see a kind of public-private marketing partnership to promote changes in attitudes and habits, bringing the power of multinationals’ marketing budgets to back what is effectively public service advertising.