Trewin Restorick argues that businesses need more than words to explain green goods and services to customers
By Trewin Restorick
The CBI concluded in a recent report, ‘Buying into it’, that business is using the wrong language to persuade customers to make greener choices. This could be hindering low carbon growth.
The current value of the UK market for low-carbon goods and environmental services is over £112bn, and the government anticipates a future growth rate of five per cent a year over the next decade. Clearly it’s in business’s interest to get consumers more actively engaged.
Are we using the right language?
The report said that two conversations are taking place. Policy makers and business leaders are fluent in the language of carbon impact and footprints, but the general public is not familiar with these terms.
The research showed that nearly half of those surveyed could see the link between low carbon and climate change, but less than a third could identify a link between climate change and energy efficiency. Clearly there is a massive discordance in the debate.
I have lost count of the number of discussions I’ve been to about the problem of how to describe green issues in a way that is compelling, accurate and relevant to people. The all-encompassing term ‘sustainability’ neatly pulls together environmental, social and financial components, but the very breadth of its meaning brings problems.
Sustainability has become a catch-all statement which organisations can chuck onto anything to bring about a vague feeling of acceptability. But what exactly is a Sustainable Airport Development Strategy?
Given the ubiquity of the word and its different uses, it is hardly surprising that most people can’t understand or connect with the concept. In vain, other words and descriptions have been sought. ‘Green’ still has connotations of the knit-your-own-yoghurt brigade. ‘Environment’ is often perceived as too distant and remote.
The alternatives go from bad to worse. For example, the recent Start Jam thrust forward a range of other toe-curling possibilities. ‘Planet Champions’, ‘Green Gods’, ‘Utopia’ and ‘Guardians of the Planet’ were all forlornly presented as options.
Connecting with people
The problem of how best to help people connect with the huge and abstract issues of carbon and climate has been close to Global Action Plan’s heart for over 18 years. The core of virtually every conversation we have with organisations is how to convey this message in a way that is business-relevant, engaging, immediate and real.
Our conclusion is that words are not enough. A more physical and interactive form of communication is needed to cut through the everyday noise. This communication works best if it is created by the organisation and is directly relevant to their needs.
Great companies, great campaigns
Our Environment Champions initiative with Investec worked with a committed group of volunteers to really examine how much office waste was being sent to landfill. Trawling through the bins showed that the extensive recycling facilities were not being used as they should be.
The team created a huge paper box tower representing the amount of paper thrown away in a two-week period and put it in the middle of the communal atrium and restaurant area.
All employees were confronted with a stark visual representation of the waste that their everyday routines created. The iconic tower was used as the stimulus for a hard-hitting internal communications campaign which resulted in a 28 per cent reduction in waste per employee.
The strength of internally generated interactive communication campaigns is that they fit with the culture and values of the organisation. For example, the communication style of MTV was reflected in its ‘Green Tongues’ campaign.
Employees were rewarded for environmental change with a green lolly, which gave each of them a garish green tongue. They could then challenge their colleagues to take similar action by sticking their newly branded tongues out at them.
Sometimes, organisations need support in creating the level of interactivity they crave. To help them we have a series of (portable torture) units called the Carbon Gym which travel around the country accompanied by our educators. We’ve got an Energy Bike where people use their own strength to power their iPods and other devices, and an EcoDriving simulator.
Could you power your own kettle?
With the Energy Bike, people have to use their legs to power a range of electronic devices. This physical connection quickly demonstrates the amount of energy used to power the computer monitor they have carelessly left on over lunchtime.
It’s always a shock for people to see how much more energy is required to power an inefficient lightbulb compared to an efficient one. When we tell them that at least 10 more bikes would be required to power a kettle, that leads to a discussion about over-filling kettles, and how much energy is required to heat anything.
Our Carbon Gym has been hugely successful at engaging staff, but could these displays also work to engage customers where they are badly needed? For example, the CBI research found that only 26 per cent of people put the cost of running a washing machine into their top three purchasing priorities.
To date, Global Action Plan has not seen much interest from companies in translating the techniques that are proven to work with employees to their wider customer base.
Our experiences have been highly successful. At the request of property managers our teams of youth volunteers have gone to the car parks of major shopping centres and pumped car tyres up to the correct level, saving shoppers money on fuel bills and carbon.
Our EcoDriving simulators and Top Gear-style leader boards were used in a competition at a major motor show to find the greenest driver. The prize was a set of energy efficient tyres. Queues formed rapidly, giving us a great opportunity to talk about fuel-efficient driving. The event gave thousands of people real experience of greener driving techniques.
There is no reason why companies can’t use these communication techniques directly to customers. For example, we have a simple set of scales which helps people see the relative carbon intensity of beef, lamb and poultry.
A pair of dolls houses heated by hair dryers shows how much energy and money is lost through poor insulation. The energy bike could easily be linked up to different electrical appliances in stores helping customers to make more informed choices.
In our opinion the techniques and tools are in place, companies just need to be brave enough to take the plunge and help consumers to make the connection that will help unleash the potential of the low carbon economy. The upcoming World Environment Day is a great opportunity for them to do this.
Trewin Restorick is the chief executive of environmental advisory body Global Action Plan.
This article first appeared at his blog Trewin Says.
(Source: www.businessgreen.com )