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Presentation outline

▪ Why Green?

▪ Sell Green

▪ Work Green

▪ Be Green

▪ Green Returns

▪ Green to Go

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Why Green?

▪ Increase profit

▪ Build brand and market exposure

▪ Build brand confidence and relevancy

▪ Build consumer goodwill

▪ Being good is good for business

[Anita Roddick, founder, The Body Shop]

▪ Can result in profit increases up to 38% for large

companies and 66% for small companies

[The Sustainability Advantage, Bob Willard]

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Why Green?

▪ Customers appreciate accountability

and clear corporate values

▪ 83% of Canadians believe corporations

should go beyond their traditional economic

role [GlobeScan poll]

▪ 79% of Canadians think that companies should

be held completely responsible for protecting

the environment [GlobeScan]

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Why Green?

▪ Consumer beliefs backed by buying decisions:

▪ Over 50% respondents have punished a socially

irresponsible company in the past year

▪ 79% of Canadians said they were willing to alter

their lifestyle significantly to stop climate change

[Ipsos Reid poll]

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Sell Green

▪ Appeal to the buyer’s real desire to support change

▪ Identify areas in which greener products or services

make sense

▪ Develop environmental products and services

▪ Know the environmental impact of your product or

service

▪ Communicate those green benefits clearly using

hard numbers

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Sell Green

▪ Energy Star label makes a product more

attractive to consumers: 66% of consumers said

they were more likely to purchase versus one

without the label

▪ A certified recycling logo made 54% of consumers

more likely to select one product over another

▪ Products that are the same in function and quality

can become instantly differentiated through

environmental labeling

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Work Green

▪ When green products and services are not an

option, consider other alternatives

▪ Revisit your business practices and processes

for green impact

▪ Look at all aspects of the product life cycle for

green opportunities: manufacturing, packaging,

logistics, etc.

▪ Carbon footprint, ethical sourcing and packaging

waste are all key sustainability issues

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Work Green

▪ Ask key questions:

– Where are the raw materials purchased?

– How far have they travelled?

– Is the packaging excessive?

– Are there are non-toxic alternatives to chemicals?

– Are production facilities energy efficient?

– What mark do your products leave? 

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Work Green

▪ Check out options such as recycled packaging,

chemically-reduced manufacturing, natural dyes,

carbon-offset transportation alternatives, or

minimizing facility emissions

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Be Green

▪ 96% of people believe that more needs to be

done to ensure the health of the environment

▪ Pursue an overall sustainable corporate culture

and image

▪ Customers relate to those that share their values

▪ Engage consumers in a green conversation

▪ Look inward to see what sustainability initiatives

are within your doors

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Be Green

▪ Successful companies supplement externally

green initiatives with internal ones that can be

relayed to customers to highlight global

responsibility and accountability

▪ Campaigns can including power-usage

reductions, waste reduction and recycling,

in addition to monetary support for local and

national green initiatives

▪ Companies also benefit from reduced energy

costs, less waste, financial incentives tied to

green production and efficiencies

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Green Returns - Patagonia

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Green Returns - Patagonia

The Common Threads Pledge:

 

I'd like to become a partner in the Common

Threads Initiative to reduce excess consumption

and give the planet's vital systems a rest from

pollution, resource depletion and greenhouse gases

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Green Returns - Patagonia

Patagonia agrees to build useful things that

last, to repair what breaks and recycle what

comes to the end of its useful life.

I agree to buy only what I need (and will last),

repair what breaks, reuse (share) what I no

longer need and recycle everything else.

 

website

http://www.patagonia.com/ca/common-threads

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Green Returns – Patagonia

▪ Common Threads: a brilliant brand-within-a-

brand that offers a roadmap for companies

trying to promote themselves as

environmentally friendly

▪ Aims to minimize the environmental cost of

clothing through its programs to reduce, repair,

reuse, and recycle clothing

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Green Returns - Patagonia

▪ Patagonia is perceived to be an active

environmental player

▪ Excellent example of how branding can help

tell the story of serious environmental programs

▪ Without Common Threads, Patagonia would

have less impact on the world and on their

own brand

▪ Connection to one percent for the planet

(Keep earth in business)

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Green Returns - Cisco

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Green Returns - Cisco

▪ One Million Acts of Green (OMAoG)

▪ Joint venture between Cisco Systems

Canada and the CBC

▪ Goal: create a social network of Canadians,

linked together in their commitment to change

their habits for the greater environmental good

▪ Invited Canadians to post their Acts of Green

online

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Green Returns - Cisco

▪ Cisco wanted to take a leadership role in

reducing its overall environmental footprint

▪ Tied into Cisco’s corporate philosophy of

connecting people through its networks

▪ High-profile, non-profit organizations

participated as environmental partners

▪ Users could see immediate impact of their

actions via a greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions calculator

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Green Returns - Cisco

▪ Massive advertising and outreach campaign

▪ Pre-launched on Hockey Night in Canada

▪ Launched on CBC’s The Hour

▪ Aligned with NHL All-Star game

▪ Schools, businesses and individuals embraced

the program

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Green Returns - Cisco

Results

▪ 1.8 million acts of green in less than

eight months

▪ Over 100 million kgs of GHG emissions saved

▪ Initial launch generated significant buzz,

with over 150,000 acts logged in week one

▪ Cisco measured three million brand

engagements and 7,300 clicks to cisco.com/ca

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Green Returns - Cisco

▪ 161 newspaper and magazine articles (78%

with Cisco mentioned)

▪ The program went global and had participants

from over 50 countries

▪ Best corporate social responsibility initiative

of 2009 as voted by Canadian marketers

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Green to Go

▪ Assess your corporate CSR strategy and

employee engagement for green inclusion

▪ Engage corporate leadership to seek

mandate for green as a business imperative

▪ Look for green opportunities within your

product/service mix that benefit your

customers and differentiate you

▪ Review your corporate practices, processes

and products for green impact

▪ Identify internal green champions

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