Arnold on ethical marketing

CHRIS ARNOLD

Both Stella and Carling are currently running ethical marketing campaigns, I can only assume they are both desperately trying to win a prestigious Green Award because I can’t see either campaign winning over the average lager lout.

Stella ‘Recyclage DeLuxe’ campaign has images of the 60s (why?) and a statement that “our glass bottles are made from 75% recycled glass”. Carling have their 100% British barley campaign.

I admire both brands faith in the idea that the average drinker applies ethical values to their choice of beer but the bad news is they don’t. A recent conversation (research for the book) with an organic beer producer was honest, he believed no one bought his beer because of ethics, “They think organic means it tastes better, but they have no idea why.”

There are certain products and services that ethical values can really make a real difference to the sales proposition, and other that it won’t. And there are some ethical messages that are great when you discover them, like Carling’s British barley message, but don’t make great ad propositions.

My advice, stick to those traditional sales messages in TV ads and posters and deliver the ethical messages through more consumer engaging and convincing channels. Advertising is brash and untrustworthy, which is why in one US survey it was revealed that consumer trusted ads with green claims less than normal ads (and their trust in normal ads was just 17%).

In one of the surveys we carried out for the book (Ethical Marketing & the New Consumer) among shoppers, the number one ethical factor that shifts product is Fairtrade, but when it comes to green claims few consumers really believe brands who make them. With so many greenwash ads about who can blame them.

Hidden in the Stella campaign, and you have to dig deep, is a CSR campaign about hedge planting. Umm? Is that relevant? They are claiming that they are planting a tree for every eighteen 284ml packs purchased. Umm, that’s a lot of beer to drink to plant a tree. If you’re up with CSR you’ll know that planting trees went out several years ago as largely pointless and is now seen by cynical consumers as greenwash.  Offsetting is no longer acceptable ethics, it’s a bit like a mass murderer killing 5 people but making 6 women pregnant and claiming he’s one up on a life.

Of course the problem with talking publicly about your ethical values is that some journalist from the Guardian will pick holes in it. For example, the bigger issue this raises within green communities is the carbon footprint of delivering millions of tons of glass bottles by trucks, the water usage (a big topic at the moment), the glass making process and the whole issue of the social effects of alcohol. Then there’s the difference between 75% in the ad and 81% on the bottle, umm?

Many brands have discovered that when they try to use environmental claims in their ads (big ad agencies have no idea about ethical marketing – it’s a complicated area) it can easily backfire. And bad publicity is bad for a company’s reputation which is bad for the share price.

Carling are at least on safer ground, well home turf actually with their British barley message. Buying local (and British) does carry favor with consumers in the green grocers, but in the bar? I’m open to being convinced. However, once I visited the website (www.carlingbritishbarley.co.uk) I was seduced by the stories of British farmers, Jake, Josh, John and John. It all felt very Co-op and Waitrose, and it didn’t feel like spin either.

The question I ask is, who are these beer brands targeting?

It was one of my pool of 20 young creatives (average age 25, average beer consumption…best not say but probably average for their age) who first commented on the Stella ads. Though his words were “does anyone get those ads, I don’t.” He was meet by total agreement from the others followed by a quick change of subject to something more interesting, the football. As a generation they are more ethical than their previous one but when it comes to beer, it’s not about the  % of recycle glass but the % of alcohol. Sorry to be a messenger of bad news.

Stella have a history of producing some of the best ads of any beer, reassuringly expensive has been a classic strategy, but I can’t help feeling they are a bit at sea over what to say. Trying to make yourself look environmental is seriously misinformed, they’ve even paid Ben Fogle (a TV environmentalist) to support them (everyone has their price it seems). Someone in InBev seems to think you need to make environmental claims to sell beer. I’ve seen this happen many times, a company feels it needs to jump on the  green band wagon but doesn’t question the logic of it all.

However, my creatives (after a few bevies) have come up with a brilliant campaign idea to engage consumers. Simple and strong on brand it also incorporates consumer generated input (something some brands are desperately trying to do). And it doesn’t greenwash but I’m not giving it away in this blog.

If you are planning a green message ad campaign I suggest you buy a copy of Ethical Marketing & the New Consumer, at £10 from Amazon it’ll save ten thousand times that in wasted media budget. In it you’ll find everything you need to know about how not to end up greenwashing and how to select the right ethical message. Tools like the Ethical Sphere and the R&E line are essential tools to help you define your ethical marketing strategy and your KEVs (Key Ethical Values). Plus it’s an interesting read (very Seth Godin in style I’m told).

Now back to the Green Awards. Since these launched four years ago they have been growing year on year and the winners provide great case studies of how both big and small companies (and organisations) are creating genuine and convincing green and ethical marketing campaigns. Winners over the years have included many big brands like Honda, Nokia, O2, Sky, M&S, COI, Cadbury’s, Guardian, TfL, DEFRA Act on CO2 and Coca-Cola.

This year they have the usual group of expert judges (who won’t be taken in by greenwash claims) judging 16 categories. Winning a Green Award is not easy, competition is tough and the entry date is September 18th, so you need to get your zero carbon skates on.



www.greenawards.co.uk,

www.carlingbritishbarley.co.uk, http://www.stellaartois.com/hedgefund/,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethical-Marketing-New-Consumer-Economy/dp/0470743026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1233610197&sr=1-1

www.ecoethicalmarketing.info