Brand Wars: Battle of the Eco-Claims…
This is an interesting brand discussion on the ecological claim one-up-manship which seems to be overtaking brands nowadays…
I first got to this topic through Brand Architect, the blog by Patrick Collings, where he sort of covers the same ground as Tom Fishburne from where the above cartoon originated.
Brands are now using the environmental-friendliness tag in order to promote their brands on top of one another, with some claims being ridiculous and misleading e.g. from Tom “So many products were suddenly trumpeting one eco claim or another, and much of seemed ridiculous, confusing, or disingenuous. Like personal care products that are “92.4% Organic”, even when most of the product making up that percentage is water.”
My concern is more on the state of the idea of environmentally friendly, for example, of course everyone would prefer to consume products which preserved our environment, but what if the marketers used the new claims as a substantiation for price increases? In our price sensitive market, would South Africans really take the hit on their wallets in order to maintain their principles? With all the prices going up anyway, I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that brands are focusing on being environmentally friendly is a very good thing, I’m just looking for a more holistic understanding of this issue. We don’t want to be ripped off, and we don’t want to be duped.
Another perspective which came to mind was that of Naomi Klein’s book “No Logo”, where she shows how the activist and environmental causes which were initially rallied by activist and environmental groups, were now adopted and co-opted into the marketing campaigns of the brands themselves. Just like how Che Guevara, John Lennon and other symbols of resistance and war, etc. have been fervently overused in marketing campaigns the world over, are the environmental claims on the brands products being used for just the same effect? To increase sales, no matter what? And will the consumers be savvy enough to really care if they’re so bombarded by marketing material?
Once again, more questions than answers but I think its a discussion worth having.
Technorati Tags: Ecological, Claims, Brands
