Three Green Marketing Campaigns To Be Inspired By
No matter how big your company is or what you’re selling to the public, most businesses are looking for a solution to the same issue: how to market in an engaging and unique way. Of course, budgets will differ, as will the experience level of those involved, but sometimes one fantastic idea is all it takes for a campaign to go viral and hit the ground running.
However, there is often more to brilliant campaigns to become a viral hit than simply getting lucky, as a thorough understanding of which areas of marketing you wish to focus on is key. Do you want to try billboards? Only seasonal? Perhaps content, affiliate, or even guerilla marketing? Google ads are also rapidly increasing in popularity, with some companies able to provide expert knowledge regarding search engine marketing.
As we’ve discussed before, green marketing can be difficult at times, as convincing customers to try out an eco-friendly product or service is a hard sell for several reasons. Not only do you have to get across the environmental benefits, but also persuade the public to spend a little more. Plus, it’s clear by now in 2017 that many people have seen so many advertisements and marketing efforts about ‘going green’ that it has become increasingly hard for marketers to deliver a strong, relevant and distinctive message. That said, you should still try to stick by the green marketing efforts your business believes in.
For a healthy dose of inspiration, here is showcase of some green marketing campaigns that turned heads and grabbed the public’s attention.
Tide
Everyone loves a good challenge, right? That’s exactly what Tide thought in 2014, when they challenged Americans to wash their clothes in cold water for one week. Those involved in the #TurnToCold campaign were also given a further incentive participate, as Tide promised to pay the electricity bills of five participants for one month. The premise is fairly simple: Tide were adamant that washing your clothes in cold water with their product would not only give you great results, but also help the environment by using less energy (compared to a regular hot wash).
Toyota Prius
Toyota’s campaign for their new hybrid vehicle consisted of more than just whimsical video adverts (see below), which depicted a greener and brighter world – it utilized guerilla marketing to great effect too. While the video adverts were clear enough (buy a Prius and you’ll save the world, essentially), some of their public installations may have needed a little more explaination. Toyota placed large flower sculptures powered by solar energy were placed in public parks, providing free Wi-Fi access, seating, and charging stations. These installations were created to showcase some of the solar power capabilities in the Prius.
Diesel
Finally, Diesel’s green marketing campaign is perhaps somewhat more unusual, due to the fact that it’s not clear whether Diesel was really trying to be eco-conscious, or just wanted to stir the pot. The company’s ‘Global Warming Ready’ promotion displayed models wearing their clothing in front of real-world landmarks photoshopped to display an environmental message. Famous locations included the Great Wall of China buried in sand, Rio and New York underwater, and Antarctica as a sunbathing spot, plus much more. Some claimed that Diesel was making light of the serious global warming crisis with their models posing nonchalantly in front of altered iconic places, but others liked the idea of a tongue-in-cheek approach to marketing to customers. See for yourself and decide, but it cannot be denied that it caused a stir. Whether you believe ‘all publicity is good publicity’ or not is up to you.
About the Author Staff Writer
Our writers come from all over the world, but one thing unites them - their passion for sustainability.