Is your green policy right for 2009, 2010, 2011?

In 2009, probably not a day has gone by without some mention of the environment, climate change, green initiatives or emissions trading policy.

At the 2007 Federal election, when Labor came to power, the climate change attitudes of the main parties were all important. Most people had a point of view on the topic.

As marketers, what we have to be careful about is that this has turned out to be a moveable feast. If you decided company policy or tactics on climate change at the time of the election, maybe you need to think again. Things have moved on.

Recently, I put the following into Google:

“Saving the planet, one . . . at a time”.

There were 45,200,000 responses.

The top response was: “Saving the planet, one bag at a time.” The next was “saving the planet, one computer at a time.”

High up on page one of Google were also one “burger”, one “flush” one “water bottle”.

The obvious thing coming out of this little experiment is that the environment is an issue for business. And not just for the few who happen to be manufacturing plastic bags or plastic bottles. It’s an issue for every business.

Almost certainly, in your business, you have already addressed environmental issues in one way or another. My point is that things are moving. What you may have decided on and agreed last year, needs to be revisited.

And you need to study the “green consumer”. Green consumers are not all the same. If you think they’re all “young lefties”, think again. A survey by the American Association of Retired Persons found that 62% of people 55 and over buy green products.

Green consumers include people who are passionate, people who are sometimes green and people who are only now moving in that direction:

Passionate: An increasing number of people are seriously passionate about the environment. They are willing to pay more for the products they see as green. These people have negative attitudes towards products that pollute the environment and incorporate green practices on a regular basis.

Sometimes green: These people are thinking green more and more, but they don’t necessarily act green all the time.

Coming soon: These are consumers who don't behave or think along environmentally-conscious lines right now, but remain on the fence about key green issues. The strong trend for the last couple of years has been for members of this group to migrate to one of the above groups.

Of course, there are also people who are not thinking green at all, and you need to know how many of these are among your customers and prospects.

At the global and national level, it seems that people are tired of talk on climate change. They want action, and many are getting irritated by political groups who are not delivering.

In your business, you need to deliver. On the green issues relevant to your business, it’s important to be in tune with where people are at right now.