Green means go on most stoplights throughout the world. The green initiative means go for many large corporation to incorporate eco-friendly products, services and practices as part of their branding and image. It helps the environment, it helps the company meet consumer needs and wants and it looks good on the bottom line.
Who’s Green?
Wal-Mart and Home Depot are just two major retailers making room for green. Nike, HP, Dell and many of the major cleaning product manufacturers, food manufacturers, and paper and office supplies manufacturers are all embracing green technologies.
Branding has many definitions – its main purpose is to make a company top-of-a-mind or the first company that a consumer thinks of when getting ready to make a purchase.
Major Retailers Branding Green
Many of the major retailers have been offering green products or participating in the promotion of green and eco-friendly as part of their brand. Wal-Mart and Home Depot are two such retailers that have gained a lot of ground in the top-of-minds for consumers – and they have done so in a very short time frame.
Want the latest in green building or home repair products? Home Depot has the goods. Want green cleaning products? Wal-Mart quickly comes to mind.
Major Credit Cards Go Green
General Electric and Bank of America are two of the top credit card companies and they both are offering green credit cards. GE Money’s Earth Rewards MasterCard will contribute as much as one percent of total spending on the card to emissions-reduction programs.
Brighter Planet Visa by Bank of America is targeting carbon offsets. Both these companies are building a better and a stronger brand by offering green alternatives to consumers.
Green Is Spreading through All Business Sectors
Crain’s Cleveland Business recently reported that, “From manufacturing to health care and every field in between, it’s nearly impossible to find a sector of Northeast Ohio’s economy that has not started to adjust to more environmentally friendly ways.”
The article went on to say that some green developments are “driven in part by consumer demand or by a company’s hopes for an eventual economic payoff.”
Consumer demand appears to be high and consumers are committed to a long-term effort to reduce, recycle, reuse, clean up and conserve the environment. Making green part of a company’s brand can help consumers keep their commitment – make consumers feel they are making a difference – and it shows how responsible corporations feel to the consumer and for the environment.
Consumers for now appear to be going with green brands and green companies; green-initiatives and brands creating a greener world will entice the consumer first and most often. It’s a green-green, win-win branding decision.