Going Green - the new advertising environment

To satisfy demand from increasingly eco-aware consumers and to minimise impact on the environment, there is a growing need for all those involved in the food industry to adopt a greener approach. However, in promoting a green approach, businesses must ensure all advertising remains truthful, accurate and substantiated. Here’s our guide to going green.

Green is the new black

All those involved in the food supply chain, from farmer and producer, to consumer and everyone in between, are being encouraged and cajoled to be more environmentally friendly. So, farmers are encouraged to implement sustainable agriculture policies, carriers to commit to reducing wastage and emissions in logistics and distribution and retailers are similarly tasked with reducing or changing the packaging for their products. Several large retailers were criticised by the Independent newspaper for the amount of food packaging used, whilst others have voluntarily taken steps to reduce waste. Even the end consumer is being actively encouraged (and in some areas required) to take more responsibility for household recycling by local authorities. Many large organisations have also begun to embrace an eco-approach, implementing top-level corporate social responsibility, seeking to minimise their impact on the environment. Even the duties of directors have been codified so as to require directors to have regard to the impact of their company’s operation on the environment.

The past year also saw a number of eco buzz words used in the food sector and beyond, including ‘carbon footprint’, ‘sustainable development’, ‘food miles’, joining existing terms such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘recycled’ and ‘biodegradable’.

Flexing environmental muscle

As a result of such factors, the pressure upon all those involved in the sector to demonstrate their environmental credentials has become enormous. Similarly, eco-aware consumers have also emphasised the importance of such factors in their own buying choices, suggesting a green outlook can bring both financial as well as ethical and environmental benefits. Accordingly, green advertising has been one of the biggest trends in the sector in recent times. But it is not without its pitfalls.

As important as it is to demonstrate a green outlook to consumers, any advertising must, as always, be truthful, accurate and substantiated, particularly when environmental and other pressure groups are quick to point out errors or omissions in green claims. Misleading advertising or overstating green claims can damage a company’s credibility, attract censure from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and even undermine their core proposition. Such behaviour has even attracted its own entries in the new environmental vernacular, including consumer ‘ecofatigue’ and advertiser ‘greenwashing’.

Organic, naturally

Of particular importance to the food sector is the growth in the market for organic foods, although it should be noted that the guidelines for advertising such products are even stricter:

• Marketers should not claim that food is organic unless it comes from farmers, processors or importers who follow the minimum standards set down by Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 (on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs). Producers must also be registered with an approved certification body and are subject to regular inspection.
• Avoid claims that organic food production is ‘natural’, or any similarly ‘absolute’ term, if any ‘approved’ substances have, or might have, been used. Claims that organic food production is ‘more natural’ are likely to be acceptable.
• Marketers should not claim that organic food production uses only substances that occur in nature, or does not use artificial or manmade substances, if any ‘approved’ substances have, or might have, been used (organic regulations permit the use of certain natural pesticides, for example).
• Unqualified, absolute claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’ or ‘sustainable’ should not be used to describe organic food production, as all managed food production systems cause some damage to the environment. Claims such as ‘friendlier’ or ‘more sustainable’ are likely to be acceptable if marketers can show that less environmental damage is caused than by conventional farming methods.
• Marketers should, where appropriate, take account of the locality of produce - importing organic produce from further afield than equivalent conventional produce may have an adverse effect on the environment (so-called ‘food miles’).
• Marketers should not make objective claims that organic food tastes better than conventional food unless they hold convincing taste test evidence that consumers believe that to be the case.

How green are your advertising methods?

Such is the scrutiny of environmental assessment that all aspects of an organisation’s activities will fall under the microscope. This includes not only the products and services of any advertiser, but the method in which the marketer chooses to reach out to the consumer. Large scale and untargeted marketing has come under increased pressure recently, in particular, Direct Marketing (DM). Recent figures from The Environment Council claimed DM creates 1.25million tonnes of waste per year and has not done enough to embrace environmental policies, although the Direct Marketing Association has now agreed to meet a government target of 55% recyclable mailings by 2009. Further, advertisers are increasingly being encouraged to use more sophisticated and targeted databases to reduce wastage or, indeed, may consider avoiding physical mailing altogether and use email campaigns to contact consumers. The latter option offers both an environmentally friendly solution and a significant reduction in the costs of printing, since an electronic campaign has generally fixed costs regardless of the number of recipients.

For the time being, the green trend is here to stay and both consumers and regulators can be expected to become even more vigilant in weeding out the truly environmentally sustainable organizations from the would-be greenwashers. The food industry must plan for future generations of consumers, profit and, above all, the planet.

Our guide to speaking green

In demonstrating green performance in advertising without leaving black marks, here is our guide to avoiding some of the most common mistakes:

Avoid suggesting that green claims or product performance are a universal truth where the evidence is inconclusive, or scientific opinion is divided (as it can be in many environmental claims).

Be clear with terms such as ‘recycled’ and ‘recyclable’, since the latter only suggests re-use is technically possible, without stating whether it has taken place. A good claim should be specific: ‘this product is packaged in 90% recycled paper’.

‘Biodegradable’

should only be used when the advertiser can substantiate the product will have no environmental impact in the full life cycle of the product.

Do not exaggerate or mislead consumers on environmental performance, or suggest exceptional qualities if the claim is based upon standard practice.

Avoid suggesting endorsement or certification by scientific or consumer bodies without express permission. Schemes such as the Soil Association logo, Forest Stewardship Council and Energy Saving Trust all offer accreditation schemes with clear eligibility criteria.