The 5th Annual ImagePower® Green Brands Survey is out, with some encouraging and surprising results. First, the environment is not going away, despite our best attempts to kill it. With over 9000 people polled in eight countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India and the United Kingdom) this study concludes that overall, concern for the environment is up 3.5%. And the growth is coming from some very interesting places.

Emerging economies are the new eco marketing goldmines.

While cost remains the biggest hurdle to buying green in mature markets like Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, the environment still trumps the economy as the issue of greatest concern in the emerging economies of India and Brazil. While 30 percent of all survey respondents plan to spend more on green products next year, in Brazil, China, and India that number rises to more than 70 percent. In China and India, this is a 9 and 3 percent increase, respectively, over 2009. HELLO makers of green products!! Massive Market ALERT!! In China, confusing labeling makes purchases a struggle; shoppers can’t figure out which products are truly more ecofriendly. I guess their packaging communications problems aren’t limited to bad English translations. Seriously though, China could really benefit from a well-managed certification system. Green certification agencies like Canada’s Terrachoice (managers of Canada’s successful ECO-LOGO program) have their work cut out for them.

Message from the world to corporations: Stop poisoning us.

Across the board, consumers want to buy from environmentally responsible companies. And their #1 concern: reducing toxics. It has become the cost of entry for brands in most markets, the survey says. As Google becomes a global verb, the transparency of toxic ingredients, manufacturing processes and disposal issues will only increase. Water conservation takes second place in Australia, Brazil, China, and India, while consumers in France, Germany, and the United States focus on the use of recycled materials. British consumers show the most interest in reducing the amount of packaging used, ranking it second behind toxin removal.

The Green Briefs Two Bits:

While this survey focuses on global brands and attitudes, there is learning for local green brands as well.  The good news is that consumers generally trust green advertising, especially in developing markets. But people decide for themselves what ‘green’ means, so it’s up to you to find out what your customers value most. Clear communication and transparency will always be in style. And best of all, we’re on the side that’s winning. So stay the course. The world will beat a path to our door.

Not always. At least, that’s the message I’m trying to convey in this latest London Drugs video. I took a tour through my local store and helped the manager build a display of green products for Earth Day. These are products identified under the What’s the Green Deal program Unicycle Creative helped them launch more than a year ago. Have a look, and if you think you know anyone who likes to shop green, send them a link. The more, the greenier.

A Walmart business summit, with keynote speech by Dr. David Suzuki. How could these two seemingly opposed global forces exist in the same confined space? This I had to see.

The sun was just rising as I wheeled up to Vancouver’s Pan Pacific Hotel, to find out what Walmart had up its sleeve when it invited 350 top retail execs and competitors for the Walmart Canada Green Business Summit.

The Mayor, the Premier, environmental alarm, sustainability case studies, live wireless polling, this show had it all. I even got to ask the Walmart CEO, face-to-face, about their business model and position on packaging take-back recycling.

This blog is going to run on a bit, but I wanted to keep all of the info in one document, so grab an organic java and get comfortable.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson opened with a rapid-fire blitz on Vancouver’s green agenda (unfortunately he didn’t use our new ‘Green Capital’ brand name once that I heard) One stat he lobbed was that Vancouver’s carbon emissions have settled at 1990 levels, even as our population has grown. Still, buildings account for 54% of that carbon. So he’s looking for collaboration with companies that can retrofit buildings – looking to reduce that footprint by 2% per year. He also mentioned the city’s new Open3 program – Open source, open standards, open software – that lets entrepreneurs have access to the city’s data to help develop more efficient systems. Can we become the world’s greenest city? When the Mayor rides his bike to a conference like this and talks with this kind of green acumen, it’s a good start.

Our host, Mark Miller of Discovery Channel fame, kept things moving smoothly, introducing the Main Man of Walmart Canada. In this corner…

The Sustainability Challenge a la David Cheesewright Walmart Canada’s CEO is another leader who bikes to work each day (20k each way) He’s also been at the forefront of making BIG changes. So he welcomed us from a position of inspiration. “You’re here because of a common purpose… Solving some of the problems we’re going to face, requires people to work across boundaries they haven’t had to before.” he said. “Today is your opportunity to start to build a bigger team.”

Rebecca Harris from Blue Sky consulting then led a short collaboration exercise – asking delegates to share a personal breakthrough moment with their table. The hubub of conversation tells me its breaking the ice, but its hard to imagine hardcore business competitors truly collaborating with sworn corporate enemies.

David Suzuki, taking no pinstripe prisoners: “The Triple Bottom Line is absolute nonsense.” Ouch.

Well, he started with good news. “In 1962,” he began, “there wasn’t a single ‘department of environment’ in any government anywhere.” Suzuki then went on to describe how a certain Provincial Minister of Environment told him flat out he puts the economy ahead of ecosystems. Hmmm.

“Nature doesn’t care about human boundaries.” he continued. “Nature sets the limits. We can’t shoehorn nature into the human agenda.”

Suzuki describes groups like The Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Fraser Institute as paid lobbyists, confusing the issue.

“Climatologists say they are over 90% certain we are entering a period of human-induced climate change. Would you get on a plane if it was 90% likely to crash? Or even 10%? We don’t argue with investing money in insurance against theft, earthquakes… When it comes to climate change, we’re not willing to shell out a cent. Why are we turning our backs on the reality of what’s happening to the planet?”

Most surprising to me was his statement that the Triple Bottom Line (equal overlapping circles representing economic, social and environmental interests) is “absolute nonsense”. In reality, says Suzuki, 30 Million species of organisms share one circle. Human beings should have one circle within that. Our economy a smaller circle within that. “We have to start by all agreeing that the health of the ecosystem is the highest priority.” he said, “We make nature pay the price for our economic problems.”

Suzuki further claims that anyone who says we should get a free carbon pass because we live in a northern climate and can’t afford to freeze, is lying. Sweden (somewhere up near Whitehorse in latitude) has had a carbon tax since 1991. They now pay $120/tonne (compared to $15/tonne in BC). Since then they have reduced emissions 8% below 1990 levels, yet their economy grew at a 4% rate.

He pointed to the human ability to envision the future as our survival advantage, and then dropped the responsibility for change loudly on the silent tables of suits before him. “Without the private sector we’re never going to make it.”

He got a thorough, if reluctant, standing ovation.

It was kind of weird to see David Suzuki speaking in front of a Walmart logo. But in terms of getting the agenda back to the big picture, he did not disappoint.

Panel Discussion:

Here, 5 business leaders shared a case study on sustainability, along with a few of their thoughts on the future.

Peter Luik – Heinz – Stat: 98% of tomatoes come from within 100km of their plant. Mr. Luik defined Sustainability as ‘another term for wasting less’. A narrow description of the problem, to be sure. His pet peeve is the lack of commonality in local/provincial/federal recycling standards. Too true.

John Peoples -  S.C. Johnson and Son, Limited Stat: By the end of 2009, GHG emissions at their Canadian marketing facility were reduced by 53%, while manufacturing volume continued to increase.

David Labistour – Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) Stat: MEC diverts 94% of their waste from landfill. Yet, says Labistour, their true footprint lies upstream in their products (not downstream in waste) A full 25% of the world’s chemicals are used in textiles, he continues, and processing of textiles may eventually cease to exist in some areas where human needs take precedence over water demands.

Anne Tennier P.Eng – Maple Leaf Foods – Stat: Working on an ‘Integrated ‘Protein Value Chain’ (my vote for the scariest term of the day) In 2006 Maple Leaf created a 30 million litre/year biodiesel plant co-located with their rendering plant. (Biodiesel GHG emissions are 99% lower when compared to petro diesel)

David Cheesewright – CEO, Walmart  Canada Stat: Introduced Walmart’s Personal Sustainability Project – individuals commiting to their own ’sustainability’ plans, from walking to work to quitting smoking, in front of their peers. Over 200,000 PSPs are now in place chain-wide.  There’s no downside in engaging the masses to do the small things. Being big is not always great, (he acknowledged Walmart is unloved by many) yet when it comes to making sustainable changes, size is an advantage.

Matt Kistler, Wlmart Senior Vice President of Sustainability, on the big picture.

Walmart’s global sustainability guy talked about their ‘360′ approach, which has three pillars “Our footprint, Our Supply Chain, Our customers.” To their credit, Walmart offers clear, broad, aspirational goals: 1) To be supplied by 100% renewable energy; 2) To create zero waste; 3) To sell products that sustain people and the environment.

As the Walmart supply chain represents 92% of their footprint, they are helping fund an organization called sustainabilityconsortium.org – that generates ‘open source science’ available to all. This will be a sustainability research group and a resource for all companies to use.

Their newest initiative is a Canadian version of the Sustainable Product Index. (See separate Green Briefs article on the news release) This Sustainability Index will allow consumers to be able to compare materials, resources and the life cycle of products. Sort of like a planetary version of the Nutrition Information labeling. One day a scannable version will allow us to access information on our smart phone, right from the shelf.

I wanted to go deeper into Walmart’s business, to find out more – I was about to get my chance.

The Big PRESS CONFERENCE. Green Briefs asks the tough questions!

At lunch, the media were invited to a special press briefing on four new announcements from Walmart. We lined up in the chairs, in front of us were the big execs at the big table with the big microphones. David Cheesewright and Matt Sistler unveiled a new Perishables Distribution Centre in Balzac Alberta, new wind and solar power projects in Ontario, the Sharegreen.ca web site, and the new Sustainability Index for Canada. You can read my blog article on the release here, but what really excited me was the chance to ask Walmart Canada’s CEO about the very heart of their business model, and get their response to London Drugs’ Bring Back the Pack initiative.

“We’ve heard a lot about efficiency and streamlining the supply chain, but what about the basic Walmart business model? Selling more stuff? Do you have plans in place to address more sustainable consumerism?”

The short answer was no. Cheesewright talked about giving consumers more and better choices, but at the bottom of it all, the business model stands unchallenged.

“Local retailer London Drugs is now taking back packaging from the consumer at the store and responsibly recycling it. Do you have plans to offer this service with your packaging?”

Again, the answer: No.

Said Cheesewright, “The first thing you would do if you wanted to create a really inefficient supply chain would be to ask consumers to bring back to 313 different locations… one of the good things about Canada is… the program of getting waste either from our stores or from home back into the system is not bad.  If we can get that   consistent across the country that’s a way more efficient way of dealing with the packaging…”

Way more efficient for Walmart, for sure, as consumers face the inconvenience of finding depots and municipalities and local governments pick up the tab for  recycling. London Drugs has been working really hard to make the reverse logistics on recycling take-back work. Seems to me Walmart could do it even better if they tried.

Working Session: Innovation Ideas

The afternoon at the Green Business Summit was spent in working sessions. I was not part of the working groups, but noticed quite a bit of enthusiasm from a room full of such dark suits. At the session’s end, the moderator highlighted several of the ’sustainability innovations’ various tables had come up with. Among them:

Creating an LED light that uses only 1 watt of power to produce 60 watts of lighting

100% closed-loop cradle-to-cradle product – the bamboo bicycle frame. (I think this exists already, but a nice thought)

Creating universal consumer acceptance of non-white (unbleached) paper. Encouraging greater recycled content, reducing the demand for fiber. (This was introduced by Scott McDougall of Terrachoice Marketing – don’t be surprised if you actually see this one go!)

Create a global standardization for all product manufacturing worldwide. From materials to production. You can’t get on the shelf unless you meet the standard.

The real-time table-top vote clicker. Love to have one of these to judge everything. All the time.

Finalists were judged with a unique system – each delegate clicked their choice on a wireless device and votes were tallied in real time. The winner by a wide margin: Global Standardization.

I’m sure the Walmart juggernaut was listening.

Gordon Campbell addresses the masses.

What began with the Mayor, ended with the Premier, and his messaging was similar. Bring the environment and the economy together in a spirit of ‘coopetition’… (?!) Campbell used the Pine Beetle epidemic to illustrate the multiplying costs of climate change, linking the dying forests to increased flooding (through less water absorption), and rising firefighting costs. He waxed visionary about BC as a world source for clean energy – listing not just hydro power, but cellulosic ethanol, natural gas reserves (?!!) and the always-sexy-but-somewhat-impractical examples of fuel cell development, and the fleet of 20 hydrogen buses in Whistler. No mention of where the hydrogen is coming from.

Then he switched to beating the drum for BC forestry, describing China’s devastating earthquake of a few years back as “a $3 Billion opportunity for Canadian wood.”

After that it was all hope, vision, future, green blah blah blah.

Stop the Grizzly hunt, Gordo.

The last Spike – Sustainability Commitment Signing Ceremony

In a moment designed to be a photo op, but unfortunately over-dramatized with a mounting soundtrack reminiscent of the music track for ‘The Weakest Link’, Walmart Canada challenged companies to take part in a Sustainability Commitment. They asked businesses and organizations to commit to implementing a new sustainable initiative in their business over the next year. Eleven companies had pre-signed the deal, and the Walmart website says another 13 signed on during the day. Here’s the total so far as I have them: 3M Canada, BISSELL Inc, Canadian Tire, Coca-Cola Canada, Hewlett-Packard Canada, Home Depot Canada, Kraft Canada, Maple Leaf Foods, PepsiCo Foods Canada, SC Johnson and Son Ltd, Walmart Canada, Heinz, MacDonalds, Natures Grilling Products, Unilever, Staples, Kruger Products, and Spin Master.

My last Green Briefs 2-bits: Walmart should have had each delegate make a ‘Personal Sustainability Plan’ from this meeting. As it is, I hope to follow up with the companies that made sustainability promises and see where they are in a year.

If there’s a Summit II in 2011, my typing fingers should have healed by then.

Thanks for reading. Over and out.

That was the main message I picked up in today’s hour-long webinar with ‘Green to Gold’ author Andrew Winston. The presentation was hosted by the ‘Board of Change’, an up-and-coming organization of green entrepreneurs and sustainable types based in Vancouver.

Winston remotely presented a powerpoint show which, while plagued with a few technical difficulties at the outset, was well worth the time spent eating (no doubt toxic) mini cinnamon buns while waiting.

Winston began by forecasting the global environmental solutions market at a whopping $2 Trillion by 2020 (Source: HSBC) He then quoted some prominent capitalists who said we’re basically losing that race to China and India. Green, he stated, has moved from being about polar bears to being about solar panels.

Besides the usual quick efficiency type of green upgrades that pay for themselves right away (example: one hotel chain that spent $400,000 to replace lighbulbs and reaped $1.2 Million in energy savings the first year) Winston gave the advantage to companies that move quickly to voluntary transparency and sustainability standards.

My favourite quote: “If your competitors have stronger standards than your government, that’s the new standard you have to meet.”

So what is to be done? Winston’s prescription is as follows:

Get Lean, Get Smart, Get Creative. Ask the toughest quations of yourself. How would your company work in a $500-a-barrel oil market? Could you operate if your key product (e.g. plastic bags) were banned?

Beyond that, Winston says, ask the ‘heretical’ questions. Can a shipping company stop turning left? (Yes) Can cement be made in a way that captures carbon instead of emitting it? (Yes, again) What happens if a trucking company decides to actually go slower? The answer, in the case of shipping giant Con-way, was a 3-million-gallon fuel savings from recalibrating trucks to drive at 62 MPH instead of 65.

All in all, it was a great energy boost from the bigs, if a little short on the kind of initiatives Canadian mom & pop small cap firms might implement.

But at least the world seems to be moving in the right direction.

Thanks, Andrew Winston. I needed that. Tomorrow, I attend the Walmart Green Business Summit.

BTW, Winston’s new book is called Green Recovery. Probably worth a read if you like this sort of thing.

You clicked, you voted, you commented. Then I procrastinated. So before the data is dated, (not to mention the iPod prize) I am happy to present some of the more interesting findings from the Unicycle Creative Brand Survey 2009. And of course, reward one lucky clicker.

The objective was to find out where my readers think the marketing business is going, and learn a little more about where Green Briefs (and parent corp Unicycle Creative) fits into that picture.

First of all, this is not a statistically-perfect survey. For instance, we didn’t have a single “Big-Screen-Lovin’ Frequent-Flying Hummer-Driving UFC Fan” log-in. So our data is skewed more heavily toward the “Mostly Recycling Own-your-own-Starbucks-Cup Guilty Commuter” point of view.

Most of you thought “the cost of going green” is going to be the big sustainability challenge ahead, followed closely by “consumer education”. One of you said the biggest challenge would be to “Walk the talk when trying to stay in business.” That kind of summed up 2009 for a lot of sustainable companies, I suspect.

58.3% think the small agency model is ‘Alive and kickin’, while only around 30% give that status to the big agencies. And in a bottom-of-the-barrel race, 41.7% said the Infomercial business is also in fine shape – while almost same number said Telemarketing is dead as a doornail. Somebody tell those losers who keep interrupting me at feeding time.

A majority get business-critical information from trade-specific publications and business websites, though blogs rated fairly well in third place.

One of the most telling statistics was around emerging media. Almost 70% of you think rich media – Online Video, Flash, Webcasts, Podcasts etc – will be the most important to business moving forward. Second choices were split between mobile media, sponsorship and experiential media (street teams etc). One astute reader summed it up nicely: “ I see the MOST important as having a strategy in place that considers the vehicles above. Without strategy your can waste a ton of time and $…”

There was less common ground, however, when looking for companies who are doing  ‘green marketing’ well. Some responses:

“I think Mountain Equipment Coop is doing a good job because they have made it a core value of the company rather than an “initiative” of the company.”

“…VanCity is doing some things right… as is Whole Foods (although very exclusive price-wise), and BC Hydro”

“E squared = 0 !! When everyone is crying, “look at what a fabulous green job we’re doing”….no-one stands out!”

“I do appreciate the brands who ARE green vs. the brands who are jumping on the bandwagon. Method cleaning products vs. P&G product extensions.”

“Patagonia–walking their talk, full-product life cycle masters.”

“Green marketing is, buy and large, a scam. We need to reduce our consumption of virtually everything. “Marketing” by definition does move us down this road.”

On the Unicycle Creative agency services front, it looks like you get the most value when I’m working on strategy and the Big Creative Idea. Moving toward more rich media creative development also looks like a good direction. But I may have to have another look at a career in busking. I got more votes for “Drunken guitar playing at parties” than “Production / Computer Design”, and “Angsty home-recorded green garage-band songs by Lorne” was the #1 choice for iPod content. Hmmm.

Jaxon Craig handles the Official Draw duties with his usual impartiality and impeccable hair.

Speaking of which it’s time to announce our iPod winner. In a time-tested analog process, entries were placed in a hat and one chosen at random by a neutral party.

The winner is… Arno Apeldoorn, designer and computer wrangler extraordinaire. When reached at his offices in trendy Kitsilano, Arno was at a loss for words… “Wow. I want to thank all the people behind me – wait, that’s a lame speech. I’ll just take the iPod and go.”

The rest of you should be pleased to know, that although you didn’t win, at least you  were recycled.

The online survey was produced through SurveyMonkey – a very cost-effective service for getting quick feedback. Please email me if you’d like more info about it, or want to delve deeper into the data.

It establishes 10 bold long-term goals modeled on Sweden’s world-leading approach to environmental objectives. (Excellent. As long as an Ikea hex wrench is included, we should be OK putting this thing together)  I’ll let you download the document for yourself and do your own reading, so we can get straight to work on the brand.
According to Mr. Robertson’s speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade, the positioning  ‘Green Capital’ is “… intended to signal that Vancouver means business, but not business as usual. The brand will be used in marketing the City of Vancouver, its businesses, people, and success stories to the world.”
Solid, as far as it goes. I think the logo and idea are strong, and I would love to see global headquarters moving into town. But to do that we first need to make it a part of our lives as citizens, as business owners and as a community. Here are three ways to do that:

Vancouver Green Capital

Idea 1: Let Vancouverites be “Green Capitalists”
A simple extension of this brand lets individuals claim ownership. Offer free cycling vests to commuters during bike-to-work week. Have a secret shopper team give reusable coffee mugs or shopping bags to people who buy local, organic or free-trade. Give high-quality water bottles to every family that signs up for a water meter. Let us wear our civic green pride.

Idea 2: Create a network and identity program for Vancouver-based businesses
This brand must be promoted above and beyond trade missions to China. It should be a proud label for all Vancouver-based green businesses. Start a web portal and listing with simple criteria for inclusion such as local ownership, green employee programs, recycling goals, etc. (Perhaps with a ‘green gold’ level for especially sustainable organizations) Then offer digital logos for use on web sites, emails, powerpoint presentations and advertising. Think of it as an Olympic™-style sponsorship program that is actually inclusive.

Idea 3: Host a Vancouver Green Capital Trade Fair
An annual event where local and green businesses get to network and show their wares. This should be a very affordable event, hosted in a public space, where everyone can see the Green Capital we already have.

So take these ideas, Mr. Robertson. With my compliments. If you want to talk more Green Capital, I can be had for the price of a fair-trade, organic latte.

Consumers are cutting back everywhere these days, but one 2009 study shows they intend to buy as green as ever. According to the Cone 2009 Consumer Environmental Survey, 44% of US consumers say they are making the same green purchases as when their stocks were flying, and 34% are actually more likely to purchase green today. By contrast, only 8% of respondents said they were less likely to purchase green products or services.
Consumers also appear to be putting more pressure on companies to behave sustainably and to communicate more effectively. More than a third of respondents say they have higher expectations for companies to make and sell environmentally responsible products during the economic downturn. A whopping 70% say they are paying attention to companies’ environmental behaviour even if they are holding off on purchasing.
One other stat offers some critical direction for marketers. A surprising 63% say they trust companies to tell the truth in their environmental messaging, and 85% think companies should communicate their environmental messaging year round – not just on Earth Day.
So now is not the time for marketers to be making inflated eco claims or to shirk our responsibility for keeping the environment on the corporate agenda. We must help our clients move their own green agenda forward responsibly.
“The fact that consumers continue to be interested in the environment and mindful of corporate efforts, even in the midst of a grueling recession, is evidence that this is more than just a passing trend,” says Jonathan Yohannan, SVP of corporate responsibility at Cone. “Environmental responsibility is not just an expectation in times of prosperity.”
Customers are keeping the faith. It’s up to us to make it happen.

Like steroid-pumping weightlifters at an academic dinner party, the traditional auto show muscle car stars are looking more than a little out of place. At least that’s the report from the 2009 Canadian International Auto Show.
This is the kind of event where auto makers roll out their flashiest new concept vehicles, dream cars that set their corporate visions and the future of the industry itself. These so-called ‘Halo’ cars have almost always been sleek, expensive powerhouses of performance, such as the Dodge Viper. (The fact that Chrysler’s biggest selling model in the 1990s was the K-car-based minivan didn’t seem to faze the executives. It was Detroit’s take on an exotic Italian sports car that they used to try and impress the world.) Take a look at the Viper commercial circa 2000. It screams and roars through a steaming black-lava landscape to a remixed 1960’s rock anthem. The whole thing looks like a sad post-global-warming remake of The Road Warrior.
This all seems like ancient history since the recent global recession and last summer’s oil price spike. Yet it was just 5 years ago that industry visionaries like GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn were dismissing hybrid cars as expensive money losers. And as recently as 2007, GM’s auto show penis-replacements included two 300 horsepower Buicks and a Hummer H3 with a V-8 engine packed under the hood.
In the meantime, Prius has sold over a million units, changing the way the world looks at hybrids and putting a whole new face on Toyota. Now, Lutz proudly states that “The electrification of the automobile is absolutely a foregone conclusion,” obviously with desperate hope that the much-heralded Chevy Volt will save his company.
So who are the new belles of the ball? The Volt will be there, and so will a new more powerful and more efficient Prius. Honda’s Insight, expected to be the least expensive production hybrid in North America, will get its local debut, too. Honda will also have a hydrogen-powered concept car on hand, BMW its 7-Series ActiveHybrid, and Mitsubishi its i-MieV electric concept car. Take a look at some of them here.
For auto marketers and ad creatives, it will be a chance to look past the old toolbox of shuddering rack-focus performance shots, lone cars screaming through the salt flats and the tired tachometer close-up. Car buyers are looking for a different kind of excitement from the car companies. In the face of a recession, a green message may be the only thing that saves Detroit from the auto-wrecker of history.