Is greenwashing really going to die?

I was just listening to another interview of Adam Werbach (global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S and author of the book Strategy for Sustainability) on TreeHugger radio, in which Adam gives his views on the burst of the green bubble (see the previous post I have written about it here) and the future of greenwashing.

Greenwashing, says Adam Werbach, is now on the verge of finally dying off and will be over in few years, for two main reasons:

• Firstly, the death of greenwashing comes with the rise of radical transparency and external community pressure, fueled by the transparency and immediacy of the web: “Transparency is not a choice anymore, either your become transparent or transparency will be done to you,” says Werbach. The GoodGuide (see one of my previous posts here) or one of the several greenwashing indexes (here) are compelling examples that no one can hide or distort information about its products or organization.

• Secondly, greenwashing will disappear because it is simply bad marketing and does not help grow sales. Just because your product will supposedly save the world (because it is green) will not make it popular. Consumers always think: “ok, this product is good for the earth, but what does it do for me?”. There is confusion around eco-labels, and also mounting problems of trust and transparency and consumer fatigue as consumers constantly get exposed to green messages and advertising. For Werbach, only approaches like “this product will help you saving money because it saves energy” or “a product that is easier to use because it has less packaging” can work.

I agree with Werbach’s points, however I also want to highlight that green should not only be seen as a marketing tool. It is also a reputation management tool that help brands and companies get involved on issues that matter to their key stakeholders. A strong value proposition. A higher purpose that people want to engage with, through which they can feel empowered, through which they can make a difference and build a better, greener world. Consumers should not only be seen as ‘wallets’, they are citizens/netizens, they can also be your employees, etc.. . We just need to look at the Obama campaign to understand how leadership and greater purpose helped make a difference.

But then, in order to create trust and enhance reputation / relationships with stakeholders, companies or brands have to go beyond nice green messages, and show their true commitment to green through their corporate values and priorities.

* You can listen to the podcast of this interview via iTunes, or just click here to listen, right-click to download. You can also find part one of TreeHugger’s interview with Adam here, and follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get their headlines and news with @TH_rss!