True cause or “greenwashing”?
What is the line between “greenwashing” and brand’s advocacy about the cause? The line is fine and often consumers have different levels of tolerance and perception towards cause related marketing. There is probably no “secret sauce” to it, but nevertheless there are a few considerations that brands can take into account in order to avoid “greenwashing” perception and make sure that its social initiatives are bringing value to the brand.
There are three main drivers for brands’ success around social cause: being meaningful, being relevant and being able to communicate well around it.
Meaningful cause. For the cause to be meaningful it has to be a vivid social problem or challenge and it should be heart opening for consumers. The cause has to have magnitude and the brand has to be able to shift the needle.
A great example of the campaign portraying meaningful cause is Elizabeth Arden’s campaign around cancer.
Relevant association. Social cause has to be related to the brand. In other words brand needs to come up as a natural part of the story and not something that was imposed. For example, KraftHeinz’s initiative on fighting hunger is very logical for the food company to pursue. (If this same initiative would be done by Porsche it would have zero impact for the brand).
Effective communication. The story has be communicated in a way where brand is visible, but is integral part of the communication. Brand has to offer its lead in the play to the cause itself and become the mean or facilitator for the cause. Dell’s communication around the world’s ocean through the Lonelywhale organisation is a great example. Main area of focus for the Lonelywhale organisation is education and awareness around world ocean’s problems through the use of virtual reality. Dell was able to become an integral part of the story as the organisation uses Dell’s high power equipment to create this virtual reality. Dell is communicating using the platforms of Lonelywhale who are well-positioned in social media (Instagram, Tweeter, Facebook etc). Below is their Instagram account.
Dell comes organically through Lonelywhale’s communication. The movie below tells the idea of the project and Dell appears as a mean to facilitate the idea.
Dell is not mentioned in 100% of the Lonelywhale’s posts, while the posts featuring virtual reality are connected to Dell which makes the communication more natural and less imposed.
These are great examples how to avoid “greenwashing” and create an impactful cause related marketing.
