The Green Marketing

The Green Marketing

According to the American marketing association, green marketing is a product marketing that is developed to keep environment friendly. It involves a range of activities including the four major components of the marketing process, which includes: product modification, change to the process of production, packaging and advertising.

Green, eco-marketing, and environmental are new marketing strategies, which  do not only refocus, enhance or adjust the marketing in existence. According to Bearden et.al (2012), the green marketing seeks to challenge the existing marketing thinking and practice. It also aims to provide a different perspective of the marketing so as to fit to the realities of the wider ecological and social marketing environment. In 1987, sustainable development was defined as fulfilling the present needs without interfering with the ability of generations to meet their own needs. This resulted in daily thinking of sustainability change. The principle of sustainability was incorporated in day to day activities including marketing. The environment has been degrading day in day out compromising the ability of the coming generations to meet their needs. It is due to this that the world is moving to more environmentally friendly practices. According to Jacquelyn Ottoman, from an organizational stand point, environmental options should be intertwined with all marketing aspects, that is: new product development and communications and all other activities (Ottman, 1993).

In the early days environmental concerns were being viewed as belonging to the more enlightened and the government. Owing to the fact that, the idea of environmental protection and resource conservation can be addressed better through less interference by the government (public sector) and more involvement of the private sector has been questioned and consequently proved wrong. The idea of ecological marketing was originally proposed at the American marketing association’s first conference on ecological marketing in 1975. The idea was later supported at the 1979 conference, where it was proposed that that there could be a better balance in the division of responsibility of the negative social spillover effects. This has been attributed to the issues to do with the consumers who are ecologically concerned, less used and often ignored. (Ottman, 1993).

The green marketing strategies are important in ensuring quality and sustainability of the environment. They help reduce the green house effects and thus help contain the global warming effects. Although the developed nations are against the recommendation of the Kyoto protocol, it helps enable trading between these nations and the third world countries. This is by providing a framework that will lead to capital flows of development activities that are beneficial to the environment (Grant, 2007).

In the world, there are several organizations embarking on green marketing. These organizations play a vital role in conservation and maintenance of high quality environment.  The green marketing mix contains all the 4p”s namely: product, price place and promotion. In the product component, the firms ensure that the products are environmentally friendly. The pricing decisions are made with considerations based on the quality of the environment. Promotion is probably the most influential component in the green marketing mix, where organizations advertise for their products or services using environmentally oriented promotion styles. They encourage production of goods, which does not contaminate the environment and also protects it. Though the prices for these goods may be a little higher than the conventional ones, it is worth paying extra cost for these green goods because of the benefits to the environment.

It also encourages the consumption of locally available goods other than relying on the imported ones. These goods are more environmentally friendly than those imported. In the promotion component, such organizations put stress on the market importance of environmental aspects. The certification of firms for ISO14000 is particularly an important promotion strategy.

There are many organizations in the world, which carry out green activities or which term themselves as what is known as ‘green organizations’.  These fall in all the trades of business operations, such as electronics, motor vehicle, telecommunication and others. To mention just but a few of such organizations are hp, east African breweries and AccuListUSA.

These organizations play an important role in protecting and enhancing the environment. They also play a vital role in sensitizing the public on the public on the importance of maintaining environmentally friendly operations. This is by encouraging techniques such as organic farming, use of natural gas such as biogas and use of sisal bags rather than plastic ones. They also educate the public on plans and procedures concerned with environmental protection of their expected roles. The youths are particularly involved in programs such as sports and essay writing on the environment. To motivate the youths, these organizations entice them by giving scholarships among other goodies.

These organizations are always in the fore front in issues concerning the conservation of the environment. They set aside specific days or seasons in their calendar for environmental conservation activities like tree planting, garbage collection and clean ups to the ecosystems. In the promotion of their products and services, they emphasize the importance of conserving the environment. In today`s world, where there are many people who are concerned with environmental quality, the use of environmentally oriented promotion strategies is an important marketing gimmick. By this, they gain market penetration and simultaneously increase public awareness (Bearden et al, 2012).

This research is based on a green marketing organization called   AccuList USA. This is a US based organization that provides list building support to help one compile email and postal lists from call center. They also provide online services, contest entry forms, warranty cards, event attendee lists, outside databases, web registration among others. They offer secure places to store names and help in building and maintaining private marketing databases. The firm recognizes the idea that one can be a successful direct marketer and still be socially responsible. The firm has been supporting humanitarian and environmental appeals for more than 15 years, even though it was originally a list brokerage and management based. The green marketing service of this firm conserves precious natural resources. The company is proud that it is offering green marketing and sustainable marketing services, making it to be problem solvers, innovators and environment friends. This firm is applying several strategies to market itself as a green organization as discussed below (Grant, 2007).

The ultimate goal of any ‘green’ company is to conserve valuable natural resources. As part of their social responsibility, AccuList USA engages in number of activities to use green marketing campaign and increase their business. This also helps to protect people and the environment. Their green marketing services include the following:

AccuList USA offers consultancy services, whereby they offer direct mail consultation.  They help to assess existing campaigns or to create new direct marketing programs. In some instances they assume primary responsibility of managing specific projects. These may include vendor selections and oversight. The consultation service helps to reduce cost, improve response rates, and increase sales. Besides, they also assist their client companies with print and mail services, prospecting lists or customer relationship management (Schouten and Martin, 2012).

In its efforts to attain the goal of conserving the nature, AccuListUSA has extended its services to cell phone marketing. This solution uses the text messaging (SMS) to client’s customers and prospects through cell phones and other mobile devices. The use of this technology is more effective as more people can be easily reached during the day and night. The number of people using mobile devices is increasing at a very high rate globally. To exploit capabilities offered by the mobile devices, people are using them to shop, make purchases, and receive news and personal messages.  AccuListUSA uses cell phone as an advertising medium. It enables clients to use mobile marketing list to generate immediate sales and at the same time make higher brand recall for their marketing messages. While using this new marketing channel, AccuListUSA ensures respect for individual privacy. This is to guarantee their clients that the information it shall be handling is secure and cannot be accessed by unauthorized parties.  This SMS/mobile marketing technology is environmentally friendly and helps conserve the nature (Grant, 2007).

AccuListUSA also engages in mapping profession. This involves geographic mapping of businesses, companies, streets, and even households. The service enable client to easily target their mailings from neighborhood by distance in miles, down the street, next door or even a specific set of street coordinates. By providing an easier way of locating their targets, AccuListUSA helps its clients to save on cost of operation. This is so since the service reduces the client’s expense of locating their target customers. This will eventually help clients improve their return on investment. AccuListUSA apply geo-demographic variables to help its clients further refine their marketing campaigns (Ottman, 1993).

Another way of marketing their organization as a ‘green’ company, AccuListUSA offers analytical services. They offer services such as a list profiling, trend modeling of customers and custom predictive modeling. AccuListUSA has experienced statisticians who assist their clients to develop highly customized models for customer relationship management. This includes reactivation or former customers, retention of existing customers` credit screening, and data mining of valuable customer names. This helps their customers maximize their marketing results.

As Barbara Weiler testifies, “Having a trustworthy resource is essential in the business arena today. We depend on AccuListUSA’s skills and advice in services listing, including profiling and modeling. Our customers diverse needs call for accurate and reliable information that is received on time, on prudent budget and together with readable and clear results. Our experience has remained to be that one anytime we worked with AccuListUSA”

In effort to market the company as a ‘green’ company, AccuListUSA has embarked on direct mail brokerage. Their offer advices services to their clients on means to device s prudent strategy that will ensure delivery of qualified traffic and sales. Their advice involves on ways to target, privatize policies as well as tracking to maximize open rates. This enables the client to understand specific market, their products and services as well as their objectives. This saves time and resources. The service plays a vital role in advertisement and ensures conservation of natural resources. These would have otherwise been destroyed (Schouten and Martin, 2012).

Since 1988, when the company was incorporated, it has been offering insert media brokerage. They place offers in package inserts and web serf. The company does take advantage of multiple opportunities that the service avails to reach new customers through targeted mailings. This is usually done online to qualified buyers instead of shoppers. The company eliminates the usage of postage. This would otherwise been detrimental to the environment. This also cuts down postage costs (Grant, 2007).

The AccuListUSA also employs insert media management. This enables develop relationships with thousands of companies, which actively participate in the program. The service enables their clients to ride on existing promotional efforts and shipments. This way the company markets itself as a green company. The participating parties benefit from the ‘co-branding’ and help save postage and printing costs. This reduces the paper work involved in their day to day operations. Thus, proofing to be environment friendly, the company achieves its  goals.

AccuListUSA offers database processing services to their clients. These services are aimed at maintaining private marketing database. It is somehow a unique ‘off-site’ desktop solution that allows access throughout. The service helps to screen and eliminate names of those in prison and dead. In addition, the company offers other related services such as identification of recent email address changes. The service also enables clients to identify recent movers and those who have recently been declared bankrupt. The service replaces traditional, bulky paper filing method of record keeping. This in turn helps to conserve natural resources including trees (Bearden et al, 2012).

Finally, in the list of the services offered by AccuListUSA is merge – purge that maximizes saving for their clients. The service entails combining diverse e-mail and postal lists into a single merged and de-duped nail file. This streamlines opt-in email lists maximum deliverability. They are able to consistently find more hidden duplicate names. They then verify that each address matches up with the right zip code. This eliminates the costs of maintaining duplicate names. It also ensures not offence to those who do not want unsolicited mail. In addition, it reduces chances of postage getting wasted which would have led to accumulation of solid waste.

Critical analysis of the above mentioned services offered by AccuListUSA reveals that the organization is going ‘green’. The organization can be used as a case to illustrate how to use ‘green’ marketing campaign in order to increase business. At the same time the organization portrays an environmental appeal. It emphases on environmental protection cannot be over looked (Schouten and Martin, 2012).

The organization is proud of being an innovator. This has been testified by their introduction of new technologies to replace the traditional methods of conducting operations in many businesses.

The following marketing strategies are used by the firm in marketing their products. First is by integrating green initiatives into every aspect of the organization.  The company tries to link its brand to social responsibility. This is in agreement with Serenity Edwards’ view that environmental stewardship can affect the bottom line as it improves customer relationships (Edwards, S. 2010).

Second, the organization is in the chain of many organizations, which use the recycling symbol, which composes of chasing arrows. The firm needs to consider the warning given by Edwards on the use of these symbols, where he says that oversaturation of the market with these symbols may result in label blindness. The next strategy is engaging customers in green marketing. The company is looking to motivate customers by encouraging them to participate and engage in campaign or directly with its products. The company strongly encourages its customers to minimize paper usage. This practice of incorporating the customers in the mix has been found to result positively according to Edwards. The firm also encourages its customers to recycle anything that can be recycled.

In addition to this, the company is selecting green materials and products for their marketing material in addition to using lifecycle approach, which focuses at the campaign wholly. This is in accordance with Edwards’ view.  Further, the company respects customer choices and preferences as a marketing strategy. By prioritizing customer choices and preferences the company minimizes commercial communications. This shows that the company is not only environmental conscious, but also reinforcing its corporate responsibilities. Lastly the company has shifted to online space. This is by doing more of digital marketing.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the green marketing plan, the organization uses several evaluation techniques. They are based on sales, market research and customer satisfaction and looking for new markets. An important technique that the firm is using to evaluate the effectiveness of its marketing strategies is by evaluating how these strategies are affecting its sales. The company determines its sales cycle so as to be sure, when evaluating the effects of the marketing strategies on the level of sales. When significance in the level of sales is found, the green marketing strategy is found to be effective.

The other technique is by doing market evaluation. The firm uses both primary and secondary market research by getting down to the customers and by collecting data that is of relevance to the specific market. The primary research involves asking the customers to react to the effectiveness of the green marketing strategy (Ottman, 1993).

The company also looks at the level of customer satisfaction. By indication of increased customer satisfaction, the company is able to identify effectiveness of the green marketing plan. This is coupled to the technique of evaluating the effectiveness of the marketing process on to new customers. If the buying cycle is quicker the marketing strategy is found to be effective.

For the purpose of planning the organization carries out evaluation of marketing trends. This helps the organization to take advantage of positive trends. The firm looks at the changing customers` needs such as demand increase or decrease. Also changes in the customer demographics are considered. In addition to these the organization looks at:

• The trends in technology use such as how the internet use is changing over time

• Changes in the overall state economy

• Social changes such as changes in social behavior

• Communication such as the increased use of social media by its customers

• Pricing policies such as discounting in relation to market trends

The most outstanding techniques that the firm uses are identifying the most important trends that affect the firm. It also looks at the changes in the long distance markets, but which could affect the firm in the future. Finally, the firm looks at the partners or suppliers, because this can affect the firm.