Commentary
It Takes A Village
- by Jane Tabachnick , November 25, 2009
As businesses embrace a sustainable model, they move from a shareholder to a stakeholder focus; the latter is a more diverse group, and its members are participants in receiving and transmitting your messaging. That is really good news when done properly; it can be detrimental for an organization that doesn't get it right.
Those stakeholders are composed of anyone that is influenced by the company directly or indirectly, including shareholders; in this newer model, stakeholders and shareholders need not be mutually exclusive. It also includes employees and their families, communities surrounding a company facility, supply chain and partners, customers and any charities the company donates time or services to. In this newer model, stakeholders and shareholders need not be mutually exclusive.
Marketing, perhaps in conjunction with a Chief Sustainability Officer or other similarly titled role, now has two general audiences for which to create messaging frameworks -- internal and external. Internal is anyone who may be perceived as a part of the company, whether a payroll employee, a board member or a valued partner. External remains the traditional audience marketing has been speaking to: prospects and customers.
The success of any green marketing program is actually more than just that. It can hold the key to the success and brand reputation of a company that is making green claims and promises. If the internal team has not gotten and embraced the company's message, the repercussions can be significant and potentially damaging to the brand.
A reputable and responsible company can be perceived as greenwashing if the communication internally is not properly executed; this can be as harmful to a brand as actually engaging in bad corporate behavior.
Consider the following scenario, which I have experienced on a few occasions. An advertisement touts a green product you are not familiar with. You contact the company to find out more. The person who answers the phone, whether it is a receptionist or a member of the sales team, gives you the verbal equivalent of a blank or confused stare. They have no idea what green product you are referring to and don't seem to recognize any terms that were mentioned in their own ad; they are even unaware of what products are being advertised, and don't know who to refer you to within the company. Cleary, this scenario outlines problems that extend well beyond green marketing requirements.
While in-depth green expertise and knowledge is not to be expected of an entire organization, achieving a base level of understanding, as well as awareness of a your company's mission and corporate behavior, is certainly attainable, as is identifying the go to experts within the organization.
The advent of social media necessitates this shared company wide knowledge/. All levels of employees become part of your marketing team as they engage in social media, whether designated by the company to tweet and blog, or on their own when posting their LinkedIn profiles.
The old model of marketing pushing outbound messages to a target audience has been replaced by a multi-participant, two-way conversation, changing the game significantly and requiring many more participants to be successful.
The key to successful green marketing starts internally by creating a well-informed team of stakeholders, who are now part of the marketing team. For green marketing to succeed, it takes a village.
I agree that one's corporate culture must include knowledge of both broad initiatives (e.g., environmental friendliness) and product lines (e.g., green products).
But the advice of this article, in the hands of zealots, could do more internal harm that good.
Surveys show that most of the population is skeptical of anthropogenic global warming, which has become synonymous with "green." And now the scientific data and the latest warmist scandal will increase that skepticism.
If stakeholders and shareholders feel they are being propagandized and indoctrinated by an ideologized corporation, this will be bad for morale and even marketing. So caution should be taken, and zealotry avoided in all departments, from executive to HR to marketing.
Excellent points, Jane. I'm always having to remind myself of the importance of corporate culture "buy-in" to marketing positioning.
Hi Chris,
I think anything in the hands of zealots has the potential to do more harm....
If a company is genuinely committed to its vision and initiatives [environmentally friendly or in other areas].....I believe that will translate across the organization and the messaging.....
Its simply logical and a best business practice to reduce waste and try and reduce our environmental impact- the dollars saved by the company, just might help save the job of an employee, whether they believe in global warming or not. Just my 2 cents.
A very thoughtful post. Thank you. I heard Howard Shultz of Starbucks and Rob Walton of Walmart speak at Adweek in September.
Both described how a move to sustainability was driven first by employees. Sustainability was not viewed as marketing program but a way of doing business. Walmart didn't even think to promote their efforts at first but in fact Walmart's sustainability programs have may have done more to burnish the brand lately than anything else. Shultz took a more aggressive tone. Either get behind sustainability or be left behind. More from that panel discussion can be found here: http://friendofthefarmer.com/2009/09/walmart-starbucks-on-sustainability/
Thanks for providing this view. From my perspective for sustainability to succeed as a core value, mission or goal of an organization it needs to be owned by the entire organization and is not just the responsibility or accountability of the marketing department. It becomes an integral part of the DNA of the organization.
I see this in much the same way as I view brand equity. Ensuring goodwill and positive name recognition of an organization or product to drive incremental sales is the responsibility of all stakeholders and employees from front-line customer service and sales teams to seemingly behind the scenes operations and finance teams.
Marketing may help define the core values however they need to be embraced by the whole organization who deliver the brand promise each and every day.
While corporate wide awareness programs are good for morale and connect sometimes widely dispersed offices, the prospect of having thousands of "spokespersons" can turn into a case of too much information.
Once there are thousands of people in an organization, no matter how clear the corporate message, it will be interpreted at many different levels. This can lead to "gotcha" situations, where a mis-interpreted message can spread like wildfire over internet social networks, or end up in a media spotlight.
I worked at a large food company in a branch office, and went to trade events in our area. The company was very clear to refer any media requests to the home office. I saw the wisdom of this when I bungled a short closed-circuit TV interview.
I guess I am saying that while it is impossible to stop the flood of information from new outlets, internal corporate programs should also encourage circumspection.