Blue is the new green when practicing environmental sustainability.
Blue consumers are those demanding greater sustainability and include those willing to pay more for hybrid cars and eat naturally cured foods.
They are loud and well connected, says Adam Werbach, a private marketing consultant in California and former president of the Sierra Club. His company, Act Now, is running some of Wal-Mart’s key environmental initiatives that aim to teach the company’s 1.3 million U.S. employees about sustainability.
Werbach said the sustainability colour wheel includes pure blues, core blues, light blues and the disengaged.
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“The pure blues are zealots. If they could have clothing they could eat, they would do so,” he said at the Grow Canada conference held in Calgary Dec. 2-3 and attended by more than 450 representatives of farm chemical and biotechnology companies.
Wal-Mart has devoted considerable energy to defining modern sustainability. The company wants stores powered by renewable energy, promotes zero waste in its stores and plans to sell more sustainable products that restore the Earth’s resources.
Companies used to think putting a green leaf on a product was good enough, he said, but that did not fly. Consumers are not willing to pay a premium for green products, he added. They must have other benefits.
“Green washing as a common practice is diminishing. It is basically very poor marketing, “ Werbach said.
Companies are learning they can sell sustainable products with a different approach. Rather than telling people a product is green or blue, they need to show them it saves them money. An example may be buying a concentrated laundry detergent that washes clothes clean in cold water. Less soap is needed and energy is saved because the water did not need to be heated.
