Marc Stoiber thinks we’re all junkies.
Not literally, of course, but Stoiber, founder of Vancouver advertising agency Change, believes Western consumers are as addicted to the accumulation of goods as heroin users are to that other kind of junk. And while the scientific community, peering into an increasingly smoggy crystal ball, makes dire predictions about the environmental consequences of this addiction, Stoiber believes it’s foolish to expect consumers to kick their habit cold-turkey.
“That ain’t gonna happen,” Stoiber says. “People like to consume. It’s what we do. Either you can accept that and work with it or reject it and go back to your potter’s wheel.”
Marketers, by definition, are invested in the perpetuation of a consumer society, so rather than reject Stoiber’s thesis, many have chosen instead to alter their products and business operations to reflect a commitment to environmental sustainability. Items such as concentrated laundry detergent and hybrid cars are examples of what Stoiber describes as “methadone”—products that do less damage to the environment but still give consumers the goods they crave.
But behind the growing assortment of eco-friendly products, an inconvenient paradox still persists, one reminiscent of a high-school math problem but far more difficult. Corporations exist to deliver growth to investors, which typically means selling more and more product. And if a company creates a product that leaves half the environmental footprint as its predecessor but sells at twice the rate, does that really represent progress in terms of sustainability?
“If we have our roads clogged with people making half as much pollution, that’s not really the answer,” says Stoiber, referring to hybrid cars. “It takes a lot of energy and materials and garbage to make a car in the first place.”
Yet Stoiber does see such innovations, imperfect as they are, as legitimate steps toward a more sustainable consumer culture, and he’s not alone. Like Stoiber, Lorne Craig is an advertising veteran whose agency, Vancouver-based Unicycle, helps companies market environmentally conscious products and services. And, like Stoiber, he believes the conversion to sustainability will have to be made in stages.
“You don’t go from a 300-pound, cheesies-eating couch potato to a marathon-running survivalist overnight,” Craig says. “I think even pretty dyed-in-the-wool environmentalists would agree it’s preferable to grow the consumption of more responsible products at the expense of dirtier ones.
“More hybrid cars, please, and sell as many as you want if it means you’re selling fewer of the other ones.”
Joel Makower, founder of GreenBiz.com and author of Strategies for the Green Economy, agrees marketers can and should place as much emphasis on convincing consumers to buy smarter, rather than simply buy more. “It can also be about getting people to change habits and buy better stuff,” he says.
All well and good, but consumers aren’t the only ones who need to be weaned off their worst habits for the benefit of the environment. Changes will also have to be made in a corporate culture based on the promise of constant growth.
“The whole idea of growth targets and quarterly performance and triple-digit returns is becoming a little bit suspect. That whole model itself is obviously not sustainable,” says Craig, pointing to the recent economic collapse as proof. “I think there’s going to be a real tempering of that ultra-profit-driven idea.”
Craig cautions that such a radical corporate re-think is still a ways off. In the meantime, green marketing experts are trying to push the needle by making the business case for sustainability.
“It’s all about the money,” says Stoiber, who points out that companies such as Walmart have made strides to streamline their supply chain and operations in order to conserve cash—with the added benefit of conserving the environment.
Moreover, companies are realizing that sustainability is another tool in their marketing arsenal. “Our entire pitch at Change is that green is a brand differentiator and an advantage over your competitors,” says Stoiber.
After all, adds Craig, what consumers are buying isn’t so much a product as a feeling about that product, and marketers who can effectively position themselves as eco-conscious have a valuable story to tell.
“Every marketer knows how frustrating it is to try and sell a parity product, where you can’t say anything better or worse than the guy next to you,” he says. “But when there’s an environmental component or a fair trade component, that’s what people want to hear. That’s why they want to buy things.”
Consumer packaged goods giant Procter & Gamble is certainly betting on this. Gord Meyer, marketing director for P&G Canada, says while consumers won’t compromise on quality, the success of innovations such as Tide Cold Water laundry detergent indicate they are willing to make changes to their behaviour and reward green products. Furthermore, he believes product innovation—not the relentless promotion of consumption—is the key to satisfying investors.
“Our purpose is actually much more long-term and comprehensive,” says Meyer. “We’re values-driven, we’re consumer-oriented and we innovate, and if we do all those things really well, our shareholders will prosper in the long run.”
Consumers have shown a willingness to check into the metaphorical methadone clinic, and corporations are beginning to see the advantage of pushing less-damaging goods. But if “marketing sustainability” is to avoid becoming an oxymoron, a more fundamental change must eventually occur.
“If we’re smart, we’ll be rethinking some of the imperatives that we’ve operated under for a long time,” says Makower. “Until we do, there’s the risk that we’re just going to get back to the same mentality, driven by the need to grow at any cost.”
