I had the pleasure today of attending a breakfast meeting with various interesting speakers one of which was a marketing/brand manager from Dial. A side conversation with him had me thinking about the ongoing ”green”marketing conversation.

I asked a question about “green” product attributes and he mentioned that many of their products have been green for quite some time but that they choose not to use that in marketing because consumers aren’t going to believe them anyway.  I would disagree that consumers won’t believe it,  but the marketing pitch has to be done in an authentic way. If you’re going to slap a label on a product that says green or sustainable without substantiating those claims then of course consumers are going to be wary.

I find it a bit irresponsible that if Henkel/Dial is truly putting forth an effort to create sustainable products that they aren’t educating the consumer more via it’s easiest channel, the products themselves. The Henkel web site has a fairly extensive section about their efforts on developing sustainable products.

A company such as Dial/Henkel clearly has the budget and reach for delivering sophisticated product campaigns, so why not deliver a much needed message about what “is” and “is not” green. If the big guys started doing it as a matter of course perhaps consumers would stop being wary because there would be a clear line drawn in the sand.

Case in point for drawing a definitive line would be Express Flooring in Phoenix, AZ. If you live here you’re probably familiar with the commerical below.  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkU-uDONP-0]

This company has got to be one of the worst for jumping on the latest buzz word bandwagon. I couldn’t find a clip of the latest TV ad but in it they not only use “Stimulus Package” in big flickering letters but they slapped “A Green Company” in it too. I visited their web site and could not find any statement about green or sustainable commitments or what products they considered green… nothing. So basically the “A Green Company” was just an ugly snipe added to entice the unsuspecting. Shameless.

My simple recommendation for green marketing: Do it in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re selling something. Educate, engage and inspire. If consumers feel like you truly care they will reciprocate as raving fans.

How about you? Have you seem similar shameless behavior with green marketing?

P.S. If you happen to record the TV ad in question from Express Flooring let me know. I’m going to try to get it and repost. Thanks!