This document summarizes a webinar presentation about avoiding "greenwash" in marketing. It provides a 3-step guide for moving from greenwash to effective green marketing: 1) Plan your approach by focusing on fundamentals and getting ahead of issues. 2) Develop communications with honesty, humility, and specific details. 3) Launch and commit for the long term by responding quickly to any issues and making a long-term commitment to sustainability. Examples are given from companies like Coca-Cola and Timberland that exemplify these principles.

1. From
Greenwash
to Great.
A Practical Guide to Great Green Marketing
(without the Greenwash)

2. Freya Williams
Senior Partner,
Worldwide Planning Director
OgilvyEarth
Andrew Winston Jeff Seabright
Author of Green Recovery VP Environment and
and co-author Water Resources
of Green to Gold
The Coca Cola
Founder & President, Company
Winston Eco-Strategies
Seth Farbman
Senior Partner,
Worldwide
Managing Director
OgilvyEarth

3. Today’s Webinar
Overview
Greenwash: Some Context
From Greenwash to Great:
The Handbook
Client Example: Coca Cola
Questions

4. green•wash: (n) Disinformation disseminated by an organization so
as to present an environmentally responsible public image. Derivatives
greenwashing (n). Origin from green on the pattern of whitewash.
—Concise Oxford Dictionary, Tenth Edition

5. A Greenwash
Epidemic?

6. 6
The Risks
Why Greenwash Matters

7. 1 Environmental
Opportunity Cost
“Our global ecological footprint
has doubled over the last
40 years to the point that, if the
whole human population consumed
at this rate, we would need 4-5
planet Earths just to keep up.”
Pavan Sukhdev, The Economics of
Ecosystems and Biodiversity

8. 2 Reputational damage
“No one benefits. The company puts
itself at serious reputational risk.”
Ian Higgins, OgilvyEarth advisor
“The only thing that has sunk
lower than the public’s opinion
of congress during this recession
is its opinion of business.”
Time Magazine

9. 3 Consumer Alienation
More than 50% of climate-
savvy consumers believe brands’
sustainability-related claims are
embellished or fabricated.
Hopenhagen Community survey
“Consumers face the challenge of
knowing who is authentic.”
Jeunesse Park, OgilvyEarth advisor

10. 4 Workforce Morale
46% of employers report
improved employee morale
as a result of environmentally
responsible programs.
Society for Human Resource Management

11. 5 Regulatory Penalties
• FTC to update US Guides for the Use
of Environmental Marketing Claims
in 2010
• DEFRA announced plans to update
the UK’s Guidance on Green Claims
in March 2010
• ISO 14021 Requirements for Self-
Declared Green Claims enforced
through law in Australia, France
and Norway
• Canadian Competition Bureau
and Canadian Standards Bureau
released “Environmental Claims:
a Guide for Industry and Advertisers”
in 2008

12. 6 Leadership
opportunity cost
The market for sustainability-
oriented products and services
is valued at $200 billion in
the US alone.
Lohas
“38% of US consumers make
a conscious effort to purchase
products from socially responsible
companies. That’s evidence of a
new social contract.”
Time Magazine

21. Unlocking the Stalemate: A Fresh Approach
From
Greenwash
to Great.
A Practical Guide to Great Green Marketing
(without the Greenwash)

22. Green Marketing
without the Greenwash:
The Handbook

23. The Handbook: 1 Planning Your Approach
i Focus on Fundamentals
3 phases, ii Get Out Ahead
iii Partner for Content and Credibility
9 principles
2 Developing Communications
i Make Honesty a Priority
ii Find Strength in Humility
iii Embrace the Detail
iv Show, Don’t Tell
3 Launch and Beyond
i Become a First Responder
ii Commit for the Long Term

24. The Handbook: 1 Planning Your Approach
i Focus on Fundamentals
3 phases, ii Get Out Ahead
iii Partner for Content and Credibility
9 principles
2 Developing Communications
i Make Honesty a Priority
ii Find Strength in Humility
iii Embrace the Detail
iv Show, Don’t Tell
3 Launch and Beyond
i Become a First Responder
ii Commit for the Long Term

25. Planning
Your Approach
Plan ahead to create a solid foundation from which
to build. Avoiding Greenwash starts long before
your creative team sits down to write.

26. i Focus on
Fundamentals
DO iT BY: starting on the inside, and with a truly
substantial story – which usually means building
the plot from scratch.
DO iT WiTh: clarity about your brand’s biggest
impacts, and willingness to redress them through
big change.
DO iT LikE: Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise.

27. ACHIEVING EGG-CELLENCE: Hellmann’s earned
immediate positive media and NGO attention. Leading
animal welfare organization Compassion in World Farming
(CIWF) recognized its initiative–which involves sourcing 475
i million free-range and barn eggs every year–by awarding
Hellmann’s two of its prestigious Good Egg Awards.

28. Developing
Communications
Principles to bear in mind as you develop
the content and tone of your communications.
Hints: tell the truth and be specific.

29. iii Embrace the Detail
DO iT BY: telling the truth about the truth (and
nothing but the truth).
DO iT WiTh: healthy respect for the ability of
your consumers—and the influencers they follow—
to read between the (tag)lines.
DO iT LikE: Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle

30. SEEDS OF CHANGE: PlantBottle
has launched in Canada and on
iii
the US West Coast, and will be
launching in Mexico and Brazil
this year. While sales data is
not yet available, Coca-Cola
has already enjoyed the public
advocacy of eminent NGOs: the
Climate Group called PlantBottle
“a revolutionary solution,” and
WWF’s president and CEO,
Carter Roberts, said, “The Coca-
Cola Company is a company
with the power to transform the
marketplace, and the introduction
of the PlantBottle is yet another
great example of their leadership
on environmental issues.”

31. Launch and Beyond
Continue to avoid greenwash post-launch.
How your brand behaves is at least as important
as what your communications say.

32. i Become a
First Responder
DO iT BY: being prepared to act fast in the face
of criticism and collaborate with decriers on solutions
before deep reputational damage is done.
DO iT WiTh: speed and a collaborative open-
source spirit, plus a ban on being defensive.
DO iT LikE: Timberland

33. THE WATCHDOGS RESPOND:
After Timberland’s quick
response, its former foe became
a friend. Greenpeace forest
i
campaigner Lindsey Allen said
of the brand: “Timberland
has raised the bar for
environmentally and socially
responsible leather-sourcing
policies in the Amazon.”

34. ii Commit for
the Long Term
DO iT BY: Committing fully - from C-suite to
graveyard shift. Feeling good about your commitment.
Feeding the pipeline with a steady stream of news.
DO iT WiTh: Divine Discontent
DO iT LikE: The Coca - Cola Company

35. ii Muhtar kent
Chairman & CSO,
September 10, 2009
“Sustainability and social responsibility are not public
relations initiatives, or compliance check-offs, or nice ’to-dos.’
In a world where populations are growing…
…where natural resources are stressed…
…where communities are forced to do more with less…
…and where consumers’ expectations are expanding…
sustainability is core to our business continuity and survival.”

36. Parting Words:
Are you still up for it—for the most
challenging, exhilarating, rewarding
project of your career? groundbreaking work
Then welcome aboard. galvanized workforce
Consumers are hungry for you to grateful consumers
succeed (84% of them would rather
buy green products and services)— gangbuster sales
as are your colleagues. Merging
great sustainability efforts with great
marketing can be done; and when
it is done well, it can lead to:

37. Questions? To download the entire guide,
go to ogilvyearth.com/greenwash
For more information contact
ogilvyearth@ogilvy.com