Customer Experience | The Green Economy Post: Green Careers, Green Business, Sustainability

Five Strategies for Building Your Ethical Brand Without Being Accused of Greenwashing

By Jennifer_Rice on November 6, 2009 5 Comments align brand, Ben & Jerry's, BP, BP Solar, brand, brand building, brand differentiator, brand strategy, Clorox, corporate responsibility, CSR, CSR programs, customer experience, customer experiences, distribution channels, downtur, Ecomagination, ecosystem, Element, environmental initiative, ethical, ethical initiatives, ethical reputation, ethical value proposition, GE, goodwashing, greenwashing, GreenWorks, Heavenly Bed, ingredient brand, loyalty, managing perceptions, marketing, Marks & Spencer’s Plan A, McDonald’s, parent brand, philanthropy programs, PR, product brand, Reposition the Brand, reputation, Starwood, Target, triple bottom line, Unilever, Wal-Mart, Westin

There’s been a lot of discussion about elevating corporate responsibility to become a strategic driver of your business. Most companies would like to benefit from their ethical efforts in the form of increased customer attraction and loyalty, yet few have figured out how to do it successfully. When marketing and PR are relied on, it can often backfire in accusations of greenwashing. The secret is to apply brand-strategy principles to build your ethical reputation.

Creating Competitive Advantage Through Sustainability

By Jennifer_Rice on September 22, 2009 1 Comment brand credibility, brand strategy, business sustainability, channel partners, competitive differentiatio, competitive differentiation, CSR, customer experience, eco messaging, FairRidge Group, Fruitful Strategy, green messaging, greenwashing, ingredient brand, Jennifer Rice, market leadership position, market-facing aspiration, master brand, product brand, product manufacturer, retail partners, SM3, strategy, sub-brand, sustainability, sustainability infrastructure, Sustainability Management Maturity Model, sustainability-minded buyers, TAM, TASM, total addressable market, Total Addressable Sustainability Market, Triple Pundit, values-driven buyers

I recently published a post on Triple Pundit that fleshes out the market-facing aspects of a model I’ve been working on with The FairRidge Group. Called the Sustainability Management Maturity Model (SM3), it’s a tool to help businesses assess their readiness to address business sustainability challenges and opportunities. The internal management components were outlined a few months ago on Triple Pundit – Strategy, Organization, Process, Measurement and People – which all relate to an inside-out perspective of the business.