According to a new study called Green Factor (a joint program from Strategic Oxygen and Cohn & Wolfe), IT managers and executives believe that Dell is the greenest brand. 3,500 CIOs, and senior IT managers in 11 countries were given 26 enterprise IT brands to choose from and asked to select the greenest. Dell captured 30% of the votes. Hewlett Packard came in second place with 26% of the votes.
The more interesting part of the survey is the criteria that IT professionals used to evaluate companies in terms of their “green-ness.” According to the survey, IT professionals look for companies that have:
- Products that are manufactured using recyclable or biodegradable materials
- Packaging that looks “clean” and green
- Energy-efficient products
- Recycling programs for old products
- Green shipping facilities
- Green manufacturing centers
- Develop new green technologies
- Green promotional efforts
The last factor listed above is the one that really caught my attention. If you’re not promoting your company and brand’s efforts to be green, you might want to start doing so. While many consumers are jaded by the prevalence of green-washing, it appears that BtoB decision makers (at least within the technology field), want to hear those messages. It makes sense, bringing green companies and equipment into a company is great PR. Of course, it’s also the right thing to do.
And here is another really interesting tidbit from the study — IT managers seek out information about the green-ness of companies and brands online through blogs and forums. If your brand isn’t part of the social web, you really need to get involved. IT managers, the BtoB world, and consumers are actually watching.
Image: GreenFactorStudy.com
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
It is good to see companies embracing green IT, however it is a little concerning that packaging that looks clean and green was a factor in the study.
I am all about design, but these companies should at least make sure the packaging is green (recycled, etc.) and not just made to look green. I don’t want to see IT companies going the way of CPG companies and putting unhealthy products in packaging that has the perception of being green.
See more at my post – Green IT – Is package design enough?:
http://www.corporate-eye.com/2009/03/dell-named-leading-green-it-brand/
I’m surprised at Dell taking the top spot. Based on research I had done last year and data I pulled from HP’s site, they seemed to be way ahead of their competitors when it came to reducing power consumption on their hardware (especially servers).
HP also appeared to be a leader in product reuse and/or recycling. I know HP has frequently taken knocks over excessive product packaging, but I wonder if Dell won on performance or just perception.