According to new research from eMarketer, eco-friendly is hotter than ever for the packaged goods industry in the United States. If you thought the green branding and marketing push was tapering off, you were wrong. This report tells us:
- Between January 1, 2009 – April 15, 2009, 458 new products hit the market with claims of being eco-friendly.
- The number of new eco-friendly product launches are expected to be three times higher in 2009 than in 2008.
- The number of new eco-friendly products launched in 2009 is estimated to hit 1,592.
Look at the chart below and see how the 1,592 new eco-friendly products expected to launch in 2009 compares to the number of new eco-friendly products launched in each of the 5 years prior to 2009.
The green bandwagon is still a very popular ride for corporations to jump on. The problem comes when eco-friendly initiatives tread too close to green washing. Too many corporate executives love the positive publicity that comes with being green, but they don’t take the green initiative to heart and truly live it and believe in it. Hopefully, that will be what sets companies, brands and products apart on the eco-friendly playing field of consumers’ minds in the future.
I’ve written about green branding here on Corporate Eye before in a post called How Important is It for Brands to be Green? I’m reminded of that post today as I look at the huge growth in new eco-friendly packaged goods coming in 2009 to the U.S. Companies are flooding the market with eco-friendly products, messages, Web pages, and programs, but how much of that do consumers truly believe? How much of it do they think comes from the right place and is done for the right reason? That’s what will set “eco-friendly” companies and brands apart from “eco-truthful” companies and brands in the future.
In other words, there is a lot more to being eco-friendly than releasing a product with recycled packaging or holding a Recycling Day in the town where your company office is located. Companies and brands that understand that will prevail in the long run.
What do you think?
Lucy is Editor at Corporate Eye