Activists once attempted to harness consumer power to persuade corporations to change their behaviour. But nowadays you're just as likely to find Ariel laundry powder is urging you to be more environmentally friendly; Marks & Spencer is encouraging you to curb your plastic bag usage; and your energy supplier E.On is telling you how to use less gas this winter.
While some people are wholeheartedly embracing the challenges of reducing their personal carbon footprint, others are only willing to make changes if they're not sacrificing too much. This is the kind of consumer identified by Procter and Gamble, owner of the Ariel brand, which is encouraging people to turn their washing machines down by 10 degrees when they do a wash, as "light green" rather than "dark green".
And while some might argue that such changes have little impact, P&G's research claims that the Turn To 30 campaign has contributed to an increase in the number of loads washed at 30°C of 2% in 2002 to 17% in 2007, which in turn has contributed to saving 60,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. As with so much innovation, it can be failures that give birth to successes. This is surely the case with frozen food brand Bird's Eye, which has long had the issue of sustainable fishing on its agenda.
Cod stocks are dangerously low as the once-plentiful breed has been over fished. Back in 2003 the company first began to try to persuade British consumers to accept other white fish, switching to New Zealand fished hoki for its fish fingers.
Sustainable fishing
But, as marketing director Ben Pearman says: "UK consumers are funny old individuals with a fondness for cod, and you can't get them to switch if you don't give them enough reason." The hoki range was delisted late the same year.
Fast forward to 2007, when Bird's Eye was sold by Unilever and the new management team looked at how it could come up with a sustainable alternative to cod. The answer was pollock — another white fish, but one found more locally than hoki.
Pearman explains that in blind testing, consumers really can't tell the difference between cod fish fingers and pollock, but pollock is an oilier fish, higher in the Omega-3 fatty acid much publicised for its supposed health-giving properties.
The new range of fish fingers were not promoted as being cod substitutes, but were instead sold on the basis of their Omega-3 content. Cod fish fingers are still available but consumers now had an alternative choice that not only helped cut back on cod but could possibly have health benefits. A massive advertising and marketing push resulted in Birds Eye's sales of the pollock fish fingers topping £20m within 12 months.
Pearman says: "The result is astonishing, and makes Bird's Eye Omega 3 Fish Fingers one of the biggest grocery launches of the last 12 months." He adds that repeat purchases are high and that it has brought new people to fish fingers, expanding the category.
As far as innovation goes, Pearman says: "Doing big things to big brands is a great way to innovate. We took a 360-degree approach and looked at things from a customer point of view to come up with a simple but compelling proposition."
James Hamilton, a planner at ad agency McCann Erickson, thinks that Birds Eye's success shows that the key to changing any behaviour is making the desired action personally relevant to the consumer.
"While, thankfully, there is a growing minority for whom being 'green' is an end in itself, many still need to be shown how ostensibly selfless behaviour can benefit both the environment and the individual — for instance, in recessionary times, highlighting lower fuel bills as a result of investing in low-energy lightbulbs or home insulation."
Asda has also had to think carefully to avoid alienating consumers in trying to tackle the environmental problems caused by plastic milk bottles. Often disposed of in general rubbish with their lids on, they are filling up scarce landfill with little pillows of air. But the dilemma for Asda was that even making tiny changes, such as removing a handle, can put consumers off buying, according to the retailer's head of ethical and sustainable sourcing, Chris Brown.
The need to retain as much of the familiar look as possible has led to the development of GreenBottle, currently being trialled in stores. It has a cardboard outer, which can be recycled, and a fold-down top instead of a cap. So even if it ends up in the rubbish, it can easily be flattened and take up less landfill.
Brown thinks this innovation is working where other efforts, such as reusable milk jugs, have failed in the past because it isn't asking for a huge change from consumers.
"Customers get it, that's the important bit," he says. "Things work if they don't have to make too many compromises. Big change has to be cumulative."
Weblink
Green Bottle: greenbottle.com
