Thinking of going green? It can boost your company’s image too!

Going Green means being environmentally conscious. Today’s consumers have become more eco-friendly, and there is a significant increase in demand for green products and services.

When your company has a specifically targeted “go-green” message that you can associate with your brand, this message has the potential to create a smart, distinctive image in the current market.

Improve your corporate image/brand’s image

In today’s ecologically mindful environment, consumers are more susceptible to PR efforts from businesses that can show their green initiatives. By promoting your support for the environment, you can expand your audience. Today’s consumers love to support companies that take Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives seriously, and when your business embraces a new, eco-friendly philosophy, you earn a positive reputation as well as achieve a deeper connection with your customers.

What going green does to your company’s image?

Today’s customers have everything available to them at their fingertips. They don’t want just the product or services from the brand they prefer, but a little extra goes a long way in keeping them hooked to the brand of their choice.

Eco campaigns allow companies to give back to society, and help have a deeper connection between the brand and customers. Through these campaigns, companies can show the human side of their brand, which helps bring people together through a shared interest or concern.

Integrating Eco-empathy in your PR campaigns

Allowing QR enabled tickets is done by most multiplex companies, and it has only helped them strengthen their green image. Any changes made in your business to incorporate a green structure, like reducing the wastage of paper, implementing environment-friendly processes, reducing your carbon footprint, associating your brand with a green charity, all can enhance a positive brand image.

In the West, there is even a concept of green web hosting, where hosts use renewable energy, purchase carbon offsets, and plant trees to subsidize their carbon output!

From integrated promotion to basic signage and green practices, like reducing plastic wastage, shows that you are making the little changes, necessary towards a healthier, safer planet.

Be wary of token gestures though. Today’s discerning consumers can see through fake concerns, and they will take it out on social platforms against your brands. Remember, going green is not just a PR stunt that you should do every year, it also helps in reducing costs. By investing in renewable energy, recycling waste and water, you can save a lot of money spent on operational expenses. The initial set up costs may be high, but rewards in terms of faithful clientele, longer-standing relationships with your costumer-base are almost immediate and send an instant positive eco-message about your brand.

Therefore, if you want to put your brand on the map and boost recognition, investing time, money and your resources into green initiatives and projects can help!

The 5 pronged strategy to invest in a green future:  

To succeed in green initiatives and optimize the PR efforts, companies should focus on these 5 elements:

• Vision: Being actionable and clear about what the green action will be.
• Endorse: Senior leadership should endorse the initiative wholeheartedly and help spread the word.
• Strategize: Cause messaging should be consistent and should cleverly keep the focus on the brand.
• Assign accountability: Set parameters, performance indicators that can help in judging the effectiveness of the green initiatives as well as PR campaigns.
• Measure effectiveness: The results should be quantifiable for their impact on ROI.

Some other benefits of going green:

• Staying a step ahead of government regulations: Green initiatives will keep you prepared before they become part of the legislation by the government.
• Motivate your employees: Employees of the companies believing in giving back to the society and environment can relate better to their company. They know they work for a company that cares, which is a huge morale booster.
• You save on cost: Eco-friendly initiatives will ensure you can save a lot on your utility bills and overhead expenses.
• Attract talent: You may even be able to attract talented employees who will admire you for your eco-friendly policies.

Watch out for these loopholes

• The practices that will help you go green will also help you create a better environment for your business and your brand. The best PR initiatives when a company goes green are those that appeal to a broader, heterogeneous demographic segment, consisting of existing as well as potential prospects. But a keen focus on your most passionate and profitable segments is also critical.
• Though opportunities to “Go Green” exist in all industry verticals, make sure you clearly understand how far you can stretch based on your brand’s core equity. A Cab rental service primarily running diesel cars cannot harp about going green without bringing in shared cab services.
• Be careful of what message you wish to convey and what you want the wider audience to not focus on. Being associated with any other company known for having a poor ecological image can end up as a PR disaster for your business too.

By paying attention to customers and supporting the environmental causes which they strongly identify with not only benefits your brand’s image, it helps the planet too. After all, and you want to let your customers know that your company cares. Going green is not just celebrated by customers; your peers will recognise your CSR initiative as an essential part of your business plan.

K2 Communications Pvt Ltd. has been in the business of helping clients successfully embrace technology changes and the ever-changing media landscape by employing innovative tactics ethically and with integrity for the last 15 years.

We have the strategies and tools to help clients claim their positions as industry leaders. If you’re in healthcare, education, technology or any other industries, and need help with a PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact K2 Communications today!

About the author:

Shiv Shankar – He is the Executive Director & Founder of K2 Communications. Under his astute leadership, K2 Communications has developed into a frontrunner among PR agencies that incessantly delivers excellent regional and national PR support to clients belonging to various sectors including government, IT, education, consumer, and healthcare.

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