Recycling as Eco-Branding
Arrowhead Water, a subsidiary of Nestle, has recently unveiled a new marketing campaign touting their new ‘Reborn’ Bottle, which is comprised of 50% recycled plastic, and encouraging their costumers to recycle their bottles after use.
(source: Animation World Network: http://www.awn.com/news/commercials/bent-image-lab-creates-stop-motion-ad-arrowhead/page/1%2C1)
As many have noted, over the past decade the practice of Eco-Branding has grown steadily, raising a number of questions – such as what counts as green-washing; when, if ever, can eco-branding and ecocriticism share a common purpose; what is the psychological impact of eco-branding on consumers – that scholars and marketers alike are grappling with. Here’s a link, for example to the blog for Pollan Brands – an advertising agency specializing in eco-branding that seeks to create resonance between brand messaging and brand practices: http://www.pollenbrands.com/category/eco-branding/. At an initial glance, I’m impressed at the kinds of statements Pollan is making about the goals of eco-branding, despite my continued ambivalence about the capitalist marketplace under which such efforts are developing. That said, which I find heartening, particularly their focus on integrating branding into the the culture of the organization. Given Nestle’s track record of exploiting labor and creating myths about breast-feeding, for example, in order to increase sales of baby formula, let’s hope their work with Bent on the bottle recycling initiative is signals an important move forward for their company. Here’s how Pollan defines their approach to Eco-Branding:
“What is Eco-Branding? It seems obvious, but when done properly, it runs deeply into the core of an organization, and just as importantly, it radiates outward to the audience. Both are where many organizations go wrong in their eco-branding efforts. This section of our blog discusses how you can integrate your eco-branding efforts deeply into the culture of your organization, as well as share insight and ideas into how you should be communicating your eco-branding to your audience.”
