Consumer Insight
Interview with Kindley Walsh-Lawlor, Senior Director of Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs with Gap Inc.
October 24th, 2008 by Amie Vaccaro
If you’re ever shopping for a new article of clothing at Gap, Banana Republic or Old Navy (all brands owned by parent company Gap Inc.), on the way to the cash register you may be wondering in the back of your mind how much progress the company is making toward reducing the environmental impact of the clothing you just purchased.
With the sheer size of Gap Inc., moving toward sustainability is a huge task, but even small changes can make a large impact. Banana Republic started communicating about its sustainability efforts last spring with the tagline “Greener. One step at a time.” In this interview, Kindley Walsh-Lawlor, Senior Director of Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs with Gap Inc., shares her insights into Gap Inc.’s next steps in their journey toward sustainability.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
- Kindley’s personal path to becoming a sustainability leader inside a large corporation
- How Gap Inc.’s environmental initiatives layers on and connects with its social responsibility practices
- An overview of Gap Inc.’s ECO-strategy
- Insights on how to best communicate environmental initiatives to customers
- One reason why marketing Gap Inc.’s “green initiatives” to customers is difficult - most of Gap Inc.’s sustainability practices are behind the scenes and not glamorous
TRANSCRIPT
AMIE VACCARO, GREEN BUSINESS INNOVATORS: I am here today with Kindley Walsh-Lawlor, Senior Director of Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs with Gap Inc. Kindley, do you want to briefly introduce yourself?
KINDLEY WALSH-LAWLOR: Sure, Hi good morning. I’m Kindley and I work in Gap Inc. Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs. I’ve been with the company about 11 years, but in this space only for about 18 months. I had the opportunity to work at two of our brands, Banana Republic and Gap for the first 9 years at the company, which gave me a great education on what the brands were up against and what kinds of challenges they face day-to-day especially as we dig deeper with the brands on operational, sustainability, opportunities to redesign product, etc. So it’s been a great thing to bring into this role.
Social Proof - Better than Green Marketing?
August 29th, 2008 by Bill Baren(This post is based on a case study in Robert Cialdini’s latest book, Yes!)
Imagine you’re in charge of persuading your hotel guests to reuse their towels.
Card # 1:
“Help save the environment by participating in the [towel reuse] program.”
Card #2:
“The majority of guests at the hotel recycled their towels at least once during their stay.”
The surprising (or perhaps not surprising) answer: Card #2! People were more persuaded by the actions of others than by the thought of “saving the environment.”
Following Social Proof
Most people would like to believe that they are not influenced by the “herd.” Yet what they say and what they do often tell a different story.
When people aren’t sure what course of action to take, they often unconsciously rely on what Cialdini calls “social proof” in order to make a decision. The best social proof is the knowledge of what other people do in a similar situation.
Could you improve the results of the “towel experiment” even more - using Social Proof?
Yes! This was done by using a card saying “the majority of the people who stayed in the same room participated in the towel recycling program.” In this case, guest participation increased by 33% over the standard environmentally-driven message of Card #1. The closer the social proof to your personal immediate situation the greater the influence of social proof.
Thoughts on how to utilize Social Proof
So the first thing that comes to my mind is for my coaching business to use more testimonials not of big companies but of companies that are similar to my ideal clients. Also, I am thinking that green businesses reading this blog could let their prospective customers know more about the actions their current customers are taking.
How can you use the influence of social proof to help your business today?
New Study: What Americans Think about Green Marketing
April 18th, 2008 by Patrick DominguezThe 2008 Green Gap Survey, released by branding firm Cone and the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, provides some key insights into how Americans view green marketing and products. It takes a look at the “green gap” between what companies say about green products and what consumers understand. The survey was conducted online in February 2008 with 1,080 adults.
Some interesting nuggets from the 2008 Green Gap Survey:-
A key misunderstanding:
Almost half (48%) of respondents believe that a product advertised as “green” or “environmentally friendly” has a positive (beneficial) impact on the environment.
Only 22% indicated that these phrases describe products with less negative environmental impact than similar products or prior products.
Less than half of Americans believe the environmental information they receive from companies:
• 47% trust companies to tell them the truth
• 45% believe companies are accurately communicating information about their impact on the environment
On the other hand, about half do believe information received from companies.
Americans believe third-party oversight is important to ensure environmental messaging by companies is accurate:
• 80% certification by third-party organizations
• 78% review and reporting by watchdog groups, news media, bloggers, etc.
• 76% regulation by the government
“The gap creates significant risk of embarrassment for companies and disillusionment for consumers,” according to Mike Lawrence, executive vice president of corporate responsibility at Cone. “Activists are closely monitoring green claims and can quickly share information online about the actual environmental impact of a product. The result can be accusations that a company is engaging in greenwashing and is misleading the public.”
Five Guidelines for Effective Environmental Marketing
Cone and The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship suggest several strategies companies can use to effectively and credibly communicate information about how their products or services impact the environment, summarized below:
- Be precise. Make specific claims that provide quantitative impacts.
- Be relevant. Demonstrate a clear connection between the product or service and the environment.
- Be a resource. Provide additional information for consumers in a place where they want it.
- Be consistent. Don’t let marketing images send a signal that contradicts the carefully chosen words and facts you use.
- Be realistic. There are always more environmental improvements that can be made to a product or service. Communications that include some sense of context and a “work in progress” tone will be more credible and less subject to criticism.