There was an incredible amount to learn from the Sustainable Brands '08 conference in Monterey, Calif. I have picked the following six big lessons:

1. Brands which aspire to become sustainable need to communicate on a personal, not a political, level. Landor/Cohn & Wolfe's own green brands study showed that consumers on both sides of the Atlantic are much more concerned about personal environmental issues, such as waste and packaging, and they are being "turned off" (to some extent) by abstract concepts like "global warming." This is why supermarkets are making such a connection with people in both the U.K. and the U.S. Abstract appeals to "save the planet" won't work as well for brands as aspiring to make individual lives more sustainable.
2. The environmental/sustainable message of brands must be combined with the more traditional consumer touch points, such as efficacy, price, etc. This was the starting point for Method, the home products company, which is growing incredibly fast from a zero base. There were many other examples of this important point.
3. Becoming a sustainable brand is also about better, long-term business performance. At a time of economic woes, a week of talking about sustainability might seem like a massive irrelevance. But we heard time and again that this big subject is just as much about profitable business as it is about the environment or social impacts. The people who created "HIP Investor" believe they can outperform the market by investing in sustainable brands.
4. Any company can aim to create a sustainable brand. That was the view of green marketing guru Jacquelyn A. Ottman, when I put the question to her. In Monterey, we heard from two companies, Dow Chemical and Clorox (best known for making bleach), who would not have been top of anyone's sustainable brands list a few years ago. Yet both have embraced the sustainability agenda (in very different ways) which has earned them credit from customers, employees, shareholders and the media. Even coal companies, one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, can become sustainable brands if they truly embrace the "clean coal" agenda and invest in new technology.
5. Brands which aspire to be sustainable must "get their house in order" before they even start planning any green marketing initiatives. Measurement is critical. The best brands are performing lifecycle analysis - complex assessments which provide critical data on the social, environmental and economic impact of products through the supply chain, production process and after purchase. Lifecycle analysis tells a brand just how far it needs to go before it can claim to be sustainable. A good example of this is the work done by the New Belgium Brewery, Colo., on some of their beers. This showed the company that, even though they prided themselves on making big progress in the production process (e.g. 100% renewable energy), lifecycle analysis of the product after purchase showed they had a long way to go. But that's ok! Sustainability is a journey, not an end point. Consumers don't expect perfection when it comes to sustainability. But they do want to see that brands understand the scale of the problem, have a plan, and are in the process of implementing it.
6. There are now unprecedented opportunities for brands to get their sustainable messages across through both old and new media. This point came through loud and clear during the media session which I hosted, with Claire Alexander from Discovery Channel's new Planet Green, Nick Astor of Triplepundit, Anya Kamenetz of Fast Company, and Betsy Rosenberg of Eco-Talk. After being a little slow off the market, traditional print and broadcast media are embracing the sustainability wholeheartedly. The launch of an entire network devoted to the subject is a significant moment. And online, Nick Astor was a great example of the passionate, innovative and interactive journalism which is springing up all over the digital media landscape.

To finish off, I have a clip from my interview with green marketing guru Jacquelyn Ottman. Jacquie has been in this business for more than 20 years, advising huge brands like HSBC. Her insights into sustainable brands in 2008 are well worth listening to.

~Green Wolfie blog, Cohn & Wolfe

To be honest, when I heard Gap Inc. was going to be speaking about "building a sustainable brand," I had my doubts - despite the Gap credit card in my wallet. My gut instincts were somewhere more closely aligned with the woman who questioned Gap Inc.'s ability to combine sustainable design and affordability for clothing at its lower-priced Old Navy stores. (The answer to that is prioritizing by starting with organic baby products and upholding the same ethical sourcing codes as its other brands.)

When I browse the sale racks at Gap, for example, I'm usually trying to stymie thoughts about how much energy, water, and pesticide went into the production of that trendy little green dress. However, to assume that environmental and social responsibility isn't in style at Gap Inc. would be way off the mark. Just because the company isn't shouting "eco" from the rooftops -- as too many others are quick to do -- doesn't mean the Gap team isn't working on it.

"Our story's not perfect. It's not over," Kindley Walsh Lawlor, senior director of social responsibility at Gap Inc., said. "It's nice we had organic men's tees in 2007.  It's not the first time we did [something like this]. We're quiet. We just haven't talked about it."

Machine (Green)wash: Avoiding the Spin Cycle

At a time when the majority of products marketed as "green" bear the scarlet letter of greenwash, Gap Inc.'s cautious approach to touting its own sustainability mildly mollified my initial doubts. So, what is it doing right in this realm? And why keep mum about it?

For starters, it's managing to keep company morals aligned across four distinct brands with four sets of customers: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Piperlime (an online shoe store). Expanding the definition of sustainability, its corporate morals focus on ethical sourcing (a code for global vendors was implemented in 1996), community investment, and the environment, which, naturally, uses the acronym "ECO" to outline its own areas of emphasis.

E: Energy conservation, e.g., efficient lighting in stores, a 1 MW solar array at one distribution center

C: Cotton/sustainable product design, e.g., alternative fibers, improved dye processes

O: Output/waste reduction, e.g., cutting back wastewater in manufacturing

The wastewater issue is an excellent example of a key sustainability initiative not yet communicated to customers. Back in 2004, Gap Inc. launched a clean water program to raise the standards for discharges from its denim laundry facility. Even now, its brands team is brainstorming how to tell customers about these kinds of initiatives. Is it in the form of a label sewn onto that pair of skinny jeans? Or maybe educational signs next to store racks awash with waves of denim?

Keepin' It Under Control

Plenty of companies examine product impacts with the help of life-cycle assessments, which are high level environmental inspections of a product from raw materials and production to customer use and disposal. While it'd sure be swell to have power over the whole process, Gap's strategy deals with what falls under its direct control, such as packaging and store/facility construction and operation. But don't overlook the spheres your brand can still influence, if not control. Gap Inc. won't be doing its customers' laundry (wouldn't that be nice though?), but it can help them decide how to do it via the washing instructions printed on clothing labels. It's as simple as recommending an energy-saving cold water wash over a chemical-heavy dry cleaning.

"Sustainable design [offers us] the opportunity to think more creatively about what we're doing, whether it's related to the environment or anywhere else," Monica Oberkofler, Gap Inc. Director of Social Responsibility, said. "Our brands have a unique opportunity to define what sustainable design means to them and their customers.  We want to inspire them with the opportunities of sustainable design."

More environmentally friendly dyes. Organic cotton. Organic soy blends. Bamboo blends. By moving toward these greener measures, Gap Inc. is eager to position itself authentically and show that sustainable design is a "natural evolution" for the company. But alas, evolution is best known for moving on geologic timelines (read: really, really slowly): a tank top in Banana Republic's new "Green Collection" only boasts 5% soy silk, which is probably more akin to Neanderthals than Homo sapiens.

Gap Inc.'s holistic approach to sustainability is valuable, but its clothing represents the main interaction with the customer and 5% effort will impress few. This is why a clear and careful approach to communication about green practices is so imperative.

Knowing When to Spill the Greens

As a company that sells products, knowing the customer is paramount to making intelligent branding decisions. Cause market research from Cone Inc. revealed that not only is the typical customer more interested in buying and even paying more for a product linked to a positive cause like the environment (second only to healthcare issues), but "today's customer is the savviest in history." The customer is perceptive and critical, commanding, "Don't just tell me, show me and let me determine what is real and then I can tell others."

Banana Republic's sustainability model, an "ongoing and unending" effort, is aiming to take this to heart. It starts with the products and the packaging and how they're branded (recycled content? recyclable materials?). Branding communication needs to be honest and transparent but not overstated (to avoid greenwashing). Extending from community and employee engagement to straightforward and accessible business practices, successful green branding is simple, authentic, and consistent with the company it's representing.

For Gap Inc., this means balancing how much "green" information to throw at the customer without confusing or turning them off while also sticking to its genuine "city style," which matched well with its Earth Day partnership with an urban park conservancy.

No, most brands won't be able to green all of their products overnight. But with steps that are steady, and vision that is clear, the evolution of sustainability will gain speed. These are the messages that Gap is learning to tell, which along with its sustainable practices, will never go out of style.

~Ashley Braun, Grist.org

Over the past four days of the conference, we experienced insightful research, a great dose of inspiration, and numerous case studies. Here are some parting thoughts from conference attendees:

It's been a great conference. I love the inspiring stories. My main take-away is the innovative thinking like I heard in KEEN and Method presentations. I love the questions that KEEN was founded on “Can a sandal protect the toe?"

~Cindy Jennings, Cohn Marketing

It's extremely inspiring hearing all the stories. The research data is extremely beneficial to understand the trends. I can now reflect on my own branding efforts. We've been branding to the green consumer for a few years and I can now do that more effectively. I see where we've been going astray and what the trends are moving forward.

~Crystal Wohle, Duraflame

It's hard to pick what I enjoyed most. I got as much from individual discussions as I did from presentations. There are bread crumbs I can pick up from the presentations that I can take back - as much from Dow Chemical and Clorox, perhaps surprisingly - as from the cool sustainable brands: New Belgium Brewery and Seventh Generation. Since I work within a corporation, I am particularly interested in how to translate sustainability into language that senior execs without an environmental background can relate to. I'm inspired to begin the spark of sustainability within my own company.

~Maryann Bell, Applied Biosystems

I was very impressed by the presentation by Method's founder Eric Ryan. It was a great story, and quite a few people at the conference have been talking about it. BBMG did a great job of presenting their research. They communicated on a level that newbies could understand as well as folks with a greater understanding.

One interesting thing was hearing from many companies that they've been involved in sustainability work for a while but haven't been bragging about it. Also, the focus on the environment and green as sustainability was sometimes surprising (seems a narrow perspective on sustainability), though some recognized that sustainability is a bigger issue. This seems new to many people, or something that companies are expanding their work into.

~Guinevere Griswold, CSRwire

The caliber of the speakers and the quality of the presentations was, for the most part, really first class. The insightful use of multimedia content helped deliver a more powerful message. We'd expect that from a branding conference!

Andrew Winston, Paul Herman, Jonathan Greenblatt, and also all of the speakers at the general sessions have been fantastic. I appreciated the selection of charismatic and engaging speakers. The ones who opened up and shared anecdotal and personal stories made for a much more thought-provoking and interesting presentation. I also liked the Natural Marketing Institute presentation and their research.

It was great to see a page in the program about how the organizers are greening the conference. Food “quality was excellent“ the sustainability could be higher (for example, farmed salmon at lunch today - might have shied away if they had done research). There is a duty to look at all aspects of the conference with room for improvement.

~Manager, California-based NGO

Excellent conference with an impressive roster of speakers, including interesting sustainability efforts of big brands (HP, Clorox) as well as smaller companies “ in fact, smaller companies are sometimes moving faster and have more impressive stories to tell (like New Belgium Brewery, Method, and California wineries). My favorite session was with IDEO “ insightful ideas on how to make sustainability desirable for customers.

In addition, there was a diverse and interesting set of attendees, from brands I've heard of to brands hadn't but I was interested to find more about, NGOs, even government agencies. What struck me the most during the many conversations was how much people came from a place of leadership and passion in their work in sustainability. And how open people were to share knowledge and practices. The challenge of sustainability has inspired a spirit of collaboration that I haven't seen at other conferences.

~Executive, media company

"Sustainability is a journey, and this conference has certainly been an energizing catalyst for continuing to innovate and create more sustainable solutions in business structures, product design, production, and other arenas that will allow us to continue to live and thrive on this planet. The excitement to take what we have learned at the conference and bring it back to our companies was evident in every conversation we had today."

~Bill Baren and Patrick Dominguez, GreenBusinessInnovators.com

Walk through any grocery store and you can’t miss it: eye-catching product packaging that screams “essentially non-toxic!” or “eco-safe!” or “recyclable!” These vague, feel-good environmental claims are popping up on an ever-wider range of merchandise these days, thanks to a scorching-hot market. At the same time, the Federal Trade Commission and other governing bodies have offered little guidance (so far) on what exactly manufacturers can responsibly say about the environmental attributes of their products.

Well, you can’t fault marketers for trying or can you? Conscious consumers are calling the more egregious offenders “greenwashers,” and in an overloaded product market where customer loyalty is a powerful differentiator, it’s a backlash you definitely want to avoid.

In April 2007 Scot Case, of environmental marketing firm TerraChoice, sent teams of researchers into the retail environment for a little good old-fashioned field work. The group identified 1018 products that made environmental claims and captured the information available to support them (in many cases, it wasn’t much). Today, he and lawyer Brooks Beard of Morrison & Foerster shared with SB’08 attendees the key findings of that research ““ the six “sins” of greenwashing, if you will ““ to help savvy marketers get religion.

1. The Sin of Fibbing ““ misleading customers about the actual environmental performance of products. A good example is “Energy Star Certified” ““ Energy Star does not actually certify products. The most grievous sin, fibbing is thankfully also the rarest, present in only 1% of claims reviewed, according to Case.
2. The Sin of No Proof ““ occurs when a company is unable to provide proof of claims. This is definite potential target for the FTC and could be subject to penalization.
3. The Sin of Irrelevance ““ refers to claims that are factually correct but essentially meaningless. For example, noting that a product is “CFC-free” when CFCs have been banned for years takes advantage of consumers’ lack of information.
4. The Sin of Hidden Tradeoff ““ focuses consumers on a single issue while ignoring or hiding other tradeoffs, causing the buyer to perceive the product’s environmental performance as better then it actually is.
5. The Sin of Vagueness ““ refers to claims that use meaningless terms. For example, one 100% petroleum brand listed “100% natural” on its label. When a person at the toll-free number was asked to substantiate the claim, the representative replied that oil comes out of the ground and was therefore “natural.”
6. The Sin of Lesser of Two Evils ““ occurs as a result of attempts to differentiate products as having the best environmental performance in their class. But can a case really be made for organic cigarettes?

Stricter Enforcement on the Horizon

The FTC ruled against just 37 false or misleading ads in the 1990s, and since then most of the agency’s limited budget has been directed toward education rather than enforcement. This may soon change, with William E. Kovacic, the new FTC chair, signaling a change in direction. Brooks Beard warned attendees to prepare for a crackdown on boundary-pushing marketers within the next few months.

FTC’s Green Guides for marketing claims are not law, but they are given some weight by the courts. The FTC is now considering revisions to its Green Guides governing environmental marketing claims. Adjustments could include closer scrutiny of the words “renewable,” “sustainable,” and possibly “local”; a reevaluation of the word “recyclable” given variations in regional recycling services; new standards for the use of green seals and labels; and guidance on how lifecycle assessment might fit into the claim-substantiation process.

Companies should also anticipate increasing action on the state level. The “Plaintiff’s Bar” is being referred to as next “big ticket” in this area; the search has begun for consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products to be included in class action suits.

What’s a Green Marketer to Do?

Green markers that are doing their job well are using language that attracts the “hard-core greens,” backing up their statements with detailed information made available on a website. Be aware, though, that it’s difficult to extol the virtues of one product without exposing others. Precision is recommended but, more importantly, don’t over do it; honesty and a little humility are the best policy. Case says it’s okay to be subtle upfront as long as you offer lots of additional information online or via phone hotlines, while Beard tells his legal clients to avoid broad claims altogether.

Environmental certifications are an additional tool for avoiding greenwashing. But with over 350 certification labels right now, navigating which one to use can be complicated in itself. Case and Beard both suggest working with those created by diverse stakeholder groups and verified by third parties.

Follow these basic guidelines (and the FTC’s revised Green Guides), and ye shall sin no more!

~Revi Schlesinger, RVN Consulting