Successful PR strategies are built on transparency and trust. While it may be hard to meet the changing demands of the public, it’s possible to cater to them while remaining honest and open about your progress.
A prevalent demand from consumers is that more companies and brands are environmentally responsible. However, this can lead to overpromising and underdelivering — both damaging actions that will be noticed by an audience that is aware of 'greenwashing'. Learn how to stray away from greenwashing in your PR strategy while expressing a true commitment to sustainability.
Greenwashing is the act of exaggerating, embellishing, or lying about the eco-friendliness of a product or process. With the rise in demand for environmentally conscious brands, it’s tempting to pander to what consumers want — especially in the face of PR issues.
However, consumers are also becoming far more savvy at spotting greenwashing. While 73 percent of Australian consumers report an expectation of all businesses to be environmentally responsible, 72 percent also don’t believe that all brands are forthcoming about their true impact.
"...72 percent also don’t believe that all brands are forthcoming about their true impact."
The harsh reality is that these consumers aren’t wrong. More than half of the brands reviewed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) were found to be greenwashing. To combat this misinformation, the ACCC has set forth anti-greenwashing guidelines. In them, greenwashing is outlined as:
Australian companies making misleading statements regarding eco-friendliness is a result of the need to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers and partners. However, they aren’t falling for it.
Modern consumers care about sustainability so much that it’s making a fundamental shift in market dynamics. PR is all about managing the public perception of brands, so firms and professionals should take great care to avoid greenwashing when creating strategies.
To create a transparent, mutually beneficial relationship with the public, your PR strategy needs to be open and honest.
"To create a transparent, mutually beneficial relationship with the public, your PR strategy needs to be open and honest."
To connect customer demand with effective PR, you have to:
In general, you should have a clear idea of what your target audience wants to see from your brand. To communicate your efforts to cater to them effectively, make sure you are using the following steps.
Often, reports on eco-friendliness are framed to put the brand in a positive light. While you certainly want to highlight the good that your business is doing for the environment, inflating results is a dishonest practice.
"...inflating results is a dishonest practice."
Instead, track the results of any eco-initiatives fairly. Don’t try to manipulate the results to seem more favourable. This won’t help your public image or the environment. It’s best to approach data analysis with the goal of identifying the most impactful initiatives. This way, you can substantiate any claims you make in PR statements and provide transparent reporting.
Although it may be tempting to gloss over or completely erase the negative environmental impacts, it’s not wise to do so. Transparency is crucial to build trust with your audience, as well as learn from the company’s mistakes and grow moving forward.
"Transparency is crucial to build trust with your audience..."
Address both positive and negative aspects, including any challenges, setbacks, and areas for improvement. For example, your company could be carbon-neutral by purchasing credits and reducing energy usage, but your true initiative could be to cut back even further and become carbon-positive. An acknowledgment of shortcomings with an actionable plan is typically received better than trying to cover up mistakes.
When you describe how you are going to mitigate any negative environmental impacts, you should have a detailed plan of how that will take place.
"...describe how you are going to mitigate any negative environmental impacts..."
Prepare to describe it in terms that your audience can easily digest and conceptualise. This way, they will be able to picture the future of the company's environmental efforts with ease. This can quell any fears they may have that environmental action isn’t being taken.
Crisis response is an integral part of the PR system. Part of your PR strategy should include a guideline for responding to negative publicity regarding environmental issues.
"Crisis response is an integral part of the PR system."
While avoiding feeding into incessant negative comments about environmental impacts, you can thoughtfully address the shortcomings. Again, the tangible steps you will take to mitigate negative impacts are crucial here. With time and actual results, people will be more willing to forgive.
A dead giveaway for greenwashing is slapping a bunch of sustainability synonyms on a press release with a green logo and calling it a day.
"A dead giveaway for greenwashing is slapping a bunch of sustainability synonyms on a press release..."
If you're going to use eco buzzwords and imagery, be sure to back that up with claims. Have a solid understanding of what each term means so that it is not misused or misinterpreted.
Demand for eco-friendliness is not likely to diminish. Your PR team needs to adopt a mindset of continuous learning. You can future-proof your career in PR by staying abreast of innovations and shifts in environmental responsibility.
"Your PR team needs to adopt a mindset of continuous learning."
The disruptions in this field are fast-moving, and you need to be able to keep up and implement them into your strategies.
This way, you can stay adaptable to any environmental PR situation. Your end goal is to propel clients and companies toward authentic sustainability practices instead of greenwashing.
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