Happy Independence Day :)

Is GREEN the color for Future Brands?

Imagine a Coke in Green color? Couldn’t! Well that is exactly how it is surprising the entire marketing world. Brands which believed in Red as the color are all going green for the getting eco-friendly, socially responsible and other strategic perspectives.

You must know about the Ferrari in Verde (Green) which was unveiled as a newest creation at a recently held Motor Show in Geneva. I picked it from an article that, In the 1990s when the Maranello car maker’s F1 team and race car appeared in a colour that was not Rosso Corsa, Italian for ‘racing red’ the country’s national racing colour, it triggered a wave of sadness that engulfed all Ferrari fanatics.

Lot has been said & read about the Color Red. Studies show that people outperform in their respective fields if they wear color red. Be it Julia Roberts walking a red carpet at Oscars or Michael Jordan appearing on a glistening basketball court in a solid red jersey. Red is been associated with power, assertiveness and dominance. The details can be read on my previous post on Cymbolism.

Asked a specialist, what marketing has to do with a most common color used in sports, national flags and almost in maximum brands from various categories. The categories from BFSI, Telecom, Retail, Infra all have been using red. In brand conversations, we at 30TH FEB have been emphasizing on the specificity of colors. I have been telling my clients time & again – about ifs & whys of the colors I use in their Brands Creation. We explain on why a color is a strong character of their brand story.

Earlier too I have posted about Visualization and its importance for human psyche. Almost 80% of visual information is related to colour. Over the time, Brands have developed a legacy about their elements like logo, color etc. Think of brands like Johny Walker, Coca-Cola, Marlboro – they all take their colors very seriously. In fact, even Santa Claus wore green before Coke began to promote Santa in red garb in 1950s.

And now we see Videocon going green! Brands are talking about Green is in. Environment Concern is talking a place in marketing and it is shaping up big time. Have you noticed the Idea Ads – they fascinate me. The way they say ‘save paper’ is amazing. Not only do they leave the strong message they also get a place in the Customer minds as a socially & environmentally responsible brand. Nokia recycle TVC is another great way for going green.

Though red is popular and very close of human tendencies and may be that’s why all the brands scream red in their TVCs, Outdoors, Print & electronic media. Is the trend of red shifting?

Lets do it this way. Imagine the leading red brands – and you will hit right on – Vodafone, Airtel, Virgin, Mc Donalds, Big FM, Radio Mirchi etc. The design experts like Sujata Keshavan , MD, Ray & Keshavan. “Red is one of the most practically reliable and stable colours and no client rejects red. It is a mass colour and that’s a challenge. One can end up using the 134th shade of red.”

An article says, “Although nowadays colours in marketing mainstream are hues of eco green, purity blue and calm pink, red still boasts some serious power when it comes to brands. For one it’s the quickest way to get eyeballs.”

My question here is – Are we ready to go green?

10 Commandments of Branding & Marketing in 2010

With the Commencement of 2010, lets explore the 10 Commandments of Branding & Marketing.....they are surely not the things but they are going to be the inevitable things!

Green Marketing....!

Green is in………

Yes, with the years of hue & cry about the ozone depletion, mankind has finally realized the importance of going green & keeping green. With the concept getting popular in government as well as private organizations, how can a marketer restrain from that. Green Marketing is an upcoming phenomenon and slowly organizations are adopting this environment friendly way of marketing. Green Marketing is marketing & promotion of those products which are presumably environment friendly and do not have any negative effects to the environment. Though Green is popular, still there is lot of confusion about what exactly is defined as Green marketing. Various social & retail oriented definitions co-exist and it is often also known as Environmental or Ecological marketing.

Apart from manufacturing products which are environment friendly, more & more corporate houses are now entering a phase of Green Premises which is considered as an upcoming CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) fad. In such buildings, they claim that all kinds of waste is recycled hence causing zero environmental loss. Latest being the ITC Green Centre in Gurgaon which is been awarded the Platinum Green Building rating.

Researchers are working on solutions to improve the consumer appeal towards the green marketing & green products. Paper Bags is one of the most accepted environment friendly marketing tool which is accepted by the world. Still the developing countries fight to get rid of polythene. Sustainable Marketing is one such is a unique community of sustainable and green marketing entrepreneurs – making connections to each other — and to customers. Sustainable Marketing is communities of people helping each other get better marketing for their green businesses, using the network effect, and the power of the internet, to share knowledge, connections, and profit.

The concept is still in developing stage, it holds lot of good and people have shown lot of acceptance even if certain products are slightly expensive. The purpose is clear and leads to good environment & good health – directly or indirectly. It’s clearly time to Go Green….