Marketers warned against making false eco-claims
Companies trying to ‘out-green’ each other in the battle for consumers’ hearts and minds are creating a potentially dangerous minefield for marketers, warns a new study from Getty Images.
Getty, which specialises in the creation and distribution of visual images, has launched its latest MAP (What Makes A Picture) report today, in which it identifies the long-term trend of companies wanting more environment-related pictures.
The report notes that marketers have latched on to the world’s growing environmental consciousness, or ideals of what it terms ‘aspirational environmentalism’, and advises brands against “greenwashing” the consumer.
“When it comes to the visual language of the environment, we are in danger of killing it as a meaningful symbol with visual cliché,” said Lewis Blackwell, creative advisor of Getty Images.
“The first lesson we must learn in order to grab any attention is to make ‘Death to Environmentalism’ our mantra and kill off the clichés of ecology.”
The study, which has been undertaken in partnership with Yankelovich Research, concludes that consumers will be demanding authenticity in 2008 and will rally against false advertising claims as eco-issues become more prevalent to their daily lives.
Rebecca Swift, global creative planning director at Getty Images, said: “With multi-billions being spent on commercial communications that are now appropriating and even preaching values from a highly volatile, political, area of public debate, environmentalism is both powerful and dangerous stuff for marketers to play with next year.
“Imagery has the ability to convey this political and emotive issue in a way that makes it real for individuals and make what can be such a huge and complex issue relevant for all of us on a personal level. Pictures of the ice caps and polar bears will not resonate with consumers in the future – they need to be able to connect with the issue.”
The findings follow a pledge by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to crack down on ‘greenwash’ in advertising at the end of last year. ASA chairman Lord Smith has committed to closely police advertisers against exaggerating or making false claims relating to green credentials.
In the last year alone, the ASA has banned a number of ads for making false or misleading green claims, including Citroën, npower, Mitsubishi, Ryanair, Lexus and easyJet, as previously reported by mad.co.uk.
The Map Report is designed to be used as a research tool for anyone using images as part of marketing and related communications. Getty claims to have the industry’s largest source of visual data.
Blackwell concludes: “Marketers shouldn’t preach what they or the consumer doesn’t really practice; they need to be positive, pleasing, entertaining, with messages that are environmentally sensitive.”
| Bookmark with: |
