Brands are being urged by a London-based brand management agency to keep their messages simple if they want to truly engage consumers with their new eco-friendly campaigns.

Brand Reputation believes that many brands are using over-complicated terminology and jargon in their campaigns in an effort to impress consumers with their new green initiatives – but, as a result, are failing to engage with consumers and could actually be damaging their brand reputation as a result.

Graeme Crossley (pictured below), MD of Brand Reputation, said: “With consumers becoming more environmentally conscious, brands are under increasing scrutiny to show that they are taking steps to become more environmentally friendly, with many simply jumping on the ‘green bandwagon’ because their competitors are doing so and they need to keep up. Suddenly, everyone seems to be using the same terminology in their campaigns – and the crazy thing is that most consumers don’t really understand any of it, so the only benefit to brands comes from the ‘me too’ message.”

Crossley is advising brand owners to pay close attention to the UK’s The Marketing Society May Day Alliance – a partnership between The Marketing Society and Prince Charles’ May Day Trust – which held its inaugural meeting in July. The alliance is creating an advertising code of practice with the aim of demystifying environmental issues for consumers.

"One of the most important outcomes from the May Day Alliance is the concerted effort to reduce greenwashing by brands. At the agency we find that the most damaging activity that a brand can embark on is going green ‘for the sake of green’. Without implementing CSR strategies which permeate the entire business, any activity will be seen as greenwash and disregarded by consumers and key influencers, rendering the activity useless,” Crossley added.

Graeme Crossley