“Yaak, ecological coffee. I don’t want that, " a family member recently announced during a hotel stay.
“We care about the planet” was written in big letters on the single-use paper cup.
“Hm, that’s interesting,” I said.
“Why is that - is it because you think the ecological coffee taste worse than the alternative?” I wondered.
I asked if my family member, whom I deeply trust, would try to explain the deeper roots of his resistance to ecological products.
My position was fairly neutral. I had no strong feelings for ecological products. I sometimes objected to the price tag for these products, though.
If social conditions and sustainability in the value chain outperform the non-ecological goods, paying a premium price for them makes no sense. Regulations, taxes, and VAT should make such goods the rational choice for consumers.
But then again, my family members’ resistance had very little to do with either price or the quality of ecological products.
His answer surprised me.
“To be honest,” he told me, “I guess it’s much due to a hotel owner who, sometime during the first decade of the millennium, forced ecological products on all his guests. “
He continued: “We were constantly reminded why we should worry more about our diet - skip meat, eat more vegetables, and go vegan and ecological.
So the hotel chain demonstratively put ecological products in front of people, and the framing was that we all should choose these IF WE CARE about the environment.
This is a classic example of shaming and telling people what they should worry about instead of asking them what they actually worry about.
My family member could easily have been an ecological coffee enthusiast under other circumstances.
But the hotel chain, by their well-intentioned climate communication, effectively made him a long-term ecological product-skeptic.
The suspicion of double standards
A while after the hotel chain rolled out the sustainability campaign, the CEO was all over the news flying a private jet to attend a sustainability summit.
And the CEO was posing at large parties, abundant with red meat and wines from the other side of the globe.
People couldn’t care less when the hotel chain started telling people to worry about water use and reuse their towels.
Not because people don’t care but because people dislike being told what to do - especially when they believe the company’s real intention is to save money.
It is all about identity!
Back to my family member: He had been told what he should worry about, and the messengers had acted arrogant.
In this post, I showed a few examples of this kind of messaging: https://www.pederspeaks.com/post/why-telling-people-what-to-worry-about-is-a-bad-idea
The problem isn’t that people don’t care - here’s the real problem.
I don’t believe the problem is that “people don’t care.” Instead, there are two issues:
We resist loss at all costs. The standard messaging around climate change is a story of everything we will lose to save the environment.
The average person simply doesn’t relate to the most prominent, most visible media personalities in climate communication. They are too loud, too extreme, and promote an unattainable lifestyle.
Instead, we need to shift our messaging to tell a powerful, positive story about the green shift that people actually want to be a part of.
Fortunately, many companies and organizations use a much more effective approach, and I will soon show you three great examples.
We are entering the Age of aspirational advertising.
Large-scale advertising came about in the 1950s. The main idea back then was a deficiency model. Most advertising and commercial messaging showed people what they didn’t have, who they weren’t - in many ways making people feel bad about themselves.
We are now moving into an age that advertisers and historians call “the age of aspirational advertising.”
Many of us have our basic needs covered, and we live in a historical time celebrating individuality.
So marketing in our time is more about identifying the goodness in people, their best potential, and calling that out in them. Modern advertising is about saying, “This is who we believe you are” or “This is what we believe you can become.”
This is a critical insight for every climate communicator. Every great story includes a break from the status quo, a struggle, change, and new outcomes.
To make people pay attention, we need to tell a story they want to be a part of and a story in which they become the hero. We need to convince people that by buying our products and services or buying into our ideas, they become a more genuine version of themselves.
Every message that doesn’t succeed in appealing to people’s identity or beliefs is bound to fail.
Three examples of effective environmental messaging that drive action
Example # 1: Orkla - Jordan Change
“Sustainable” toothbrushes used to look like this:
No one wanted to buy them, except maybe for a few climate activists.
The design shouts: “You should compromise with your comfort to save the planet.” it is a very effective way to make people shut their ears and keep buying the old stuff.
Orkla used knowledge of human psychology to develop a sustainable toothbrush design that fits well with the needs and identity of its target audience.
Jordan Change was launched last year and is available in most grocery stores in Norway and various stores across Europe. The toothbrush is just as convenient and user-friendly as other toothbrushes but provides several benefits for the user, the manufacturer, and the environment.
A replaceable brush head is only half what a regular toothbrush costs, making dental care more affordable.
And perhaps most importantly, plastic usage decreases by 82 percent when only replacing the toothbrush head rather than the entire toothbrush.
If the whole adult population of Norway switches to this solution, we will save 60 tons of plastic every time we change toothbrushes.
Additionally, the heads take up less space during transportation, which means that one truck can now transport what previously required three trucks.
We don’t need to shout out, “THIS IS SUSTAINABLE,” every time we sell a product or service that happens to be sustainable. We should be more concerned about addressing and resolving the audience’s pain points and worries in their everyday lives.
Example # 2: REI - Outdoor retail company making Black Friday a day for outdoor activity
REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) is an outdoor retail co-op that has effectively communicated its commitment to environmental stewardship.
They understand that their target audience, outdoor enthusiasts, cares deeply about protecting and preserving natural spaces, so they built a strong brand and loyal following by aligning their messaging with their customers' values and concerns.
REI's key to success: They care about the same things as their target audience and provide them with the tools and inspiration to make a difference in the fight against climate change.
All 178 stores, distribution locations, call centers, and headquarters close yearly on Black Friday. 16,000 employees are asked to spend time outside doing absolutely anything besides shopping that day.
In an interview with “Business Insider,” REI's chief customer officer Ben Steele said:
"What we've seen in the retail space is more and more organizations saying, 'What does it mean to lead with our purpose? What does it mean to lead with our values?'".
REI understands the evolving consumer expectation that organizations need to do more than just sell stuff.
He continues: "The next generation of people who love the outdoors may not have an outdoors to love in the same way,"
This is a message that, for other target groups, could be perceived as moralistic. However, REI knows its people well, and they build its messaging to resonate with its customers' core values, identity, and interest.
Example # 3: Don’t mess with Texas.
Starting in 1985, the Texas State Department of Highways and public transportation decided to try a different approach to make people stop littering along the highways.
Since primarily young men were trashing Texas highways, they decided to change their messaging and make it appeal to the masculine Texan identity to stop them from littering.
They identified the core values of the target audience - including strength, honor, and loyalty - and came up with the campaign “Don’t mess with Texas.”
The campaign has had varied results in recent years, but it was a game changer once the state authorities shifted the messaging from telling young me what they should worry about to telling them to stand up for themselves.
Between 1986 and 1990, highway litter dropped 72 percent.
Even if the campaign is not as effective today as it used to be, results show that it has played a significant role in communicating a long-term litter prevention message. The campaign’s 2013 report found that:
98% of Texas residents are familiar with the slogan
There has been a 34% reduction in visible roadside litter since 2009.
Adopt a highway
People can adopt their own piece of the highway and be responsible for keeping that 2-mile distance nice and clean. Suddenly it is not anyone else telling us what to worry about; it is us protecting our way of life.
Why does it work?
Don’t Mess with Texas speaks to local people in a way they can instantly connect with.
It appeals to their pride in their local community and helps them to ‘own’ the campaign and be proud of their achievements.
Lessons Learned from the Examples
From a behavioral economics perspective, people are often driven by emotions rather than rationality.
When someone tells us what to be afraid of, it can make us feel like we don't have control over the situation. This can lead to resistance and a reluctance to change, even if the information presented is accurate and well-intentioned.
It's more effective to ask people about their concerns and fears and listen to their responses.
Ultimately, the goal is to build a communication strategy rooted in empathy, understanding, and a genuine desire to listen and respond to the public's concerns.
Jordan Change, REI, and Don’t Mess with Texas are all examples of messaging rooted in the identity and aspirations of their target audience. That is exactly what makes them a success.
---
Next week, I'll post blog # 5 in a five-week mini-series on solutions, effective climate communication, and best practices!
Sign up underneath to get a weekly update on a radical new model for climate messaging and storytelling!
See you!
Комментарии