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Green backs…I mean banks

Posted in Marketing, Mel Varley, Latest reporters' blogs July 4th, 2007 by Melinda Varley

Who would have ever thought that the name of a colour would prove to be such a successful marketing tool?

The term ‘green’ has been waved around by marketers as if it were a white flag in a war. Only problem is, simply saying the term will certainly not mean a cease fire during our war with mother nature.

This week, two major highs street banks, HSBC and Barclays have launched major ‘green’ initiatives including Barclays ‘green’ credit card Breathe and HSBC’s ‘green’ current account. Both banks promise their products are made with the environment and climate change in mind but is it really enough to make a difference?

We all saw what happened with the RED campaign, launched by Bono and supported by some very wealthy brands such as American Express and Motorola. But the campaign cost more money then it actually raised and drew black clouds over the whole ‘large corporations can save the world’ premise.

Virgin Money has also launched its own ‘green’ initiatives but unfortunately saying you are ‘green’ only raises your profile and does not actually cut carbon emissions, stop the rain and floods, reduce waste (not by much anyway) or put an end to our over consumption of cheap flights and expensive cars.

While ‘green’ may raise awareness that a company is at least thinking about their impact and carbon footprints, does it only trick consumers into thinking they are actually doing something about it and making a contribution?