attitudes to sustainability a presentation to fdin april, 2007

Attitudes to sustainabilityA presentation to FDIN

April, 2007

© Dragon 1 Craven Hill London W2 3EN +44 (0)20 7262 4488 2

Agenda

• What’s changed in consumers eyes?

• Consumer general views

• Communicating the carbon story

• Food miles, local sourcing, Sustainability and ethics - finding a path through

• Key do’s and don’ts for brand owners

– Packaging

– Communication

What’s changed?


Things have changed

• Attitudes have changed across all segments. There is a greater awareness urgency and people feel compelled to act.

– Each group reported taking some form of simple action. Mostly recycling, switching lights off or turning electronics off standby.

“my views have definitely changed”

“I now recycle as absolutely everything whereas I didn’t used to” “I turn off the lights and switch things on standby”

– Change is perceived as being mainstream.

“I think everyone cares a lot more which is good”

“over the last 10 years I think we’ve realized what we’ve done to this planet”

…deep and continuing

“we can’t go back to normal again, we will be doing more in future”

Significant shift in attitude


Things have changed

• Being concerned about the environment is expected and respected

“recycling is a sign that you are an aware educated person”

“some people get embarrassed into it. If every country took responsibility others would be shamed into changing”

“it will just become a way of life”

“I’ve never been called a hardcore recycler… nah its good!”

It will become a way of life


Awareness drives change

• News media has been instrumental in changing attitudes, raising awareness and driving people to changing their behavior.

“I do more because I’m constantly reminded about it”

• Consumers get the impression that everyone else is doing it, and so are more inclined to take action themselves.

• Correlation between those who understand what carbon is, how their actions contribute to emissions and taking action

Media driving awareness and the need to act


Expected Change

• Consumers expect more change and have a strong appetite for solutions.

• Expect to be forced to take more action

“Social conscience will become more important in the future”

“Thinking about the environment will become second nature”

“We will be recycling more”

“more packaging will be biodegradable, your binbag will be biodegradable”

“it will be made easier”

“we can’t go back to normal we will be doing more in the future”

“I’m hoping the next generation will think like this from the start”

“can probably see things being very different in the future”

Enforced action


What’s in it for me

• Desire to be more responsible is wide spread but personal cost and convenience are still key.

“you want to see your energy bill go down if you use low energy light bulbs”

“public transport is so expensive, I got on a bus to go a short distance and it was £2”

“I would consider buying an environmentally friendly car because its easy to do”

• Consumers want it all. They don’t want to have to choose between environmentally friendly and other benefits.

“I’d like Persil to make an environmentally friendly product that works as well as the current one”

‘if Ecover can do it then the major manufacturers can”

No compromise

General views


Values shift

• General values are moving away from focus on the individual towards focus on the broader community

• There seems to be a growing sense of social conscience and increased awareness of how our own actions affect others.

• There is an expectation that everyone needs to play their part including business.

• Companies which are just for profit are not acceptable anymore. Consumers want to believe that brands believe in doing the right thing, which is why they will so easily find fault of values aren’t expressed consistently.

A growing social conscience


The younger generationleads the way

Age differences

Older

– Harking back to the good old days.

“I think in the shops you will go back to days of having a paper bag”

– Less knowledgeable about the issues. Didn’t understand the carbon & global warming as well

– Need a greater level of awareness

Younger

– Modern, just the way it should be.

– Much clearer understanding of broader issues and the importance of carbon emissions etc.

– More inclined to take action


Big challenge to educate and drive behaviour change

Attitude vs Behaviour

Just attitude

– Pro consumer choice

– More focused on self and their needs

– Value democracy and freedom of choice above concern for others.

– Didn’t understand detail of carbon and issues as well.

Behaviour

– Pro choice editing

– More conscious of community

– Better understanding of the impact that they have on others

– Stronger social conscience

– Understood issues better


No one is doing enough

• Consumers who were more concerned felt that not enough was being done.

“the government is behind the time and just responds to comments in the media”

“why can’t we have paper bags like in the US”

“If Norway and Switzerland can have clean cities why can’t we”

“there is just no need for all that packaging”

“why do they even bother selling non eco friendly light bulbs”

We can do so much more


Have to fly

• No group was prepared to give up travel

• Holiday and travel is another form of self actualisation (as is caring for the environment)

“I work too hard to scrimp on holidays”

“Its too difficult and expensive to holiday in the UK”

“Its important to see other cultures”

“Its part of who I am”

“We’ve got used to it now”

“I’d be very angry if the Tory Party charged be for extra flights”

“I’ll recycle but I won’t change from a plane to a train”

Leisure travel is sacrosanct


Fair Share

• People seem to think in terms of a personal debit/ credit system

– People are prepared to save carbon emissions and money by changing light bulbs and recycling in order to fly off on holiday guilt free.

• Its frustrating and demotiving if others use more than fair share:

“if China doesn’t change it will wipe out any difference we can make”

“Its disheartening when countries like China and America aren’t doing their bit”

• But the thought of Personal Carbon allowance is strongly rejected.

“Definitely not, its too intrusive and too big brother”

“Its also not fair that the rich get away with polluting”

Those most responsibleshould do more

Carbon


Carbon?

• Consumers who were taking most action understood carbon and CO2 in the most detail. Older consumers and those who were non behaviourists had very poor understanding of what is meant by Carbon,Carbon footprint of CO2

• Those who didn’t understand described it as

– Poisonous gas

– Bad

– Comes from cars

– Pollution

• Those who did understand described it as:

– Understand difference between C, CO2, and CO. Some understand cause of global warming and how it works.

• Most don’t understand carbon offset. Those who do don’t trust it.

“how do we really know what they are doing with their money”

• Generally carbon was seen as being very important

“if we don’t cut carbon emissions we will lose the South East of England”

Limited understanding


Carbon labels

• There was concern that extra labelling would be over complicating packs. But carbon labels were seen as desirable and useful

• Airfreight raises awareness but duplicated country of origin. Airfreight is potentially a ‘benefit’ but it needs to go further. Consumers wanted more information than just mode of transport.

• Total carbon cost (transport, production and disposal) was the most desired as it offered a good balance of complete information on the most important issue.


Carbon labels

• The most active consumers were interested in a total environmental impact number but were unsure as to how this would practically be achieved

• Any Carbon communication needs have context, be easy to relate to and compare Eg.

– A % of your fair daily amount

– In comparison to another relevant brand

– =2 trees or leaving the tv on standby for a week

– Reduced vs last year.

Local vs organic vs fair trade…


Local, Fairtrade, Organic or Food Miles?

• Consumers form a stronger connection to systems that have a human face.

• Fairtrade is more emotive than organic because of the human story behind it.

• Environmentally friendly products (packaging, low carbon) are important because of our commitment to a broader community but ideally would be something that they shouldn’t need to think about.

• Local is the most engaging positioning for food because it has all the right elements. It is strongly linked with quality and freshness (beyond organic), it has the human element, you probably know the farmer and are supporting the local community, and it reduces food miles.

“its lovely to wander down to a local store and get some fresh produce

Its more natural its fresher you probably know the person selling to your”

“the farmers market s nice for a treat but its more expensive”

• The ideal would be Local for anything that can be grown in the UK and Fairtrade for anything that has to be grown elsewhere (eg coffee, bananas). All should be as efficiently packaged and organic.

Highly emotive and engaging

The role of brands, retailers manufacturers and government


Premium brand trust

• Consumers perceive a strong correlation between, ethical & responsible positionings and brands that are premium, quality modern and trust worthy.

• The downside is responsible can be seen as being out of reach, not for me because it is too expensive. An opportunity exists for for brands to take ethics and responsibility to the mainstream and for mainstream/ value brands to increase perceived value.

• Consumers will only pay more of there are additional benefits. Although they have been trained to expect responsible goods to be more expensive, they don’t feel the extra price is justified

They trust, but do not want to pay more


Brands connected to responsibility

More ResponsibleLess responsible

Quality

Everyday

M&SWaitrose

Yeo Valley

Jordans

Innocent

Sainsbury’s

Cadbury

Tesco

British BakeriesDanone

Unilever

McDonalds

Nestle

Kraft

Asda


Choice editing

• Responsible brands are overwhelmingly trusted to make choices for us. M&S and Waitrose are seen as the most responsible brands and consumers trust them to make the right choices.

• Big brands, retailers are expected to have to do something because they are in a position to make a bigger difference. Indeed they are seen as having an obligation to do something.

“Supermarkets should stop selling harmful products”

“I’m happy they are phasing out normal light bulbs…that will force us to change which is good”

Showing commitment gains consumer trust


Choice editing

• Consumers who took less action were less keen on losing choice

“It should be down to the individual to decide”

“we live in a democratic society and you should have freedom of choice”

• They did still accept that change is inevitable.

“You want to help the environment but also you don’t have any choice it’s kind of forced on you”

…not less choice


Responsibility is a big word

• Interpretation of responsible behaviour by large companies is broad and has lots of overlap. From how staff are treated to packaging to fairtrade to having strong values.

• If you are going to be ‘responsible’ you have to go the whole way. Ethical positions in one area can be undermined by weaknesses in others.

• Launch across the line not just line extensions. Make sure you sort your is as environmentally friendly as possible, it can support or let down very broad responsible positionings, including healthy, organic, modern.

• Historical behaviours can be a boon (Cadbury’s and Bourneville Village) or baggage (Nestle and Baby Milk Action)

All or nothing


We’ve all got a part to play

• Consumer views about who should be responsible for leading change was driven by a sense of fairness and practicality.

“we all need to do our bit”

• Big business is seen as in a position to make much more of a difference than the individuals who are seen as relatively powerless

“people don’t have enough money, but businesses make big money and they should change things”

“manufacturers should definitely be reducing their packaging”

• Government is expected to create the right conditions for change

“retailers aren’t going to encourage us to buy environmentally friendly products unless its profitable…its down to the government”

“they’ve got to make it easier”

Government and big businesses need to lead


We’ve all got a part to play: Manufacturers

• Improve packaging

– make everything recyclable and recycled

– Communicate clearly with consumers on pack, how do I recycle it?

• Bring ethical to masses. Consumers expect ethical to be more expensive, but concern runs across mainstream demographics.

• Don’t just launch an eco friendly SKU, make changes across the range.

– Consumers want to believe that you really care. Not making changes across the range reduces credibility.

“launching a new product is a bit of a cop out, they should be able to do it for the whole range”

Educate and improve


We’ve all got a part to play: Retailers

• Consumers expect retailers to screen the worst offenders. Any product below a certain threshold shouldn’t be stocked especially if an alternative exists.

“why do we even need normal light bulbs anymore”

– Supermarkets should just sort it out and make sure everything is environmentally friendly”

• M&S and Waitrose were the retailers most trusted to be make the edit choice and maintain ethical/ environmental quality

– This was closely linked to perceptions of premium and quality. Asda were seen as too cheap to have a credible ethical positioning

“I wouldn’t buy Fairtrade from Asda”

Retailers can afford to takesome brave steps


We’ve all got a part to play: Government

• Seen as in the best position to drive change. Large and not driven by profit

“government legislation is needed, we have to force builders to change because they won’t on their own”

• Need to make it easier and cheaper for people to change

“they can try to make things more attractive to consumers, for instance if you are upgrading your house to be environmentally friendly then cut the council tax for 2 years”

• But… consumers don’t trust the governments motives or capability

– Stealth taxes, don’t trust green taxes will be used for the right thing

– Nonsensical green taxes - airport duty won’t change anything

– Lack of coherent thinking.

“What do they want us to do. They want to fine us for not recycling but then only collect the rubbish every 2 weeks”

– Should be leading by example but don’t

“If Tony Blair won’t stop flying then why should I?”

Impose change

Do’s and Don’ts for brands

Packaging


Make messages tangible or they will be meaningless

Making something more tangible massively increases consumer understanding

• Packaging is very impactful as a tangible expression of brand values. Consumers place a lot of importance on packaging as a piece of communication because they can touch it and see it with their own eyes.

– Can present your brand as modern and aware or can let down an otherwise strong positioning

• Communication about environmental impact is best understood if it compared to something meaningful, eg equivalent of saving 2 trees, or switching your TV off standby for a month.

• Local government is the tangible face of government

• Recycling and waste disposal is a weekly touch point. How this is handled can affect perceptions of brands and governments.

To have meaning, they need to understand the

implications


Overpackaging

• All of the consumers were very vocal about packaging. Consumers become aware of poor packaging when they try to recycle it. Not great for driving re-purchase.

• They get frustrated with over packaged goods or products that can’t be recycled easily.

“I don’t want plastic wrapped apples”

• Poor packaging can undermine a “responsible” positioning. A real risk of you ‘think’ you are responsible

• Consumers see good packaging as just something that manufacturers should be doing.


Keep messages on pack simple

• It’s the most obvious and tangible touch point. Consumers can see for themselves how responsible or modern you really are.

• Touch point journey

– Point of Purchase: Have clear communication. As simple as 100% recycled or from sustainable sources.

– In use: stories so consumers can feel good about what they are doing.

• E.g. Green Green Tea

– Post use: ease guilt and make recycling easy if you don’t want to risk losing a repurchase

• A license to break the rules, innovate and connect with consumers

Messages should help nothinder


Use the right language

• Responsibility vs. sustainability

• Use words that have meaning, rather than introducing a whole new vocabulary

• Educate to create awareness of new language for it to become the norm

Known, not new language


Winning Packaging Alternatives

PhysiqueActivities

Organisation

Products

Locations

Employees

Performance

High AppealFarm boxesStrong paper bagsDeposit return schemesDoor step milk deliveries (romantic, nostalgia, local)Recycled materialsRecyclable materialsSeasonal sections in stores Pay for disposable bagsPay for reusable bagsBiodegradable plasticCompostable Loose fruit and vegReusable packaging

Refill packs In home dispensers.Different packaging formats

Low Appeal

Light weight packagingCrushable plastic


Tell them the impact

• Tangible descriptions help consumers understand the relevance and impact of their choices and actions.

• Compostable is better understood than biodegradable because it tells consumers what they need to do.

Help them close the loop


Get the basics right

• Don’t underestimate the power of the basics.

• Simple clear communication is welcomed by consumers.

Not being transparent breeds mistrust. What are

you hiding?


Share values through stories

• Engage the consumers with the story behind your action.

• Storytelling is a great way to get across complicated information and build an evocative image.

Involve them in your journey

Messaging


Desirable Sustainable Actions

PhysiqueActivities

Organisation

Products

Locations

Employees

Performance

High AppealLower carbon cost through efficient transport & productionSustainable energy sourcesConsuming sustainable foodBiodiversityPreserving countrysideReducing pesticides/fertilisersNot depleting resourcesTreating producers fairlyPreserving traditional varieties of ingredientsReducing food wasteProduction closer to point of consumption.Reduce packaging & waste.Treating animals humanelyConsuming more local foodNot cutting down rainforests to produce palm oil and soyaLower carbon cost through renewable energy in production

Preserving the countryside

Low Appeal

Eating less meat Growing your own food


• Plan A

Show Commitment

Showing commitment breeds consumer trust


No token gestures

• Travelers Insurance

• Striking image but its only backed up a by a discount for hybrid drivers.

• What else do they do or as consumers see it:

“Is it just another marketing exercise”

Consumers will see through it


Make their contribution meaningful

• Sainsbury’s Fairtrade commitment is well support by the thought of 1000 Fairtrade bananas being sold every minute.

• It makes it clear to the consumer that the choice they make has an impact.

Help them understand the impact of their actions


Too soon for subtlety

• The Energy Saving Trust ask consumers to make a commitment but what does 20% really mean.

• Consumers were left with concerns about how much will they would have to, and how difficult it would be for them to cut 20%

What do all the numbers really mean


Be bold and clear

• Café Direct uses a simple clear message to support both their quality and their commitment to responsibility.

Transparency wins through


Ambiguity leads to doubt

• Nestle says that choosing Nescafe Partners blend helps farmers but how much is really given back?

If it sounds like a token gesture then it might as well

be


Key conclusions

• Change in attitude is significant and is expected to increase

• Consumers want to do more than just hold a view, they do want to do more

• They want help taking action, but without compromise

• Consumers would pay more, but only if there were additional benefits

• Brands need to address the whole agenda not just specific aspects

• Consumers absolutely expect companies to improve

• Consumers see companies more as citizens with responsibilities than money making machines, and expect them to behave as such

This is just the beginning

time to changeDorothy Mackenzie [email protected]

Telephone +44 (0)20 7262 4488 www.dragonbrands.com

attitudes to sustainability a presentation to fdin april, 2007

Documents

craven hill london w2

attitude slide

future enforced action

way of life slide

expected change consumers

action media driving

standby change

future im