Most companies are wasting their environmental investment – at least as far as reputation goes: while they may be doing, and saying, a lot – the public doesn’t buy their story. Except, that is, Toyota’s.
click on picture to enlarge
source: MapChange 2008
What’s going on?
Let’s look at GM and Toyota. GM is seen as a laggard, almost as bad as Esso. Toyota, on the other hand, has the highest perceived environmental value, with quite a good relationship between perception and actions.
How can this be? Well, for one thing, Toyota has gone public for years with a clear vision understandable to all: “Our goal: zero emissions” which they then backed up with a car that was clearly a step change towards that goal. So, a clear goal, and clear movement toward that goal. In fact, they quickly came out with a hybrid Lexus, and have a commitment to having a hybrid option for each car model they have on the market today.
And GM? Well, leaving aside that there was a terrific film called “Who killed the electric car” blaming GM for withdrawing electric cars from California, GM has had no such clear and consistent positioning in the environment. As a consequence the actions they take, and by all accounts they are undertaking quite a few, have little resonance.
And this is where most companies lose value through their environmental activities: rather than give a clear, understandable (and preferably inspiring) vision against which they measure performance, they speak to how they are reducing negative impacts. The frame is already negative (“we may be doing a bit less bad than our competitors”) and it requires a great deal of work on the consumer side to understand whether the information is relevant and significant.
Should companies care? A 5% change in a company’s reputation is equivalent to 1-5% change in their market value according to the Research Institute at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
So, do it right, and you build good will and increase sales. Do it wrong, and you strip value from your brand. So far, there’s only one company doing it right.
ren-new works with you to increase the value you get from the environment – better for your profits, better for the planet. Contact us to find out how!
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