For Construction Product Manufacturers, Being Green Means Having Long-Term Vision

By Nick Glenn, The Green Ad Agency

I recently returned from a seminar in San Antonio regarding the “green issue” and what the architect is looking for. Great in theory, but there’s one thing wrong with the concept -- and it’s the reason this movement will be slow to go mainstream with most product manufacturers.

The problem is that the management vision of U.S. manufacturers tends to have a short-term focus while sustainability is a long-term concept. It requires someone in an organization to step outside the box and invest in the future. Best of luck because those sorts of decisions have to made by senior management, and the higher up you go the shorter the emphasis. At the top, the discussion is about shareholder appeasement, not sustainability. There may be some mavericks out there, but by and large, most senior managers take a rather conservative approach, with a small c.

Product manufacturers are concerned about monthly sales numbers and may be thinking as far next year. Their fiscal responsibility runs to immediate ROI, which is not conducive to making a long-term monetary commitment that will probably outlive their tenure. Plus the marketing guys have to go up against the manufacturing guys, who look at something like this as too much work, and anything that slows down the line is a bad thing. They are looking for ways to cut manufacturing costs, not the opposite.

That’s why even when manufacturers get into the green issue, they only go as far as Phase 1, acquiring a LEED Statement. They look at how their current products fit, and how they can present them as being green. To my mind that’s a short-term, band-aid approach, not a green strategy – but this is the point where most manufacturers stop and declare mission accomplished.

Appointing a “green czar” is another popular form of greenwashing. Moves like this usually amount to nothing more than window dressing – an attempt to be seen as green without truly making the kind of investment that would actually make a difference. I think it’s a contradiction where we are offered a way to truly innovate the key ingredient in any enduring brand and the adoption is spotty at best.

The seldom-reached Phase 2 is where you look at the long-term issue of sustainability and define your green strategy accordingly. A cradle-to-cradle approach is probably the best example of thoroughly maximizing your efforts with what can be called a true green strategy.

Manufacturers who embrace this approach are rare, but they will eventually be rewarded for it. Genuinely joining the green movement requires a thorough analysis of where you want your product to go. You need to fully investigate where the market is trending and see where you fit. Companies that do not commit to defining their green strategy today will pay the price in the future. It’s no different from any other market trend. You need to define your product strategy or you will be left behind.

Nick Glenn is President of The Green Ad Agency, which formed as an offshoot of The Ludlow Group, a Virginia Beach, Virginia based advertising and marketing agency with a 15-year track record of selling into the A/E/C community. He can be reached at (757) 463-4703 or by email: nick@thegreenadagency.com.