10 Most Creative Eco-Friendly Marketing Campaigns

10 Most Creative Environmentally Friendly Marketing Campaigns

I work in a company that has a very green profile. As an experienced digital marketing manager, I am responsible for coming up with all of our online marketing campaigns.

Inspiration is the alpha & omega to succeed. As online marketing has been happening for decades already, there is no point in reinventing the wheel.

In fact, I had zero problems finding many great examples for Black Friday, Christmas, or Easter. But when I tried to research creative marketing campaigns for eco-friendly products, I could not find any. All the information that I could find were either non-related to what I really wanted to find, or simply poor.

In this article, I will give you examples of successful green marketing campaigns that will (hopefully) inspire you.

It took me many hours to source these ads, so please be nice to me in the comment section! 😉

10 Most Creative Eco-Friendly Marketing Campaigns
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Table of Contents

Funny sustainable marketing campaigns (both videos and banners)

1: Carlsberg renewable beer bottle

Carlsberg.wastefree.bottle
Photo: Carlsberg.com

Carlsberg is brilliant at finding innovative ways to reduce their environmental footprint as a large beer company. This ad is smart, but they are already selling plastic-free beer packaging (that I have tested and reviewed).

2: IKEA charges money for plastic bags

Photo: IKEA.com

There are three clear reasons why I find this advertisement to be powerful and extremely clever:

1) They are now making you pay for the bag (extra revenue).
2) They justify the extra income by saying that you should limit your plastic pollution.
3) IKEA will also get a lot of goodwill because they are now “giving to charity” as they give five cents to Tree Canada for every bag sold.

It might look simple, but this advertisement is actually genius.

3: Hyundai: “Your turn, Elon!”

Hyundai.Elon.Musk
Funny green commercial from Hyundai. Photo: Youtube Screenshot

When the South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai produced the world’s first electronic SUV, they sent a clear message to one of their competitors. “Elon” refers to the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk. 🙂

So simple, yet so powerful. This also illustrates that a green marketing campaign does not necessarily need to highlight that the consumer will leave a smaller carbon footprint by buying their services/products. This statement clearly shows that Hyundai is doing an awful lot within green innovation.

4: Prius: Don`t leave a footprint

Photo: Toyota.com/smintbillboard.blogspot.com

This one is cool. I was actually a big fan of Toyota Prius back in the days. I recently sold my Pruis from 2008 to finance a fully electronic car.

5: Various ads from World Wildlife Fund

These WWF ads are clever and sad at the same time:

WWF has more or less only one “business model”: to make sure that people care about the environment and all animals. Due to the nature of that business model, they are forced to use eco-friendly messaging in their advertisement. However, there are loads of inspiration you can take from some of these amazing ads.

6: Lacoste: swapping the famous crocodile with endangered animals [“Save Our Species”]

This is, by far, my favorite marketing campaign for green products. Whoever is responsible for marketing in Lacoste should have received a solid pay rise after coming up with this brilliant idea.

I will explain the marketing idea below the picture, but this is how it looked like:

Photo: Lacoste.com/Savethespecies.org

What was the main idea behind the campaign?

There are many endangered animals in the world. Lacoste wanted to give them some extra attention.

As the shirts were of a limited edition, that also translated into a message of: “There are not many shirts available, but there are definitely not many sea turtles left either.“ I love the power of that messaging.

Lacoste even wrote on their website that “the number of polos made of each species represents the number remaining in the wild.” (Source)

The profit from the campaign was shared with a non-profit organization called IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

7: Sea Shepherd: Please don`t choke the marine animals to death!

Just like WWF, Sea Shepherd is a non-profit organization that works towards a pollution-free nature. I found this ad very powerful:

Photo: seashepherd.org

Source (seasheperd.org).

Enough pictures. Let’s look at some smart video campaigns! 🙂

Thoughtful video campaigns

8: Coca-Cola Introducing PlantBottle™

Why did this campaign succeed?

First and foremost because they highlight a problem that “everyone” is aware of; plastic trash in nature. This is what appeals to people.

The reason for that is quite simple: people do not understand a graph that illustrates how much CO2 that can be found in the atmosphere. But everyone feels bad when they see a sea turtle that is being choked to death by a plastic bag.

Is this product really eco-friendly?

Meh.

In the video, the woman says that “the product contains up to 30% renewable material”. Therefore, I would not say that this product makes the world a (much) better place. However, I do acknowledge that Coca-Cola try to make their packaging more eco-friendly. It’s a start.

Several publications actually blamed the soda company for greenwashing. One website, called ibtimes.com, wrote a very interesting article with the following headline: “Coca-Cola Company Busted For ‘Greenwashing’: PlantBottle Marketing Exaggerated Environmental Benefits, Says Consumer Report”.

In order words: you can take inspiration from this marketing campaign. However, many people will still claim that it was nothing but greenwashing.

8: Patagonia`s first ever TV advertisement

You might have heard of the apparel giant Patagonia. They are famous for offering high-quality clothes for people that want to explore nature. Throughout the 44 first years of business, they did not launch a single marketing campaign! Imagine that!

In 2017, they decided to break that pattern. They actually decided to create a 1 minute long TV commercial that cost many million dollars to create. The unique thing about this ad is that it did not feature their clothes at all. In fact, Patagonia used the whole campaign to highlight the need to protect America’s public lands.

This is the video called: “Why Patagonia is Fighting for Public Lands”

And you can read the whole incredible story on forbes.com.

Will this type of non-commercial marketing campaign work for any green company?

No, it would not. This is a very special type of angle that does not work for most commercial companies. However, I did include it on the list as I really admire what Patagonia did.

9: Kia and their superbowl commercial in 2017

Kia launched a new electric car just before the Superbowl in 2017. They made a funny commercial starring Melissa McCarthy in many situations.

Superbowl commercials are very often funny, but this is almost unique. You will understand why when you watch it:

“It`s hard to be an eco-warrior, but it`s easy to drive like one”.

10: Beyond Meat: Website presentation

I also wanted to include one of the best websites I know about. Beyond Meat is a plant-based meat option that specializes in offering hamburgers without meat. On their front page, they manage to include all the useful information on their homepage:

Beyond Burger website. Screenshot: beyondmeat.com/products/the-beyond-burger/

As you can see, you instantly get all the information you would need as a consumer:

  • It’s healthy.
  • It’s good for the environment.
  • Beyond Meat do not mention that they are a clear substitute for meat, but gives a hint when they write “find It in the meat aisle”.

This might look easy, but it is actually a masterpiece from a marketing perspective.

Find top 8 successful viral marketing campaigns here.

Interested to learn more about green marketing? (Book Reviews!)

Marketing campaigns on eco-friendly services and products is one of my biggest passion. And I really hope you are interested in it as well.

I had an experiment where I bought eight books about green marketing. (Yeah, I know… I’m a nerd). Out of that experiment came a quite interesting article about books to understand green marketing.

However, these are the three best books about green marketing – and, as I am writing this, they all cost below 20 USD on Amazon:

The Green Marketing Manifesto
The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function
My favorite!
The New Rules of Green Marketing: Strategies, Tools, and Inspiration for Sustainable Branding
The Green Marketing Manifesto
The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function
The New Rules of Green Marketing: Strategies, Tools, and Inspiration for Sustainable Branding
$32.00
$17.00
$14.99
-
-
-
-
-
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The Green Marketing Manifesto
The Green Marketing Manifesto
$32.00
-
-
The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function
The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function
$17.00
-
-
My favorite!
The New Rules of Green Marketing: Strategies, Tools, and Inspiration for Sustainable Branding
The New Rules of Green Marketing: Strategies, Tools, and Inspiration for Sustainable Branding
$14.99
-
-

I would really recommend the book to the right. Regardless of category, it’s the most exciting book I read this year.

Tips: Find the right angle for green marketing campaigns

The most important thing is to illustrate something that people care about. Green marketing should not really be about educating the public about global warming. It should be to illustrate how the consumer can buy a green product or service that ALSO benefits the planet.

Let me be a bit more specific.

Tip #1: Do not overestimate how much people understand about the environment

I want to get back to an important point that was made previously in the article. This is a graph made by NASA that illustrates how global warming keeps increasing every single year. People are not going to get offended or shocked by this:

Graph: NASA

…on the other hand, people are going to go crazy over this (well-made) ad from Sea Shepherd:

Photo: seashepherd.org

Tip #2: Be product-focused!

Ultimately, advertisement is all about increasing sales. You should spend more time focusing on the product rather than the problem.

Carlsberg does not want you to focus on the beer bottles ending up in nature — they want to sell beer. Lacoste did not want to save all the animals in the world — they want to create a hype around a beautiful advertisement campaign that can make them sell more t-shirts.

If it helps the world to become a better place, that should be a nice bonus.

Questions?

I have worked with digital marketing for more than 12 years. During that time, I have been involved in several product launches of green products. That is why I know a thing or two about this topic. If you have any questions regarding mapping out a green marketing campaign, please leave a comment below. 🙂

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of the pictures posted in the article. If you represent any of the companies owning these pictures, please get in touch with me and I will remove them as swiftly as I can. This is meant as an article that highlights the best green marketing campaigns out there, so I really hope you see the value in being represented.

26 thoughts on “10 Most Creative Environmentally Friendly Marketing Campaigns”

  1. Avatar

    Thanks for sharing these inspo ads. I agree with several of the other comments –the Lacoste ad is pretty clever and provocative. I also found the Sea Shephard ad to be visually and emotionally compelling. As a traditional “linear” marketer who is recently converted to a circular economy advocate, I’d offer a different perspective to this statement: “You should spend more time focusing on the product rather than the problem.” I think the new direction for circular marketing will be to educate audiences on the long-term ESG impact of the products and services so that we can all enjoy a healthier planet and society.

  2. Avatar

    Great Article, I think that Marketing managers not just have to form sustainable marketing strategies but also need to effectively communicate them to their target audience.

    Sustainability is becoming more and more important for modern marketers. The competitive edge a company gets by being sustainable can’t be ignored and every marketer needs to be aware of how to introduce sustainability to even their marketing strategies.

  3. Avatar

    Too many people have no knowledge of the fact that shampoos that grow your hair faster and longer (of course with no sulfates, no parabens or DEA) are even a thing. Persons are now able to possess longer hair and enjoy more alternatives. Certainly worth reading.

    Whether you’re going over alopecia, hair damage, preventing hair disorders, hair growth, hair and scalp care at large, similar ideas come to mind.

    Generally, you will want to steer clear of hair treatments and products that include chemicals such as parabens, DEA and sulfates.

    What is beneficial for your hair is healthy for your skin as well.

    Clearly the content here is spot on for multiple reasons. It steers away from the common traps and pitfalls so many fall into- buying defective alternatives. Keep it up!

  4. Avatar

    Just saw the sad pictures of animals suffocating so sad we are still contributing to it by not going green entirely Please join us on [link removed] where we are making it possible to shop green including biodegradable bags etc.The Earth is our only home not even Mars that is on the news lately.So we will need to fight for the one we are seeing right now and not one we will run to after destroying the present lets think please.

  5. Avatar

    Hyundai is NOT a Japanese car manufacturer it is one of the major conglomerates of South Korean. You should be more attentive when giving out such fact-based posts. Otherwise, your post was very helpful thank you.

    1. Avatar

      Hello. I see more people have told me this – and you are of course absolutely correct.

      I will fix this mistake asap. 🙂

  6. Avatar

    Hi! This is great work, thanks! The reading list was also really helpful. I’m wondering whether you also have a list of the most successful environmental campaign videos of the last thirty years or so? Specifically wildlife and climate focused. I’m writing my dissertation about the formats of these videos and destconstructing what makes them successful (also looking at time of release etc). Thank you! : )

    1. Avatar

      Hello Antonia, hmmm…I was thinking where I could get it, but I am not aware of such a list.

      However, good luck with finding it – and good luck with your dissertation!!

      Kind regards,

    1. Avatar

      True. The writer definitely need to reflect this feedback and correct it. He cannot just ignore the inaccuracy as a editor.

    2. Avatar

      I see many others have commented on this matter yet the writer is not making any adjustments. He is clearly ignoring these comments which is in fact the truth.

    3. Avatar

      Hi Heather.

      I changed the text from “Japanese” to “South Korean” last week.

      Best regards,

  7. Avatar

    Super nice!

    I am studying marketing in Oslo and will write my bachelor degree on green marketing techniques. These are really inspirational – and I almost want to create my own company selling eco-friendly stuff now 😛

  8. Avatar

    Wow, these are super cool!

    Is it OK if I use some of them in my school project? I actually have a school project about green marketing and would love to get some inspiring pictures on my Powerpoint 😉

    1. Avatar

      Hello Andrew! 🙂

      Sure! I would recommend that you link to the actual company that made the commercials when you use them for educational purposes. But I am sure that the companies will be happy with you featuring them in such a cool presentation.

  9. Avatar

    Wow, these are really cool. I agree with the guy above^^

    Lacoste is the HUGE winner on this list. My work will now try to make an eco-friendly marketing campaign, but we dont have a eco-friendly product LOL….thats whats called greenwashing 😀

  10. Avatar

    The Lacoste Commercial is Madness. Genius, pretty – and I sincerely think it will help People to understand the importance of taking care of Our animals.

    This is exactly how an environmentally friendly marketing campaign should be executed. PEOPLE who do marketing: SEE AND LEARN FROM LACOSTE!

  11. Avatar

    the Lacoste one was super cool. Despite working in fashion marketing for many years, I had never heard of that eco-campaign of theirs.

    Now, I am not a big fan of Lacoste in general, but this was a really cool attempt to do something for the environment. In regards to fashion companies, I would also argue that the best thing they can do for the environment would be to produce clothes of high quality. The “wear and throw” society we are currently living in does not make sense at all

  12. Avatar
    Lacoste fan (thomas)

    I agree with you – I TOTALLY love the one with Lacoste. someone in their marketing department should get a pay rise for sure.

    Not sure what most people do in regards to green marketing, but I believe it can help if companies clearly show that they follow up on what they promise. I hate greenwashing, but so many people do greenwash. If we take Lacoste as an example, I am not sure that they really do an awful lot for the environment. they had ONE good campaign and showed respect to the animals who will die out, but that doesnt exactly save the world

    1. Avatar

      Hello Thomas. I do agree with you.

      I am not saying that Lacoste is doing an awful lot for the environment. In fact, I have no idea whether they do or not…

      Frankly, I just wanted to write an article that could be useful for people who are making green marketing campaigns in the future. From what I have seen on my traffic numbers, this is a topic that a lot of people do care about.

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