The Battle for Green Supremacy is Won or Lost in the Message

Posted by Stacy Richter on June 29 at 1:00 PM The battle for green supremacy is on the verge of raging as corporations jockey for position in the Green Economy. The winner, in my opinion, is not the company who has the best green alternatives or the most products available. The Green Supremacy will be determined by who tells the most people in the best way possible.

General Electric (GE) vs. Siemens AG is a great example (Smackdown, Paul Glader), . Siemens took exception to the attention GE received from their “Ecomagination” report. The details, in short:

• 80 Ecomagination product lines
• $17 billion in sales last year
• 21% increase over 2007
• $25 billion projected this year

These are impressive figures, especially in the current economic conditions. Does this make GE the green leader? What would determine that? Siemens’ green brands topped out at $26.5 billion for 2008 and are expecting $35 billion by 2011 (GE, Keith Johnson). Siemens may have a point that they are the green leader in spite of their late start in the game.

So what has GE done better than Siemens? What makes one company stand out more than the other with less impressive figures? Is it the stretch of brands that cascade across several different industries? Possibly. Would it be the greater impact on the environment? Hopefully.

Truly, a better message delivered to the right groups of interested people will garner more attention. GE has done a better job delivering their message than Siemens. GE is better known as a green company than is Siemens in spite of the figures.

I asked myself the same question: So what’s the payoff? Why do we need to be viewed as a green leader when the alternative is making more profit? I believe that is only a short term condition. The positioning as a category leader will pay off in the long term. The lock is shaping perception. The key is effective marketing.

Topics: leadership, strategy, sustainability        SHARE: