企業(yè)低調(diào)環(huán)保的苦衷
???羅布?薩繆爾斯是釀?wù)咧展荆∕aker’s Mark)的首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官,同時(shí)也是創(chuàng)始人老比爾?薩繆爾斯的孫子。他在肯塔基的家就在公司釀酒廠所在的自然保護(hù)區(qū)附近。家里有一個(gè)吧臺(tái),吧臺(tái)后面放著釀?wù)咧蔗勗斓牡谝黄烤?,已?jīng)有54年的歷史了。 ????“假如我們今晚就把這瓶酒打開,它的味道會(huì)和我們現(xiàn)在生產(chǎn)的酒完全一樣,”薩繆爾斯說。 ????釀?wù)咧湛赡苁鞘澜缟献瞽h(huán)保和最具社會(huì)責(zé)任的酒業(yè)公司,但是薩繆爾斯認(rèn)為,公司所采取的許多舉措只是在商言商。大多數(shù)消費(fèi)者只需要知道,每次剝?nèi)ゼt色封蠟所得到的酒物有所值就好。 ????談及公司對(duì)環(huán)保的重視,薩繆爾斯說:“它是釀?wù)咧栈虻囊徊糠??!彼f:“我祖父是個(gè)什么樣的人在某種程度上就決定了我們與消費(fèi)者之間的聯(lián)系方式。他非常謙遜。我們并不想跳出來大吹大擂,告訴大家我們有多環(huán)保?!?/p> ????消費(fèi)者的環(huán)保意識(shí)日益強(qiáng)烈,很多企業(yè)都希望利用這一點(diǎn)賺一筆,因此無(wú)數(shù)的產(chǎn)品都開始將“綠色”標(biāo)志作為自己營(yíng)銷活動(dòng)的一部分。甚至連瓶裝水和乙烯基壁板這樣的因破壞環(huán)境而臭名昭著的產(chǎn)品,現(xiàn)在都開始吹噓自己擁有綠色證書。 ????但是,許多真正在環(huán)保領(lǐng)域推陳出新的企業(yè)卻并不愿意赤裸裸地用綠色和環(huán)保吸引消費(fèi)者的眼球?;蛟S是擔(dān)心人們會(huì)覺得冠冕堂皇,或許是認(rèn)為消費(fèi)者對(duì)企業(yè)的社會(huì)責(zé)任缺乏了解的興趣,又或許是因?yàn)橐淮笈?jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手都自稱肩負(fù)著同樣的使命,但結(jié)果卻不盡相同,總之,許多成功企業(yè)在宣稱自己的環(huán)保貢獻(xiàn)之前,都會(huì)三思而后行。 ????“重要的是消費(fèi)者和產(chǎn)品之間的匹配性,”芝加哥大學(xué)布斯商學(xué)院(Booth School of Business)的營(yíng)銷學(xué)教授桑杰?達(dá)爾稱。“必須評(píng)估消費(fèi)者的需求和動(dòng)機(jī),以及將綠色環(huán)保特性與產(chǎn)品結(jié)合的重要性?!?/p> ????達(dá)爾表示,某些產(chǎn)品的碳足跡可能會(huì)讓消費(fèi)者興味索然,而另一些產(chǎn)品的綠色證書或許會(huì)讓人聯(lián)想到質(zhì)量低劣。 ????20世紀(jì)后期的環(huán)保產(chǎn)品往往很昂貴,而且外觀丑陋,質(zhì)量低劣(想想第一代混合動(dòng)力汽車就知道了)。達(dá)爾稱,老一輩的一些人仍然抱有這種成見,但隨著新一代進(jìn)入消費(fèi)經(jīng)濟(jì),這種觀念已經(jīng)過時(shí)。 ????“年輕一代的綠色環(huán)保觀念非常明確,”他說?!八麄兂砷L(zhǎng)于一個(gè)更具社會(huì)責(zé)任的世界?!?/p> ????釀?wù)咧盏牟呗允?,只向參觀其位于自然保護(hù)區(qū)的肯塔基州總部的消費(fèi)者宣傳其酒的質(zhì)量并詳細(xì)介紹生產(chǎn)過程。 ????在這里,已有10多萬(wàn)參觀者了解了釀?wù)咧展緢?jiān)持使用當(dāng)?shù)氐脑牧仙a(chǎn)以及回收副產(chǎn)品為其工廠供電的做法。參觀者還能了解現(xiàn)場(chǎng)污水處理廠的運(yùn)作。處理廠在旱季,會(huì)將清水排放到附近的溪流中,而釀?wù)咧盏拈L(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)目標(biāo)是做到碳平衡(通過計(jì)算二氧化碳的排放總量,然后用植樹等方式把這些排放量吸收掉,以達(dá)到環(huán)保的目的——譯注)。 |
????At the Kentucky home of Rob Samuels, the chief operating officer of Maker's Mark bourbon and grandson of founder Bill Samuels Sr., not far from the nature preserve on which the distillery sits, the 54-year-old first bottle the company ever made sits behind the bar. ????"If we were to open that bottle tonight, it would taste exactly like what we produce today," he says. ????Maker's is possibly the most environmentally friendly and socially responsible alcohol company in the world, but Samuels believes that the many initiatives the company has taken are just part of doing business. What most customers need to know is only that every time they peel off that red wax seal, they'll get what they are paying for. ????"It's part of the DNA of Maker's Mark," Samuels says of the company's devotion to the environment. "The way we connect with consumers is in part about who my grandfather was. He was very modest. It's not about standing on top of a mountain and screaming the loudest that this is happening." ????The "green" label has wormed its way into the marketing campaigns of countless products as businesses try to capitalize on the growing environmental consciousness of consumers. Even environmentally damaging products with notorious reputations like bottled water and vinyl siding now boast their green credentials. ????But many of the most genuine corporate innovators in the environmental space prefer not to throw it in their customers' faces. Whether it's coming from a fear of sounding disingenuous, a perceived lack of customer interest in corporate social responsibility, or a slew of competitors claiming the same mission without the same results, many successful businesses are thinking twice before screaming green. ????"What's important is looking at the fit between customers and products," says Sanjay Dhar, a marketing professor at University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. "You must assess the needs and motivations of your customers and the importance of integrating the message of green with … the product." ????While one product's carbon footprint may inspire a complete lack of interest among consumers, another product's green credentials may trigger associations with inferior quality, he says. ????Environmentally friendly products of the late 20th century were often expensive, ugly, and inferior (think first-generation hybrid cars). Some in older generations still cling to that idea, but it has faded as a new generation enters the consumption economy, Dhar says. ????"The younger generation has a clean slate in their mind when it comes to green," he says. "They are growing up in a much more socially responsible world." ????Maker's strategy is to advertise the quality of its alcohol and introduce the details of its manufacturing process only to customers who visit its Kentucky headquarters, which is a nature preserve. ????There, more than 100,000 visitors have learned about how the company uses locally sourced ingredients and recycles the byproducts to power its plant. They can also learn about the on-site wastewater treatment plant that pumps fresh water into nearby creaks during the dry season and the company's long-term goal of becoming carbon neutral. |
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