Is building an eco-friendly brand as difficult as it sounds?
As we continue to battle against the climate crisis, going green is for more of us than just the Hulk, and let’s be honest, there’s a little bit of superhero in all of us. More businesses are scampering to find a way of ticking those eco-friendly boxes and becoming more sustainable long term.
If you’re just starting up on your business journey, you have the leg-up in the environmental stakes. It’s beneficial to look at your product range and put the environment front and centre from the off. This way you can practice what you preach and avoid the inevitable pitfalls along the way, they may still come but at least you’re already in the right mindset.
It’s vital to remember that when it comes to branding your business as environmentally friendly, you understand it’s a way of life and not just a fad from which your business can benefit. The people who will be drawn to you as eco-friendly can smell lies and false promises from a mile away.
So, if you’re here to find out how you can build an eco-friendly brand, you’ve come to the right place.
Why should your brand be eco-friendly?
Firstly, we’re not here to push you into building a green brand, nor are we going to force you into decisions about your business through guilt. We understand that every client who comes through our front door is there for a different reason. Your business journey is something that you need to be proud of, and in most cases, the idea that you put on our table will always be yours, we just help you get it going and keep it looking fresh over the years.
However, as the world evolves, we provide our clients with the expertise to position themselves above the competition. As global regulations are placed on businesses, being an eco-friendly brand can mean ticking boxes that older companies may not.
It’s believed that over 75% of consumers prefer to purchase from a business of equal quality if they know that they support a positive cause. As well as ticking those regulatory boxes and attracting new potential customers, being a greener company can help you attain grants and save money on your dreaded bills.
Those are just some of the reasons why you should consider building an eco-friendly brand. Trust us; there’s plenty more to know.
How to build an eco-friendly brand!
No doubt you’ve now read around all of the benefits of building a brand that has the health of the world at its heart. So, here’s where we step into our area of expertise and tell you all of the ways that you can build an eco-friendly brand.
1 – Look and feel
When you first think about your brand, you need to ascertain how you want your business to look and feel. If something confuses your potential audience, you are likely to miss out on sales that could make or break your business.
If your brand has a specific ethical stance, it’s essential that your branding looks and feels as eco-friendly as it says it is. For example, if you’ve designed something that screams ‘green’ but comes in a plastic, non-recyclable container, your brand won’t sync up. Think about the more sustainable options, for example, paper packets or reusable glass containers. Avoid confusing messages within your brand identity.
2 – Neutral colours
In the past two years, the world has evolved far more than we could have ever imagined. As our existence has changed, so too has the design and branding that surrounds us. If you are looking to build a brand that is recognisable as an eco-conscious brand, look at a colour palette that reflects your ethical stance.
Neutrals like browns, creams and whites commonly appear within eco-friendly brands because they reinforce the message of cleanliness, nature and the environment. Clean colour palette, clean air, clean waters, clean environment. You get the point.
3 – Icons that pop
Environmentally friendly brands often centre around a logo or icon that reflects the way the business operates. For example, if your eco-conscious wine brand has a sports car as its emblem, it doesn’t really go hand-in-hand with the ethical stance.
Icons that incorporate trees, wildlife, and nature are of course popular in the growing world of green brands, but don’t go too on-the-nose if you can. If you can work a logo that accurately represents your business and its morals, you are far more likely to build that instant connection with your potential customers.
Capture the attention and the hearts of those who matter. As branding strategies go, this is a great place to make sure you’re keeping your target market in mind – utilise your market research!
4 – The way you speak
The way you speak and carry yourself should always reflect your brand. If you are the owner of an eco-friendly business and your social media feed is filled with imagery that doesn’t line up with that sentiment, you will likely disillusion your potential clients or customers. If someone who is going to purchase from your business is met with a flurry of imagery that doesn’t align with your business, you’re in danger of alienating them altogether. Think smart, always consider your brand recognition and mission statement.
5 – What does your team know?
OK, so here’s a tip that seems to be missed so frequently in the rush to create a unique business. If your staff aren’t aware of what the company stands for, how are they ever going to be able to offer a service that matches up to your aims? Well, they’re not.
Sharing the methods and sometimes madness behind the formation of your business with your team should be common practice. Talk to them about how you got here and where you want to go. Passion is infectious; it will spread from you to your staff in no time and then in the long term on to your customers.
Working with Create8
At Create8, we have helped countless companies to achieve their business dreams. With every project we take on, we aim to provide a service that ticks every single box. Whilst building something thought-provoking and game-changing for your potential clients to enjoy.
When it comes to branding, you don’t need to look any further. It’s one of our strongest suits. Don’t believe us? Have a look at some of our recent projects.
Common mistakes to avoid!
You can be forgiven for thinking that building an eco-friendly brand is all sunshine and rainbows. Although, for the most part, it is, as with any form of business, there are mistakes that you should avoid.
Greenwashing
When a brand is more concerned with talking about making a difference than actually making one, this is called ‘greenwashing’. This sort of behaviour can alienate your customers and cheapen the perceived value of your brand.
Failing to be relevant
When it comes to being an eco-friendly brand, it’s not an overly difficult sell. People want to improve their carbon footprint, and if your business can help them do that, they’ll likely be on board. However, rather than focusing too much on numbers, figures and confusing stats, why not concentrate on the difference your brand will make to your consumers’ lives?
Don’t just be green
Of course, it isn’t a mistake being an eco-friendly brand, and if your brand is solely based around being a green company, you needn’t worry.
However, relying exclusively on your end goal can potentially hamper your journey. Most of the largest eco-friendly brands are built on more than just ticking the boxes.
Find your niche and why your customers are going to relate to you. Are you a fun brand as well as being green, or are you a reliable brand that’s also eco-conscious as an added extra? In most cases, dual branding is the key to longevity.
Truth be told, creating an eco-conscious brand is a difficult and tricky process. There are many hurdles that your brand must overcome and pitfalls to avoid. Luckily for you, you’re in the right place.
As branding specialists, we know exactly what it takes to stand out from the crowd. We’ve got a reputation for steering clear of the monotonous and reshaping what we deem the norms.
Our team of straight-talking design and brand experts have all the knowledge necessary to help take your business to the next level. Whether it’s a complete rebrand of an already existing company or the formulation of something entirely new, we’ve seen it all.
When building an eco-conscious brand, having someone on your side with experience is invaluable. That’s precisely what you get when you choose Create8 as your branding agency. Every project that lands in our HQ receives the attention of our team of experts, so your business benefits from our full selection of skills and knowledge.
If you want to discuss anything you have read in this blog, or if you want to enquire as to how we can work together. Send a message or pick up the phone; we absolutely love a good convo. We can’t wait to hear all of your ideas, and we hope that you choose Create8 to help build your eco-conscious brand.
Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
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