COLUMN: Greenpeace markets ‘Juice’
Best known for its confrontational protests against oil and energy producers, the British branch of Greenpeace has taken an extraordinary step. This past month, Greenpeace UK announced it is forming an alliance with Npower, the retail arm of one of Britain’s largest utilities called Immogy, to jump-start consumer demand for green electricity. Brand named “Juice,” it will be generated from the proposed North Hoyle Wind Farm off the coast of Wales.
Greenpeace will appeal to its British members to buy Juice, which will be priced the same as conventional power. Although Juice customers will get their electricity from the national grid in the same way as everybody else, for every unit of Juice purchased, a unit of renewable energy will be fed back to the grid. Because North Hoyle won’t be in action until 2003, demand for Juice will be matched by existing British wind and hydro-based generators.
The partnership is a win-win for business and the environment. Npower hopes Greenpeace’s marketing campaign will sign up 50,000 new household customers, the equivalent to North Hoyle’s expected production capacity. Likewise, Greenpeace plans to switch consumers onto Juice and contribute to Britain’s goal to have 10 percent of its power generated from renewable sources by 2010, up from less than 3 percent today. If successful, Juice from North Hoyle will offset the annual release of 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide, helping Britain meet its anticipated Kyoto Protocol obligations.
Welcome to 21st century environmentalism. Activists are frustrated with the failings of government intervention and the barriers inhibiting environmental protections. Likewise, citizens are fatigued by the protests and “doom and gloom” prophesies traditionally peddled by green groups and want “practical solutions.” The new message from mainstream environmentalists is that economic development and environmental protection can go hand in hand with greener and cleaner technologies and practices. Through savvy marketing and corporate alliances, environmentalists can deliver their solutions to the world. While Environmental Defense, Conservation International, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Alliance for Environmental Innovation have pioneered this new environmental paradigm, Greenpeace UK appears to be on the bleeding edge of the movement by staking its reputation on the marketing success of a commercial product.
Interestingly, Greenpeace’s marketing alliance is not unprecedented. Greenpeace has been experimenting with market-based campaigns over the past decade. In 1992, for example, Greenpeace Germany partnered with an east German manufacturer to market Greenfreeze refrigerators employing eco-safe hydrocarbon coolants as alternatives to ozone-damaging chloroflourocarbons and global-warming hydroflourocarbons. Greenpeace’s marketing generated over 70,000 orders within the first months of the campaign. At the time, the alliance sparked a bloody internal battle amongst Greenpeace activists who saw it as a corporate “sell out.” When Greenfreeze became Germany’s and then Europe’s refrigeration standard, however, a heresy turned into a wisdom. Greenpeace has gone on to help other manufacturers sell more than 40 million Greenfreeze refrigerators worldwide.
For Sydney’s 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Greenpeace Australia played both partner and watchdog with organizers and sponsors to make the Olympics a green technology showcase. Employing a solar-powered Olympic Village, car-less transport and a host of other green innovations, Sydney’s Olympic sites set a benchmark where Greenpeace can now tell businesses, “If it worked in Sydney, it can work for you.” Last August, Amsterdam-based Greenpeace International announced a special campaign unit to promote these and other environmental technologies in the marketplace.
Admittedly, environmentalist-utility collaboration is largely uncharted territory. Npower’s relationship with Greenpeace raises the utility’s profile as an industry “maverick” that could pay off in terms of customer preferences and early-mover advantages in a growing market. Npower also can plug into Greenpeace’s influential network of campaigners, scientists, engineers and policy makers to become an “insider” within the green movement and keep ahead of competitors.
As Sydney’s Olympic organizers and sponsors learned, however, working with Greenpeace does not immune companies from its wrath. When organizers didn’t move far or fast enough with their environmental commitments, Greenpeace retaliated with court action and embarrassing protests. The most significant outcome was sponsor Coca-Cola’s promise to convert all of its global cold storage distribution network to Greenfreeze by the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Given Coke’s market clout, this is expected to further diffuse Greenfreeze around the world.
Npower may need to brace for the lightening bolts Greenpeace hurls frequently at oil and power interests. Moreover, if other utilities enter the green energy market, Greenpeace is likely to endorse their offerings as well, eroding Npower’s marketing edge. Likewise, Greenpeace must educate consumers about its green technology advocacy, but keep its Npower relationship transparent so supporters don’t perceive the partnership is eroding the group’s integrity. Should the partnership sway consumer behavior, however, these risks will have been worth it.
Traditional protests will always be a part of environmentalism. As government complacency and straggling international efforts continue to foil the implementation of environmental solutions, however, environmentalists are recognizing the power of markets. Indeed, Greenpeace sees confrontation and collaboration as ends of a continuum of activist strategies. Greenpeace’s successful marketing of Juice could open the door for other unconventional environmentalist-business partnerships and green product endorsements that will steer markets toward cleaner technologies and a greener future.