The Homa Files

Excerpted from Harvard Business Online, “It’s Green, But Will People Want It?”, by Steve Bishop, September 10, 2008

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Over the summer, The New York Times reported about the rollout of a relatively new “Milk Jug for a Green Earth.” Now in 189 stores throughout the country, the novel design requires less material to manufacture, and its boxy shape allows the jugs to be stacked closely together, requiring less fuel to transport and less energy to cool. Retailers are even passing on some of the financial savings to consumers.

But not everyone is buying into what seems – at least on paper – like a successful green solution. While the design offers many advantages to retailers, consumers are confronted with a very different experience with a very familiar product. For many, this unexpected user experience is a big turnoff. According to the article, “The jugs have no real spout, and their unorthodox shape makes consumers feel like novices at the simple task of pouring a glass of milk.”

So, how truly successful is this green product? Over the last year, people have tried the jug and responded with a litany of complaints, from leakage problems to its strange look. Not surprisingly, the blogosphere has piled on with still more negative feedback. At this point, the success – and future – of this green product looks risky, even if retailers stand behind it.

The story is a reminder that there are, in fact, two sides to every business equation: a supply-side and a demand-side. A lot of companies have made strides in the more tangible supply-side, but many stop short of adequately addressing both elements. To assure successful green offerings in the marketplace, companies need to also consider the often-overlooked demand-side.

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Supply-side Sustainability
By making more product with fewer resources, environmental goals conveniently align with business objectives and pursue bottom-line savings. That serves as a great motivation for companies to change what they put in consumers’ hands. The question it raises, however, is why will people want it?

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Demand-side Sustainability
While the supply-side deals with things, demand-side efforts address people, their needs, and what their experiences with green offerings enable. The key is to understand people’s latent and blatant needs, and then to address them with an appropriate solution.

By creating something green that is also desirable and fits into people’s daily lives, environmental goals align with consumers’ personal goals and go after top-line growth. Results can be measured in sales and market-share, two objectives common and desirable to most companies.

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Neither the supply- nor the demand-side takes precedence. As we have seen in the milk jug example, addressing the supply-side alone risks creating the green product that no one wants.

To have positive impact on the environment, the business, and people’s lives, both demand and supply need to be considered.  

Edit by DAF

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Full article:
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/leadinggreen/2008/09/its-green-but-will-people-want.html

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This entry was posted on September 22, 2008 at 7:30 am and is filed under Environment - Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.