When the oil shock first reverberated across the globe in the 1970s, the Detroit duo refused to change, in the fond hope that green will be the colour of envy for rival Japanese auto majors. But today, when Toyota and Honda 
lovingly brandish their nimbler, fuel-efficient machines at the American consumers, it’s GM and Ford that are not just going green with envy but are literally gasping for survival! To avoid falling into a similar trap, the impulse of going ‘green’ is running faster than blood in India Inc.’s veins. From IT giants to luxurious hotel chains, from automobiles to mutual funds, corporate India is moving fanatically ahead with green initiatives. But will the gamble eventually pay off? Deepak R. Patra digs in...
Gambling may be almost an indecent (well, we said almost, didn’t we!) word in civil society but the green gamble is one that companies globally and in India are almost being coerced into. Cautiously watching and gauging their every activity are not just environmentalists and governments, but also a fast-growing breed of aware consumers who are ostensibly choosing the natural colour over their made-up counterparts. But hey, do consumers, really care as much? Go talk to modern consumers; they are sensitive, they understand responsibility toward environment, are concerned about climate change and want to help protect the earth from effects of global warming. Indeed, a 2007 global McKinsey survey of 7,751 people in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States suggested that 87% of consumers surveyed worry about the environmental and social impact of the products they buy. Encouraging news for India Inc.! But, at the time of actual buying, there appears a mismatch between words and actions. As per the 4Ps B&M and ICMR survey conducted across five big Indian cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore (see pages 70), merely 32% of consumers surveyed had actually bought/or were willing to buy only those products that are marketed as ‘green products’. Even the aforementioned McKinsey survey concluded that no more than 33% of the consumers in their survey were ready to buy green products or have already done so. And possibly then also, they may only be buying organic foods (for personal health) or energy-efficient lighting (of course, that helps them reduce their electricity bill!).
However, more than a few contrarian instances prevail. The green gamble has already paid GE’s Jeff Immelt more than billions of dollars in revenues from his Ecomagination initiative; WalMart’s 2008 report on consumer behaviour reported a 66% increase since last year in consumers’ decisions to purchase five key eco-friendly products viz. CFL bulbs, organic milk and baby food, extended-life paper products, et al. Clearly for WalMart’s 200 million consumers, environment reigns high even in their shopping baskets.
With global success stories like these to swear by, almost every marketer in India is wondering whether the green gamble will pay off this side of the Indus! And instead of losing sleep over the question, they are following the age old way – that of testing the market by soft-launching green products and services and letting consumers be judge and jury. Leading the pack without hesitation are the IT behemoths, who know that they can’t forever avoid the growing breed of environmentalists who swear by the sword to oppose them for anything that hurts the environment. If HCL Infosystems, the lone Indian-origin hardware company, introduced a complete lineup of eco-efficient consumer and business notebooks, compliant with the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive last year, global giant Dell plans to produce (and also market in India) laptops and desktops that will use 25% less energy by 2010. Many IT majors have even begun designing their products in consideration of its environmental impact at each stage of the product’s life cycle. While the first steps have only just been taken in India, globally technology giants have been benefitting from their green initiatives for some time now. Apple, in fact, has discovered that going green literally translates into alternative revenue streams. Apple recycled 13 million pounds of e-waste in 2006, equivalent to 9.55% of all Apple products sold seven years earlier. Watchers at Apple expect these revenues to reach 20% in 2008.
Even Big Blue is keenly acquiring green hues, and is not restricting itself to merely eco-efficient notebooks. Under ‘Project Big Green’, IBM is selling green solutions to those corporate data centres where energy constraints and costs are limiting their ability to grow. The promise is that these solutions will help each data centre to cut their energy costs by half (a typical 25,000 square foot data centre spends $2.6 million in power annually). In India, the Big Blue (or should we say green!) has already executed data centre projects exceeding 2.5 lakh square feet for over 55 clients. Neeraj Sharma, Director, Infrastructure services, IBM (India) told 4Ps B&M, “Monetarily speaking, IBM saw strong signings performance of its Green Data Center services offerings that were announced in the second quarter of 2008. Nearly $220 million in new business have been signed in the 2nd quarter of 2008.”
lovingly brandish their nimbler, fuel-efficient machines at the American consumers, it’s GM and Ford that are not just going green with envy but are literally gasping for survival! To avoid falling into a similar trap, the impulse of going ‘green’ is running faster than blood in India Inc.’s veins. From IT giants to luxurious hotel chains, from automobiles to mutual funds, corporate India is moving fanatically ahead with green initiatives. But will the gamble eventually pay off? Deepak R. Patra digs in...Gambling may be almost an indecent (well, we said almost, didn’t we!) word in civil society but the green gamble is one that companies globally and in India are almost being coerced into. Cautiously watching and gauging their every activity are not just environmentalists and governments, but also a fast-growing breed of aware consumers who are ostensibly choosing the natural colour over their made-up counterparts. But hey, do consumers, really care as much? Go talk to modern consumers; they are sensitive, they understand responsibility toward environment, are concerned about climate change and want to help protect the earth from effects of global warming. Indeed, a 2007 global McKinsey survey of 7,751 people in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States suggested that 87% of consumers surveyed worry about the environmental and social impact of the products they buy. Encouraging news for India Inc.! But, at the time of actual buying, there appears a mismatch between words and actions. As per the 4Ps B&M and ICMR survey conducted across five big Indian cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore (see pages 70), merely 32% of consumers surveyed had actually bought/or were willing to buy only those products that are marketed as ‘green products’. Even the aforementioned McKinsey survey concluded that no more than 33% of the consumers in their survey were ready to buy green products or have already done so. And possibly then also, they may only be buying organic foods (for personal health) or energy-efficient lighting (of course, that helps them reduce their electricity bill!).
However, more than a few contrarian instances prevail. The green gamble has already paid GE’s Jeff Immelt more than billions of dollars in revenues from his Ecomagination initiative; WalMart’s 2008 report on consumer behaviour reported a 66% increase since last year in consumers’ decisions to purchase five key eco-friendly products viz. CFL bulbs, organic milk and baby food, extended-life paper products, et al. Clearly for WalMart’s 200 million consumers, environment reigns high even in their shopping baskets.
With global success stories like these to swear by, almost every marketer in India is wondering whether the green gamble will pay off this side of the Indus! And instead of losing sleep over the question, they are following the age old way – that of testing the market by soft-launching green products and services and letting consumers be judge and jury. Leading the pack without hesitation are the IT behemoths, who know that they can’t forever avoid the growing breed of environmentalists who swear by the sword to oppose them for anything that hurts the environment. If HCL Infosystems, the lone Indian-origin hardware company, introduced a complete lineup of eco-efficient consumer and business notebooks, compliant with the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive last year, global giant Dell plans to produce (and also market in India) laptops and desktops that will use 25% less energy by 2010. Many IT majors have even begun designing their products in consideration of its environmental impact at each stage of the product’s life cycle. While the first steps have only just been taken in India, globally technology giants have been benefitting from their green initiatives for some time now. Apple, in fact, has discovered that going green literally translates into alternative revenue streams. Apple recycled 13 million pounds of e-waste in 2006, equivalent to 9.55% of all Apple products sold seven years earlier. Watchers at Apple expect these revenues to reach 20% in 2008.
Even Big Blue is keenly acquiring green hues, and is not restricting itself to merely eco-efficient notebooks. Under ‘Project Big Green’, IBM is selling green solutions to those corporate data centres where energy constraints and costs are limiting their ability to grow. The promise is that these solutions will help each data centre to cut their energy costs by half (a typical 25,000 square foot data centre spends $2.6 million in power annually). In India, the Big Blue (or should we say green!) has already executed data centre projects exceeding 2.5 lakh square feet for over 55 clients. Neeraj Sharma, Director, Infrastructure services, IBM (India) told 4Ps B&M, “Monetarily speaking, IBM saw strong signings performance of its Green Data Center services offerings that were announced in the second quarter of 2008. Nearly $220 million in new business have been signed in the 2nd quarter of 2008.”
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