Green goes mainstream in the branding world: The Top Ten US Green Brands

Green is a mainstream concern for modern Americans, according to research done on behalf of branding agency Landor Associates. Forty per cent now consider ‘the biggest problem today’ to be global warming. Twenty per cent blame themselves and others like them for the problem and more than half think that society is on the wrong track to protect the environment.

The report identifies five key consumer groups who make up the consumer population:

Active Green – 34%

Green Motivated – 10%

Green Hypocrite – 26%

Green Ignorant – 19%

Muted Green – 11%

Active Green

Active Greens identify with the idea that taking care of the environment is society’s responsibility but are disappointed with the progress so far. This group washes cars by hand, carpools, walks and takes public transport to avoid adding to emissions. They are more likely to purchase goods made with recycled materials when they can and use paper bags or their own bags for shopping.

Seventy-three per cent think organisations like Greenpeace and Sierra Club have made the greatest strides at protecting the environment. Seventy per cent think the federal goverment can do better, as do 37% about the media and 50% about large multinationals like the United Nations.

This group knows its stuff and can recommend actions that companies can take to be greener, including reduction of emissions and recycling.

Muted Green

Eleven per cent of Americans are not convinced the environment is in trouble and because they are sure the US is on the right track, they make minimum effort to be green. They are three times as likely to buy cars that are strong enough to haul heavy loads or travel on all terrains. They drive these to work and school; they’ll use car washes.

They prefer plastic bags and purchasing recycled products is an afterthought. They think automobile and oil companies have done the best job of protecting the environment in the last five years.

Twenty-nine per cent of these people could not identify the steps that a company could take to be greener.

The Greenest Brands

According to the Landor Research, these are the top 10 US Green Brands. For more details and information, go to the company’s website.

Source for chart: Landor Associates.