Consumers Are Not Stupid; They Deserve Honesty From Marketers
On the Marketing Profs blog, Paul Williams expresses his frustration at the apparent dishonesty (”scam” was his word) of hotels that as us to reuse sheets and towels to “help the environment.” Paul rightly points out that the hotel is saving thousands of dollars in electricity, water, and detergent and – this is the critical point – any idiot can figure that out…it’s a money-saving effort on the part of a profit-seeking enterprise, otherwise known as a hotel corporation.
My own response was that I remembered a series of Exxon ads in the Seventies wherein the company (generally the most reviled, after tobacco companies) demonstrated that their offshore platforms provided new and exciting places for fish to feed and breed. Exxon, however, had the common decency to proclaim that they also made money on the platforms.
The point here is that consumers and, most certainly, investors, can and do understand the difference between hypocrisy (the hotel company) and forthrightness (Exxon). Even Wal-Mart forthrightly states that they save money as well as trees when they cut out unnecessary packaging on, say, deodorant or toothpaste containers.
Once more, with feeling: Consumers are not stupid.
By the way, in an earlier post, we paid tribute to the efforts of one of our clients, Targus, for their introduction of a line of environmentally-friendly laptop bags and cases. (Currently available only in Canada, we believe). Targus has continued to receive good press on green sites and blogs. Targus is also, of course, honestly charging a price for their product – openly profiting, rather than attempting to hide that (perfectly honorable) motive behind a request that we all use dirty towels.
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