Aveda wants women to use green makeup - not the color green of course, but eco-friendly “green.” Brandweek reports that the cosmetics and skin care company, owned by Estee Lauder Inc., will focus on touting its green credentials in its 2008 advertising campaign.
Suzanne Dawson, vp of global marketing at Aveda, cited research showing eight of 10 Americans now believe that it is important to buy products from green companies. “We’ve always talked about our environmental work to the trade, but now it’s time to start shouting it to a larger audience,” she said.
Aveda’s new campaign is “Beauty is as Beauty Does,” and it will switch focus to a new green issue every six to eight weeks in both print advertising and in-store displays. Aveda is sold in about 8,000 salons. The first set of ads will focus on wind energy and feature a backdrop of the windmills used to power the company’s Blaine, Minn., factory. According to Aveda’s website, the company’s funding of new wind energy sources “generates enough wind energy to offset 100% of the electricity use by our primary manufacturing facility in Minnesota, USA.”
The second set of ads will promote Aveda’s efforts to extensively use post-consumer recycled materials in product packaging.
A recent survey found consumers already rank Aveda highly when it comes to being green - ranking it as the 10th favorite environmentally conscious brand in the country, the the only U.S.-based beauty brand in the top 10, which also included such companies as Whole Foods, Toyota, Ikea and GE. The company touted it in a press release.
There’s no doubt that green consciousness is high among American consumers right now, but I have to wonder if Aveda’s going to generate much new business by touting its green cred.
I don’t purchase cosmetics, of course, but my wife does, and she’s highly opinionated about which brands she’ll use and which she won’t. Her preferences aren’t driven by slick ad campaigns, but by the simple calculation of whether or not the cosmetics do what she wants them to do.
I’m betting most women buying other than low-end drug store cosmetics also are moved by that basic criteria, so I wouldn’t bet Aveda will see a big sales bump.
One Comment
A quick search on Skin Deep reveals that Aveda’s products are almost entirely in the moderate- to high-hazard range. At least in terms of exposing their customers to possibly hazardous chemicals, Aveda isn’t very “green” at all! I think you’re right, Bill — not much will come of their campaign.