How to Stay in the Black While Going Green†

Marketers' Product Focus Can Overlook Important Customer Needs

Advertising Age, April 2, 2008 — Philips launched EarthLight, an energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb, in 1994. The bulb had a clumsy shape that was incompatible with most conventional lamps, a confusing package and a price tag of $15 compared to 75 cents for incandescent bulbs. Sales languished. Although it was well intended, the environmental positioning of the EarthLight appealed to only the greenest of consumers.

To be successful, green marketing must satisfy two objectives: improved environmental quality and customer satisfaction. Misjudging either or overemphasizing the former at the expense of the latter — as Philips did with the EarthLight — can be called "green marketing myopia."