Procter & Gamble Joins Corporate Race To Go Green

Using the Clinton Global Initiative as their platform, Procter & Gamble unveiled its new "Future Friendly" campaign, a multi-brand initiative to educate and encourage consumers to make sustainable choices. P&G marked the occasion with the introduction of a new, "green" Pampers brand diaper, and pledged to provide four billion liters of clean drinking water throughout the developing world through the Children's Safe Drinking Water program. (P&G won a 2005 "green" award for their water purification system.)

Modeled after successful efforts in the UK and Canada, the P&G campaign contends for market share against recent "green" products from Arm & Hammer, SC Johnson, Kimberly-Clark and Clorox. Procter & Gamble differentiates itself by claiming their existing products use less waste, energy and packaging, and by directing the campaign towards mainstream consumers who prefer to remain with trusted brands, yet desire a sustainable product.

P&G's environmental outreach comes as Nike and Johnson & Johnson withdrew from the US Chamber of Commerce over the Chamber's opposition to climate change legislation in Congress. These moves signal a corporate shift, as major brands race to align their business practices with consumers' growing environmental concerns

P&G's late entrance to the "green" household product market sends a clear message that corporations must adopt sustainable practices in order to stay competitive. But brands can't just slap a sticker on an existing product and expect consumers to fall in line. Conscious consumers have shown a keen ability to sniff out claims they find disingenuous, and can damage a brand through extensive public scrutiny.

P&G's broader goal for the "Future Friendly" campaign is to place 30 million of the company’s sustainable innovation products into US households by the end of 2010, and reach sales of $50 billion in sustainable products between 2007 and 2012. These ambitious goals may prove impossible to reach without broader overhaul and innovation in P&G's product line. After entering the "green" market late, the onus remains on P&G to move beyond thinner diapers and create the most innovative sustainable products.