Avoid Greenwashing Your Customers!

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Greenwashing has been a topic of debate for many fashion brands. There is always a question of which words can be put out as a sustainability statement and which words are too misleading. It can be confusing for some but in this edition of Delving with Delvify, we give a few tips for how you can avoid being accused of greenwashing.

The video below showcases how H&M's greenwashing messages can seriously affect the reality of a company's sustainability efforts.

Avoid Buzzwords

One of our first tips for you when you are looking at your sustainability message or tagline is to avoid buzzwords. Buzzwords are used to capture the attention of customers, and draw them in to make a purchase. As much as this can be a great marketing technique, it can lead to negative responses when it comes to sustainability statements.

Buzzwords such as 'eco-friendly' and 'green' are extremely vague and doesn't give consumers any idea of the sustainable efforts you are making. With the example of H&M, their Conscious Collection made headlines for portraying their garments as sustainable, when in reality, the true impact of the collection was not made obvious.

Making such vague claims can be considered as false advertising and can cause uproar amongst consumers. With H&M, it started a lawsuit for being misleading with their statements with regards to their Conscious Collection. Therefore, to draft better messaging, providing some statistical numbers and being more precise will bring more advantages to your brand.

Find the article about H&M here:

Honesty is the Best Policy

For brands, being completely honest and transparent may show an ugly side of their business and some things may pop up that they haven't addressed yet. However, choosing to ignore flaws and areas of improvement can have a more detrimental affect to the business.

With the power of the Internet, consumers can find background information about your brand easily so it is always a better idea to be transparent with your sustainability messaging. Some brands that do it well are able to admit to some vulnerabilities within the supply chain and demonstrate to their customers that they are doing what they can to make improvements.

The CMA in the UK recently published guidelines on how to create better statements. It included the following points:

1. Sustainability claims must be truthful and accurate
2. Claims have to be clear and unambiguous
3. Claims must not omit or hide relevant information
4. Claims must consider the full life cycle of the product or service

By following these simple guidelines, you will be able to start shaping and drafting your own sustainability statement!

Find more about how to have good sustainability practices here:

Why Should I Do This?

Consumers are increasingly concerned with sustainability when making new purchases. A number of reports have shown that consumers base their purchasing decisions on the credentials that brands have when it comes to sustainability practices.

If you are able to demonstrate the efforts that you have made, whether it be through statistics or showcasing through the means of video, consumers will acknowledge those efforts and you will be able to garner a higher level of brand loyalty. By being truthful, consumers are more likely to purchase from you compared to brands that provide vague environmental claims.

Reports have also found that brands that are more truthful and transparent with their sustainability measures have a higher chance of having successful conversions from their consumers. Being transparent can really be a win-win situation!

Read the full article here:

With so many new guidelines for brands to follow, we are curious to see how the fashion industry will be marketing their new collections and also the level of transparency that they are willing to share. So if you are looking to revise your sustainability statements and goals - remember to be concise!

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