Hewlett-Packard’s commitment to corporate social responsibility dates back to the 1930s, but until just a few years ago, customers didn’t seem much interested, according to Michelle Price of HP’s Imaging and Printing Division. On the final day of Sustainable Brands ’08, Price told attendees that the computer giant is ready for its sustainability close-up.

“Until recently, our customers were not very receptive to hearing about what HP is doing in terms of eco- responsibility at the product level. This has changed significantly in just the past few years. Customers now want to know how to reduce their environmental impact.”

~Michelle Price, HP Imaging and Printing Division

HP’s sustainable-brand story begins, as most campaigns do, with a hefty dose of market research. The results?

• Top environmental brand reputation drivers – responsible supply chains and product takeback programs
• Top environmental brand choice drivers – energy efficient products and brand reputation
• Top environmental purchase decisions drivers – energy efficiency, materials use, climate issues, and corporate reputation

You can see the pattern here: Sustainable sourcing and demonstrated producer responsibility (particularly in the electronics sector) contribute directly to brand reputation, which feeds into consumer brand loyalty and purchasing behaviors. No wonder Price considers brand rep “mission critical.”

(We’re not just talking about mom and pop’s PC, either. Price cited a recent survey of HP’s largest enterprise customers, in which 31% said they account for environmental performance in their purchasing decisions.)

HP’s dedication to boosting environmental performance among its suppliers has been well-documented, particularly by the company itself. (In its 2007 sustainability report, HP became the first in the industry to list its top 20 suppliers by name and post the results from detailed supplier audits online.)

The company also assigns an “environmental steward” who provides technical guidance to each product design team – frequently an environmental scientist or engineer who does double-duty elsewhere in the company. For example, one of the environmental stewards on the LaserJet high-end printing team is also an energy expert and works on energy policy across HP’s entire imaging and printing business.

It’s unclear whether the energy guy had any impact on packaging design, but we do know that the design team reconfigured HP’s high-end printers to be more structurally sound, eliminating the need for corrugated cardboard and shaving the rest of the packing materials by 50%. The new packaging, made entirely of 100% recyclable plastic, is stackable, too – a boon for shippers looking to transport the product more efficiently.

With that kind of track record, you’d think the marketing piece of this puzzle would fall right into place. You’d be wrong.

“Greenwashing was huge issue to consider,” Price explained.” "We knew we had history and were doing some great things, but before we went public with our environmental efforts we needed to establish a solid record of commitment to stewardship – not of one or two years but of 15 or 20 years. It was already in our value proposition, but we had to find an effective way to communicate these efforts both externally and internally.”

The company rallied the troops by creating a cross-business task force culled from various departments, from marketing to R&D. “Each had a seat at the table to define environmental vision across all of our businesses,” said Price. “The effort was top-down and bottom-up.”

The HP team came up with a three-pronged approach for getting the word out:

1. Do not do a standalone environmental marketing campaign. If a product has a strong environmental benefit, the marketing team weaves it into the standard marketing message. “Developing an eco-ad would have been fun,” said Price (a little wistfully). “But we had to focus on the fundamentals of product marketing.”
2. Focus the advertising message on consumer needs such as cost savings and safer materials, not benefit to the planet. “Consumers told us, ‘We’re open to green ideas and products but it needs to be easy!’” – a sentiment echoed across all segments (although, for the record, Generation Y reports a willingness to pay a bit more for greener products).
3. When ready, make a bold announcement of strategy. Nothing makes headlines like news, so HP teed up its “green launch” last May with three new initiatives: greener paper sourcing (for HP and its customer services), an Eco Highlights label on product packaging, and a repackaging of its environmental stewardship programs under the broad umbrella of "Eco Solutions."

Later this month, look for HP to introduce an online carbon footprint calculator, which will help customers establish a baseline carbon footprint and learn the cost benefits of using more energy-efficient products. (Xerox launched a similar tool in March to much fanfare.)

If this all sounds like a big push to you, Price is inclined to agree. “We thought it would be a lot harder to do than it turned out to be, mainly because our employees were so energized about the project,” Price said candidly. “Employees didn’t look at it as just one more job responsibility – in fact, they requested to be assigned to [our environmental] group.”

About Emily Rabin Cowan

Emily Rabin Cowen is Sustainable Life Media's Managing Editor. This commentary is from this week's 2008 Sustainable Brands Conference sponsored by Sustainable Life Media. For more blogs from conference please click here.

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