This story about Neils Yard Remedies (NYR) is a valuable lesson in online PR, especially for companies with green credentials. NYR is a British company that specialises in natural remedies and organic skin and body care products - and a company that should, almost by definition, score highly on the green stakes.

NYR agreed to take part in a Q&A session on the Guardian newspaper’s website - part of a series called You Ask, They Answer. The line of questioning soon focused on NYR’s stance on alternative medicines, in particular a previously withdrawn homeopathic malaria remedy. Amazingly, NYR refused to answer questions on the topic and eventually pulled out of the debate. But this did nothing to calm the flames.

The silence left by NYR was filled with negative comments from readers - and soon other blogs, like this one, had picked up on the situation. NYR’s stance is surprising, not least because it leaves the debate one sided, fanning the flames of negativity.

But more importantly perhaps, green credentials go hand-in-hand with honesty. Companies are like people. If they make a mistake and ignore it, you may not trust them again. But if they make a mistake, and show us that they have a way to remedy it, we tend to trust them even more in the future.

We choose a ‘green company’ because we trust it to be doing the right thing - and for that trust to continue, the company must be open, especially about mistakes.

Two of us from Eye for Image are entered in the Copenhagen Marathon on 24 May. Chris Ramsden and I have been working towards this for several months. Even though we’ve both run marathons before, the thought of another 42.2 km is still quite nerve-wracking. You can’t be absolutely sure how the body will react on the day. Today, I’m wondering what will happen to the niggling pain in my ankle that I’ve noticed the last couple of training runs!

Even so, now that it’s less than two weeks away, we’re pretty excited, aren’t we Chris?

The Copenhagen Marathon has grown into a major international event, with more than 8000 participants expected this year. That’s a lot of people, but if you look carefully, you should be able to see our bright blue t-shirts! We hope you’ll see us both cross the finish line on two legs.

I was just reading some tips on how a company can promote its green initiatives. Many companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, don’t have a specific environmental policy, but most employees still do what they can to be a little bit greener.

A few years ago, I worked on a website for Vattenfall, the Swedish energy company – and one page included tips for reducing your energy use at home. Little things like not leaving electronic items on standby and choosing energy saving shower heads. They all count, so I asked a couple of people in the office what they do to be greener. Here’s what they said:

Fiona“I always make sure I have a spare bag with me in case I have to do some shopping on the way home from work. This means I don’t have to buy a plastic bag at the supermarket.”

Kelly
“When it comes to helping out the environment, the little things really do count. So I try and do my part by riding my bike to work, taking my backpack to the supermarket, recycling and buying organic whenever possible. And I don’t eat meat. Surprisingly, this probably makes the biggest impact of all: meat production is a major cause of deforestation and grassland destruction, and it drains our fresh water resources – 225 grams of beef requires a whopping 25,000 liters of water.”

Anonymous
“Don’t ask me. I don’t do anything.”

And me?
I live in Norway, and like everyone else here, I sort and recycle all my rubbish. I have six different bins in the kitchen: for plastic, metal, glass, paper, organic waste and the rest. I even have a recycling calendar on the wall, which tells me what rubbish gets picked up on what day.

Anyone got any other good green tips?

We always ask our customers what unique selling point their product has. What can it do better, faster, simpler, cheaper or more efficiently than the competition. But sometimes the answer is, “We don’t really have have one. All the products on the market are pretty much the same.”

I recently came across this quote from Joel Raphaelson about parity products and thought I’d share it:

“In the past, just about every advertiser has assumed that in order to sell his goods he has to convince consumers that his product is superior to his competitor’s.
This may not be necessary. It may be sufficient to convince consumers that your product is postively good. If the consumer feels certain that your product is good and feels uncertain about your competitor’s, he will buy yours.
If you and your competitors all make excellent products, don’t try to imply that yours is better. Just say what’s good about your product - and do it a clearer, more honest, more informative job of saying it.”

After surviving the inevitable phone and internet issues during the move, everything is now up and running and it’s business as usual for the Eye for Image team. Our new office is on Pistolstræde - just a stone’s throw from Strøget and Kongens Nytorv. A few of us are having some trouble staying away from the shops, but the office is great and, since we’re all scattered around Copenhagen, the central location is a big plus. 

We’re all really looking forward to summer in the heart of Copenhagen - stop by for a visit sometime!