On to part 2 of my Ogilvy Earth examination. Although looking at their clients gave me some good insight into how Ogilvy Earth is operating, I think that its even more important to examine their tactics. Their tactics or "capabilities" as they refer to them are listed on the Ogilvy Earth site here.
They consist of an Eco Audit, Landscape Audit, The Lab, Earth-View Software, the Three Pillars Employee Survey and IQ Mapping. I would like to take a deeper look and see what all these fancy words really mean and delve further into Ogilvy Earth to answer my question of "Green branding or green washing?"
Eco Audit: "Collects, analyzes and synthesizes perspectives on sustainability goals, possibilities and realities, according to key stakeholders within the participating brand."
They do this by conducting interviews that (hopefully) "leads to key insights and ideas that already exist in a company’s operations and culture."
Well I guess interviews are a good start and a good way to get a feeling for how the company already thinks. I dont really see how this audit is "eco" other than it gives Ogilvy Earth an idea of what the company thinks about "sustainability." But how effective is this if the "key stakeholders" don't know jack shit about sustainability? How does Ogilvy Earth tell them that their goals are misguided if they are?
Landscape Audit: "By analyzing both online and offline news, information and cultural cues, we create a snapshot of sustainability as it relates to a particular industry or niche."
So this one seems pretty similar to the Eco Audit, but I don't really understand how this is effective for green branding. What if the "snapshot of sustainability" shows them that no one in that particular industry is addressing "sustainability?" What then? And aren't we really talking about reinvention to make your brand more sustainable. Who cares what your competitors or journalists are saying about "sustainabilty in your industry" I think this one is misguided because brands need to focus inward to be sustainable and not get their ideas of "sustainability" from others in their industry or journalists. How about scinetists instead?
The Lab: this one sounds creepy and awesome but what is The Lab? Ogivly Earth's website says "A living library of the world’s greatest thinkers on sustainability. Full-day Lab immersions include client and agency access to members of the Lab for workshops focused on defining a sustainability vision, a messaging platform, new product development, potential partnerships, packaging ideas and more."
this one sounds cool and in-line with green branding. Education of clients is vital in this process if they really want to reinvent their brand and "sustainablize" it. I would, however, like to see who are Ogilvy's "greatest thinkers on sustainability" though. A little more transperancy on this one would be good.
Earth-View software: "State-of-the-art technology offering a radar-style map that allows users to self-assess their current position in sustainability, for a visual presentation of a gap analysis."
that description is just too damned filled with agency jargon for me to make out what this really is. I assume its a visual representation of the Landscape Audit-showing where the client is in relation to other brands in term of sustainability. If that is the case, I have the same criticisms for this as the Landscape Audit, but I bet it looks really cool.
Three Pillars Survey: "A sophisticated tool used to engage the organization’s employees around the economic, social and environmental actions and reputation of a business."
This capability also seems to be on the right track by identifying how the employees of the client view them. Again a good starting point to reinvent a brand and a way for the "suits" to find out about how their employees think. I do question how honest and unbiased this is though. I mean I wouldn't bad mouth the company that pays my bills too much. Again, what if the employees of said company dont know anything about sustainability and environmental issues? I think this needs to be paired with some employee education to be effective.
IQ Mapping: "A technique with both quantitative and qualitative benefits that helps identify key influencers who can make or break a client’s entry into the sustainability conversation particular to a brand’s category or industry."
Basically introducing a client to the thought leaders in their industry. Cool. But this sounds a bit like PR spinning to me. I think a client's "make or break into the sustainability conversation" depends more on their business practices (and how sustainable they actually are) then who they know in the industry.
With this I've finished my examination of Ogilvy Earth and I feel I have a pretty good idea of where they stand as a green branding agency. I may have been a bit harsh in my criticism but standing up to harsh criticism is what a client (an agency) has to do if they want to make it in the "sustainable" business world.
See part 3 for my final conclusions!
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