Many companies currently address the principles of sustainability and include them in the corporate social responsibility guidelines. Thus innovative products need to assure the appropriate levels of sales profit and consider the interests of the target audience. Clorox is one of those companies that struggle to follow the recent trends of environmental sustainability, inform the customers about this approach, and keep the revenues grow.
Each year the amount of factories and plants is increasing, which implies that a greater amount of harmful substances is emitted into the atmosphere every day. The concept of environmental sustainability has evolved to protect natural resources and reduce pollution. Chemicals are among the most hazardous materials that contaminate water resources and soil, imposing a risk on fish, animals, and people.
The companies involved in the production of chemicals, Clorox in particular, are striving to develop new product lines with either natural or organic components. Most people think that natural and organic concepts are identical because they imply no pesticides, genetically modified organisms, or artificial supplements, but the latter assumes that such materials are better because stricter regulations apply to control their manufacturing.
Clorox aligns its sustainability positioning with production by using natural components in household cleaning goods. The company articulates a 3D framework to evolve the desire in customers for making a purchase by educating them, to influence their decision by utilizing the appropriate at-the-shelf strategies, and bring delight by continual innovation to secure customers’ loyalty and repeat purchases (Ofek and Barley 2). This approach helps not only to realize the natural products but make the customers committed to environmental protection.
To inform the target audience about the company’s sustainable practices, the package usually includes an appropriate logo. This helps customers to identify the product as natural and not harmful. As a rule, such a logo influences not only a brand perception but the firm in general. That is why a Sierra Club activist claimed that the logo would be appropriate only when Clorox manufactures all its products with natural ingredients.
In this case, such a statement was not adequate because Clorox did not put that logo on the products with hazardous substances. Cooperation with non-profit organizations is useful for sustainable corporations because it allows the latter to keep up with the trends and implement corresponding innovations. However, there is a potential risk associated with the biased essence of collaboration when the interest of these two parties are aligned (Sanzo 2).
Therefore, non-governmental organizations that are usually non-profit need to stay unbiased when creating partnerships with other businesses. This idea contributes to the creation of stronger brand credibility for each party involved in the collaboration. Otherwise, co-optation may lead to an impaired reputation and develop mistrust among consumers.
Clorox was continuously expanding its line of natural products under the Green Works brand. More than forty-three percent of consumers wanted to purchase natural household cleaning items (Ofek and Barley 6). It also received the Natural Product Association certification, which required products to be primarily made of plant-based ingredients and uses no harsh chemical processing, so Green Works promoted greenwashing.
Even though the company helped consumers to increase awareness of sustainability issues through the advertisement campaigns, retailers placed Green Works items next to the traditional home cleaning products, which was confusing. To strengthen the Green Works brand, Clorox needs to define explicit positioning, make the prices affordable, and target the consumers who need to avoid chemicals in their households.
Clorox is company manufacturing products that contain various chemicals. However, the recent trends in environmental sustainability have driven the enterprise to manufacture cleaning goods with natural components. For this reason, they established cooperation with non-profit organizations and created informative advertisement campaigns. To further promote Green Works’ natural products, Clorox needs to set affordable prices and inform the target audience about their non-harmful cleaning goods.
Works Cited
Ofek, Elie, and Lauren Barley. “The Clorox Company: Leveraging Green for Growth.” Harvard Business School, vol. 9, 2012, pp. 1-27.
Sanzo, Mariz Jose. “Lights and Shadows of Business-Nonprofit Partnerships: The Role of Nonprofit Learning and Empowerment in this Ethical Puzzle.” Sustainability, vol. 9, 2017, pp. 1-21.