Tomorrow, April 22nd is the 47th anniversary of Earth Day, so the appropriate time to release our list of the top-25 greenest brands in America. Of 740 brands included in this year’s 22nd annual Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, 49,168 customers deemed these brands as authentically, resolutely, and significantly “green.” And when it comes to this particular value, high engagement is an indicator of positive consumer behavior in the marketplace. And the political arena, too.
The top-25 brands, presented alphabetically since consumer environmental expectations are category-specific and vary sector to sector, are:
- Amazon.com
- Apple
- AT&T
- Avis
- Ben & Jerry’s
- Best Buy
- Chick-fil-A
- Coke
- Discover Card
- Dunkin’
- Ford
- Fuji
- Home Depot
- Hyundai
- Jack Daniels
- Kiehl’s
- Konica-Minolta
- Microsoft
- New Balance
- Nike
- Pepsi
- Tom’s of Maine
- Toyota
- Wyndham Hotels
- Xerox
This year EarthDay.org campaign is, “Environmental & Climate Literacy.” Given the recent politicization of climate change, the campaign is designed to help make people more fluent in the concepts of climate change. A more climate-literate citizenry, it is hoped, will end up being the engine that fuels green voters and laws and policies that advance environmental protection.
Brands can’t simply play the environmental awareness card as part of a CSR or PR campaign anymore. In just the same way politicians are going to be held to the fire according to voter standards, so too are brands. Brands will have to do it in ways that meaningfully support a sustainable future that’s both palpable and believable to the consumer because when it comes to brands, consumers will end up “voting” with their wallets. And while it is the hope of many that corporations are looking to find ways to do business more sustainably, it’s worthy of note that brands are getting better at being “green.”
It’s been independently validated is that brands best able to meet expectations, particularly those that are more emotionally-based – saving the planet, for example – ultimately do better than those brands that don’t or can’t meet those expectations.
And when it comes to the bottom bottom-line, unlike many things in consumers’ lives, it’s precisely as Albert Einstein observed, “Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.”
Including brands.
Find out more about what makes customer loyalty happen and how Brand Keys metrics is able to predict future consumer behavior: brandkeys.com. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about Brand Keys methodology, applications and case studies.
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