Ford rolled home with the 2nd annual Nielsen Automotive Green Marketer of the Year award, which was presented today at the Los Angeles International Auto Show.

Over the last decade, Americans’ awareness of and sensitivity to the environment has grown dramatically, and environmental concerns regularly top opinion polls as being important.  Going hand-in-hand with this awareness is a desire to purchase products that are green, such as those that are organic, natural or have an environmentally friendly benefit. Retailers, food and consumer product manufacturers have sought to capitalize on this trend by launching new lines of products touting their natural qualities. The Natural Marketing Institute estimates that the size of the green marketplace will reach $420 …

Half of Americans say they want to buy green products, but don’t. As the market has become more crowded – and the offerings more complex – consumers have also become more sophisticated. While the payout for successfully launching a new product as green can be substantial, getting there requires a unique approach.

The International Herald Tribune reported Sunday that the current deluge of environmentally conscious advertisements is fueling consumer skepticism of “green” marketing. 
Jonathan Banks, business insight director, Nielsen, told the Tribune that a huge volume of “green” ads and the flimsiness of the claims in some of the campaigns are fueling the current backlash.
“After 18 months, levels of concern on any issue tend to drop off,” Banks noted. “I fear that something similar may happen with this.”
View Nielsen Online’s recent Webinar on “Greenwashing”.