by Jamie Lee

MORE businesses are looking into the green movement as a form of marketing, said the top executive of advertising agency Young & Rubicam (Y&R).

But even as green marketing gains popularity, consumers are also becoming more aware of the notion of 'grainwashing', Hamish McLennan, global CEO of Y&R, told BT in an interview earlier this month.

'You really can't be seen to be jumping on the bandwagon for the sake of it, so whatever you do it's got to be genuine and long-term,' said Mr McLennan. 'Consumers will look at you very sceptically if they just think that you're doing it just as a cheap marketing trick.'

He pointed to automobile companies such as Ford, which has launched hybrid cars as a sign of long-term commitment to the green movement. Other examples include credit card company American Express, which donates to environmental causes, and toothpaste maker Colgate, which uses natural ingredients and packaging made from recycled material.

Y&R has also spearheaded its own green movement by spending 'well over a million dollars' into a carbon-neutral programme that looks at aspects such as recycling, as well as saving electricity and water, he said. The company has also pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by 20 per cent over the next four years. 'We launched it formally three months ago in New York and the staff love it. It's sort of a rally cry from within the business,' said Mr McLennan, who became CEO in 2006.

Y&R, which expects to grow its global revenue by 10 per cent to more than US$1 billion this year from an estimated US$907 million in 2007, hopes to shift from a US-centric approach to a more balanced portfolio of American, Asian and European clients. Its recent big win in Asia was LG Electronics. Mr McLennan declined to give the assignment value but said LG now makes up one of its top 10 clients globally.

With the upcoming digital trend, Mr McLennan said he expects digital advertising to make up 20 per cent of the company's revenue in the next 18 months.

This article was first published in The Business Times on July 22, 2008.