Seeing Green:  An Interview With Denise Waggoner of Getty Images

As vice president of creative research for Getty Images, Denise Waggoner knows how images work in the world today. Her team has unprecedented resources for studying the meaning and application of photographs, illustration and film around the globe and she has a unique insight into what visuals effectively communicate today’s environmental marketing messages. Back by popular demand, Denise will be returning to the Good And Green™ stage this December and as she prepares to give us her “Visual Report Card on Green”, she recently spoke with Patti Minglin, editor of Good And Green™ E-ssentials, on how “green” (literally) looks to consumers.

Minglin: What “green” images seem to resonate particularly well with consumers?  Have these images changed as the eco-consumer becomes more sophisticated? In other words, is putting a waterfall in your ad for cars going to make consumers think green or do they want more?
Waggoner: What we're discovering right now is that consumers are approaching a green overload.  "Greenness" is becoming the default position for all communicators and as a result we are heading into a period of opportunity and confusion where everything is starting to look like everything else.  The use of “foresty” greens and waterfalls is being used to sell everything from tooth brushes, jewelry and cars, to technology and insurance, and just about everything else in between.  Consequently, consumers are actually confused about the messaging.  Is my car insurance suddenly ecologically sound? When did my $200 monthly premium become about the environment?

Visually, it's the not-for-profits who are having the highest impact. It’s kind of a luxury—after all, they don’t have to sell benefits, it’s all about awareness and education. However we can learn from their messaging.  It's bold and simple. The call to action is quite personal in its attempt to connect with the “us” as consumers--about the small actions we can take to affect change.  Further they are increasingly using children as a representation of our future, not a new technique, but it's the way in which they're using them that gives reason to pause. We're also seeing effective visuals that show the tactile experience of nature with people getting their hands dirty and involved with the earth as opposed to being an observer of it.

Minglin: Is having the right visual enough—do products still need to tell their green story in words?
Waggoner: Storytelling is and will continue to be a big deal.  Visual communication goes through this crazy evolution of awareness with the consumer.  The first stage, as with green marketing, is the propaganda stage. Propaganda has negative connotations, but at its heart it is about educating.  As we found in our partnership with Yankelovich, consumers need more information before they can be confident in their purchasing decisions. Brands understand this indecision--which is why so many ads have a copy-heavy educational feel to them. Later on, we go through a visual cliché stage, which we're experiencing now.  The Statue of Liberty is a great example.  One of the most often used icons of hope in the Western world is now being used to sell underwater products like windows and diving equipment. It has moved from that symbol of hope to a cliché of wry failure.

Environmental marketing will move from its propaganda/cliché phase toward a space of value association. It will start with an image, still or moving, but must, in order for it to be relevant to the consumer, have a message that's grounded in truth.  An association with "green" without that will turn the consumer off.  

Minglin: We see a lot of products using the color green to show their environmental strength. Magazines seem to be the biggest participant in this—think Time magazine changing its traditional red border to green for their “green issue”—does the color green automatically move consumers to think “environmentally friendly” now?  How do brands use the color itself effectively?
Waggoner: The use of the color green to signify an environmental or healthy message has been used for years. At the mainstream level it started with the food industry through the growth of organic and natural foods. The “Healthy Choice” box is a great example. They were one of the first prepackaged meal companies, outside of the frozen vegetable industry, to use green as the feature color of  their packaging -  a beacon of what's good for you.  Twenty years later that discussion has moved a lot further on, but the color hasn't.  It does makes sense for Time to choose green for that issue as it's a clear message to their audience; "you recognize this color, we're going to talk about this issue."  The problem for consumers however, is that so many products use that same green to sell everything; regardless of the product's benefits or lack thereof for the environment.   

I actually believe the question for our time is this:  How do we sell more stuff while responsibly communicating about all things Green? To explore the answer(s) to this question, we did a study. It’s called Map 2: AspEn. Aspirational Environmentalism . Within the pages of Map 2 we look at green communication from around the globe to try to understand visually where we are today and where we might go tomorrow. It’s one of my favorite projects of all time, it’s about the human condition and how we all communicate about stuff we need vs. stuff we desire.

Minglin: This Aspirational Environmentalism Study sounds so cool—from both a personal consumer and a professional marketer perspective. Will you be showing us how to apply what you learned on the Good And Green™ stage this December?
Waggoner: Absolutely.  We will spend a little time talking about today's visual trends, but the main focus will be on current and future opportunities.   I'm particularly excited as we'll just have voted in a new U.S. president who will be responsible for the evolution of the environmental agenda; in one way or another.  The question for us will be how will that agenda affect the way consumers think and behave about the environment and how will it influence the way in which we communicate?  Very exciting times we live in and this conference really gets at the challenges we all face in being green both personally and professionally.

Minglin: What new and exciting things are you working on at Getty Images right now?  
Waggoner: Ohh--there are so many things!!! We're still working on AspEn as the dialogue continues and the visuals evolve, which is absolutely fascinating. We just completed a research project to discover how the change in our global and local economy is visually affecting the financial sector, you can find that too on the website, it's called Risky Business.  AND, we are partnering again with the amazing team at Yankelovich to discover how consumers respond to certain types of imagery.  We're actually featuring Yankelovich and the Monitor Minute with Pictures on the website too!  It's a very exciting time...love my job.