Green marketing for a healthy planet

Our Ethical Policy Statement

At PPS, kindness, ethical integrity, honesty, and respect for the planet and people affected by our activities will always guide our business practices.

Our ethical policy is based on who we work with and our ethical ambitions, both of which are central to our ethical policy.

People and the environment are important to Plant Powered Studios. Our mission is to effectively communicate the world’s purpose to all people, regardless of where they live. Through our consulting, communications, and strategy skills, we help organisations become better and communicate their social and environmental stories.

A cleaner, greener and fairer future is something we can all be proud of, which is why we are actively working to promote positive behavior change within the marketing industry.

Kindness, ethical integrity, honesty, and respect for the planet and people affected by our activities should guide our business practices.

As a result of our own and our clients’ activities, we believe that they should inspire positive social and behavioral changes for a better world and a better way of life for everyone involved.

The type of people we work with and the stories we tell together determine a large part of our impact on the world. Clients come from a wide range of industries, and we conduct a thorough company screening process before accepting any project.

Clients may be asked about their social, ethical, or environmental goals. If we all agree that there is a good fit between us, we will then decide whether we are the right company to carry out this mission. It’s important to us that the company and/or person we’re considering is compatible with our ethical values and company mission.

All of these are factors that we look for when selecting clients and projects.

1. Purpose or mission that is based in social justice or environmental responsibility.
2. Bring important environmental, social, and ethical issues to the forefront of the public’s consciousness.
3. Proactively encourages positive behavioral changes.
4. What ethical standards do positive movements adhere to, without using greenwashing to bolster their brand credibility?
5. Encourage and support sustainable living and healthy lifestyles.
6. Healthy natural environments and lifestyles (such as plant based or vegan) are promoted.
7. Provides positive education to customers about a particular product or service;
8. Reduces consumption of products and goods with a high environmental impact.
9. Illustrates moral dilemmas and identifies and addresses injustice.
10. Activates in the workplace to promote fairness, inclusion, and equality.

Happy employees create happy customers who return, these programs promote moral conduct and benefit our exclusive clientele.

We are proud to be members of The Ethical Move.

our ethical marketing pledge to you.

Together, we are making the ethical move to create a new marketing standard based on transparency, trust, and honesty.

This pledge is designed to start a conversation about manipulation in marketing, and to move towards the creation of a standard.

Thank you for being here. It means the world to us.

1. charm pricing.

We pledge to change our pricing from ‘charm prices’ ($297) to round numbers ($300).

We judge prices based on the leftmost digit of a number. Charm prices use the left-digit-effect to make a product appear cheaper than it is, bypassing the conscious choice of the buyer. They are only created to generate more sales and do not benefit the buyer in the least.

The ethical move

Ask yourself: are you trying to make your price look cheaper? Round up or down.
Do not use the number 9 in your price endings.
Prices can include or exclude tax and other charges, as long as it is clearly communicated.
Currency has to be clearly recognizable (ie CAD/USD vs $).
For people bound by a price box (Amazon, Apple, etc): we accept pledges by businesses that communicate round numbers on their website/marketing materials, even though the price at check out might differ.

2. countdowns.

We pledge to not use countdown timers to drive a sale.

Countdown timers (ticker) create feelings of anxiety and a false sense of urgency: “You have to do it now… or you will lose out forever”. They’re designed to make people make hasty decisions instead of allowing them the time to decide if it’s the right purchase for them.

The ethical move

Allow pressure-free space for your audience to decide if buying or opting in is right for them at this time.
Use the final date and time to indicate the end of your sale without a time ticker.
Be transparent and honest around signup timing (don’t say it’s the last chance if it’s not).
Say when you are going to offer the opportunity again.
Don’t extend the deadline beyond the original date communicated just to get last-minute sales.

3. false scarcity.

We pledge to be honest about availability.

False scarcity is designed to make an opportunity, product or service seem more rare, and therefore more valuable than it actually is. This plays on consumers’ fear of missing out and loss aversion, rather than allowing them to buy out of genuine desire.

The ethical move

Be honest about availability.
When there is real scarcity, communicate why.
Avoid fake exclusivity (if the offer is invite-only, just announce it to the people you want to invite).
Offer alternatives when there are actually limited quantities: you can say “there are only 5 seats in my workshop – but here’s another option if you don’t have the time or resources for this right now”.

4. lead magnets.

We pledge to be transparent in our email list building.

The ethical move

Give the option of receiving the offering without having to sign up to any other marketing materials.
Create a separate invitation to the email list with clear communication on what it will be used for (GDPR guidelines are a given).
If you can’t separate the offering from your email list, be very transparent in your sign-up box (that they will receive emails), make unsubscribing easy, and provide only content directly related to the subject of the offering.
If your campaign changes and you are planning to send content not related to the offering they signed up for, give your audience a very obvious option to opt out.

5. bait and switch.

We pledge to deliver the value we promise pitch-conscious.

Bait and switch occurs when we are led to expect something of value, and what we get doesn’t match that expectation (a webinar turning into an unexpected sales pitch). Bait is designed to cognitively prime us for receiving value, and once we are lured in and the value item is removed, we become anxious to fill the void with almost any solution that will make us feel whole again. Having value given to us, we feel called to reciprocate – with our time, information, attention, or money.

The ethical move

When providing value with a pitch connected to it, tell your audience in your invitation and introduction how it will be presented, receive their consent, and then deliver your value with your audience having knowledge of what to expect.
Aim to not have more than 5% of your value taken up by a sales pitch.
Try delivering your value after your pitch – or deliver your value and your pitch in separate conversations.

6. woke washing.

We pledge to not use social issues to leverage our marketing.

Woke washing is the appropriation of ethical and progressive values with the intent to leverage image and increase sales, when behind closed doors, the actions and words don’t match the reality (when a brand donates to BLM while exploiting BIPOC in their supply chain). Not only does this put more attention on the ‘virtuous’ company than the movement or change it is claiming to support, it can inadvertently derail their mission by creating misinformation and indifference. This type of manipulation rides on our need to be seen favourably by our peers: we buy from companies that will create a positive image for us by extension.

The ethical move

Only place statements, labels, and pledges on your website if you can match every one of the commitments with your actions.
Be transparent about the actions you are taking, and make sure you are genuinely in alignment with them throughout every part of your business (values, communications, products, and operations).
When you share these actions, communicate how they directly connect to the values and mission of your company.
Be accountable and open to conversation about the causes you support.

7. secret recipe.

We pledge to not make false promises in our sales and marketing.

A ‘secret recipe’ is when someone claims they have an exclusive secret to success, or a shortcut, that no one else has. There is no ONE solution to a problem, and claiming that there is creates a sense of lack and loss aversion that are hard to resist.