• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

GreenFactor Study Finds Dell is the Leading Green Brand Among IT Buyers; Wins With Product Recycling Program

Posted on: Thursday, 19 March 2009, 08:00 CDT

CIOs and Senior IT Managers see innovation in electronics recycling and product design as important brand characteristics, despite economic downturn, according to a joint study by Strategic Oxygen and Cohn & Wolfe

AUSTIN, Texas, March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The global "green" enterprise IT study released by Strategic Oxygen and Cohn & Wolfe today reveals that Dell is the number one green technology brand, recognized for its extensive recycling program, the top ranked attribute sought by IT buyers. HP, IBM and Microsoft were noted for their energy efficient products and use of sustainable materials, while Apple held its position in the top five for designing products that are perceived to have a green look and feel.

For this survey Strategic Oxygen surveyed more than 3,500 enterprise IT decision makers - including CXOs, CIOs, IT Managers and Line of Business Managers - in 11 countries. The study also looked at 26 enterprise technology brands to determine decision makers' perceptions of "green" IT, products and marketing.

GreenFactor released its first study on green IT in July 2008. In the new research, Global IT buyers continue to see little differentiation among the various green offerings, yet brand rankings among companies shifted somewhat with Dell at 30% moving to number one, replacing HP, which fell to number two at 26%. Similar to the July findings, no single enterprise IT brand is a clear "green" leader globally and there is little statistical difference between the leaders.

According to Michael Gale, president of Strategic Oxygen, "As we watch companies make financial commitments to the environment with innovation and marketing, it is interesting that the differentiation among the various brands is so small. However, given Dell's long-term and consistent commitment to sustainability, I am not surprised to see it at the top. The challenge is going to be building differentiated value over time."

GreenFactor is the first research to document and track what the top green buying attributes are for the B2B tech sector and which companies are perceived by IT buyers as getting it right. Today's research findings, when coupled with the July study, have identified two distinctive segments that IT buyers use to judge companies - "Brand Products" and "Brand Operations."

The Brand Product attributes that most clearly impact purchase decision include:

• Produces hardware that is made from biodegradable/recyclable materials
• Designs products or packaging that appears to be green because the design looks clean
• Offers recycling programs for old hardware
• Produces energy efficient products
• Promotes a green image of themselves

Brand Operations attributes include having green facilities (manufacturing and/or data canters), using green shipping methods (e.g. non-wasteful packaging, efficient transportation), or leading in developing new green technologies.

IT buyers currently rank Brand Product higher than Brand Operations when making purchase decisions, but an IT vendor's ability to effectively demonstrate environmental stewardship in both areas gives them a distinct advantage.

Laptops and servers are the top products IT buyers indicate they will purchase within the next twelve months, according to the survey, and green attributes figure prominently in buyer requirements.

"The technology brands that make the authentic connection between the environmental soundness of their products and their sustainable business operations and policies, will be long-term winners," says Claudia Carasso, managing director of the global technology practice at Cohn & Wolfe. "We also know that CIOs who are committed to green strategies depend more on blogs and forums than their non-green counterparts for gathering information on technology solutions. This is an important finding for product and service providers who are looking for current and credible ways to reach the coveted C-suite buyer."

For the purposes of the study, "green technology" was defined as having efficient power consumption, recyclable/reusable packaging, recycling offers for older equipment, use of non-toxic materials, or making investments in future "green" concepts such as alternative materials.

About GreenFactor

First fielded in February of 2008, the GreenFactor study pulsed IT buyers again in late November 2008 in order to provide a set of tools and frameworks that enable marketers to successfully position themselves and their "green" offerings. Brands included in the study were Alcatel-Lucent, Acer, Apple, AMD (not in U.S., Canada, UK, India or Australia), Cisco, Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola (not in U.S., Canada, UK, India or Australia), NEC, Nokia, Nortel, Oracle, Samsung, SAP, Sony, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Toshiba, and Xerox. Countries included in the study were Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additional materials and information on the results can be found at www.greenfactorstudy.com.

About Strategic Oxygen

Strategic Oxygen is a marketing intelligence company that is committed to improving the effectiveness of marketing communications by applying scientific methodologies-based on customer-centric research. In 2007, more than $5.5 billion of the world's marketing communications spending was based on solutions derived from the Information Network Engram (INE), Strategic Oxygen's patent-pending decision-making tool. The INE engine provides highly accurate marketing direction for technology brands using information derived from ten countries and 25 technologies. Currently, the INE tracks customer preferences for more than 65 brands. Strategic Oxygen is a member of Monitor Group. For more information about Strategic Oxygen, visit www.strategicoxygen.com.

About Cohn & Wolfe

Cohn & Wolfe is a strategic public relations agency dedicated to creating, building and protecting the world's most prolific brands. With offices around the world, the agency is committed to breaking new ground in the delivery of cross-channel media strategies, creative programming, and practice area excellence. Cohn & Wolfe is recognized year after year by clients and the industry for excellence in creativity, client service, digital communications, media strategy, senior management and strategic counsel. Cohn & Wolfe also consistently ranks among the top "Best Agencies to Work For" in an annual, industry-wide employee survey. For more information, visit: www.cohnwolfe.com. Cohn & Wolfe is part of WPP (Nasdaq: WPPGY), one of the world's largest communications services group.

SOURCE Strategic Oxygen

Source: PR Newswire

More News in this Category