Sustainability Buzz Up 169%

The term “sustainability” peaked on blogs, boards and discussion groups after the February 25 telecast of The Oscars as Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” took home the Oscar for Documentary Feature. Nonetheless, “sustainability” has remained a persistent issue in the blogosphere, with buzz levels on this term up 169 percent in July 2007 versus one year ago, Nielsen BuzzMetrics reports.

“Fueled by Al Gore, growing media attention, and other factors, these higher, lasting buzz levels suggest sustainability is further becoming a deep-rooted priority in consumers’ lives,” said Greg Thornhill, VP and Practice Lead, CPG, Nielsen BuzzMetrics. “For marketers, this new era of sustainability means they must prepare for rising consumer awareness and scrutiny in everything they do and how it relates to the future good of the planet.”

The top brands consumers associate with “sustainability” in natural online conversations tend to be nimble and independent newcomers, Thornhill added. For example, in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) category, some of the most popular brands currently discussed in connection with sustainability include: Seventh Generation, Shaklee, Method, Ecover, M.O.P., gDiapers and Greening the Cleaning.

In May, BuzzMetrics reported that Wal-Mart was the corporation most linked with blog posts that mention “sustainability.” Wal-Mart was mentioned in 1.77 percent of the 356,403 messages about sustainability measured between 3/15/06 and 3/15/07.

In a related environmental issue, online buzz about bottled water spiked 520% percent on July 27, following recent bottled-water bans in San Francisco and Ann Arbor, and disclosures that two major bottled water brands included only tap water.

A Nielsen BuzzMetrics webinar on Friday, September 7 will spotlight sustainability.

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