Pitsos Green investigates how the Pitsos brand could get a young and modern image, targeting a 25-35 year old age segment, mainly through positioning it as the leading green MDA brand in Greece. The research was based on gathering external and internal data and qualitative research. We conducted focus groups, did a benchmarking study of competitors and potential partners, did a best practices research, made an internal audit of Pitsos’ green practices and studied the company in the light of existing academic research and a green marketing framework from bibliography. This has resulted in a SWOT analysis and a set of proposals concerning Pitsos’ green strategy, market actions and defense against greenwashing. From the market benchmark of green best practices, we conclude that the competition is closer than it might seem. Although none of the direct competitors of Pitsos have done green marketing actions in Greece, they have done so internationally and their products are nearly as green in practice. We also identified several options to partner with retailers as well as other organizations in educating consumers and promoting green awareness. In our opinion, although BSH and Pitsos are at the top of environmental friendliness in reality, the small margin relative to the competition in eco-terms, the position of the brand relative to others in the BSH group (and the competition) and the general lack of differentiation in the industry are not conducive to position Pitsos as the “most green” brand, even in Greece. We propose instead of that Pitsos plays to its (existing) strength and is positioned as a green value for money brand that sets the standard for its product category, thereby making optimal use of the opportunities provided by the green wave and the economic downturn in the country. In the report, we expand this concept with a host of specific market action proposals.
Finally, we believe that in order to create a young and modern brand image, being green alone is not sufficient. We also propose several non-green ideas to fix the communication gap with the young target group and reposition the brand, most notably playing the card of one of Pitsos’ true unique selling propositions: its image as a local Greek brand.
