Greening the marketing mix : A case study of the Rockwool Group

Abstract: Purpose: To explore how a company can make its marketing mix, the four Ps, greener. This is done with a case study of the Rockwool Group. Background: The Rockwool Group is the world’s leading producer of stone wool. It consists of twenty-one factories in three continents and its primary business area is within insulation. The Rockwool Group’s products improve the quality of life and helps to alleviate environmental problems, such as the greenhouse effect, smog and acid rain.   Problem: Today many companies want to improve their greenness. A way to do this is by greening the marketing mix. The current green marketing literature only touches upon certain aspects of the marketing mix, but there are no recognized studies that provide guidelines on how to green the marketing mix.   Methodology: The data collection consists of several semi-structured interviews with employees from different departments. The authors interviewed employees from three subsidiaries from different parts of the world – Scandinavia, North America and the Balkans. Conclusions: Through the case of the Rockwool Group the authors have explored how to green the marketing mix. This has shown that product, place and promotion have several factors that can be greened. However, this specific case study only shows how prices set a premium are greened. Another case focusing on standard prices can provide further suggestions to green the price.