Is the ELI leaf an evergreen? Assessing the value of an international logo for quality lighting products

Sabrina Birner, ELI & June Consulting, France
Russell Sturm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), USA

Keywords

energy-efficient lighting; compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), logo, labeling, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Peru, the Philippines, and South Africa, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Global Environment Facility (GEF), market transformation

Abstract

The IFC/GEF Efficient Lighting Initiative (ELI) seeks to increase the penetration of energy-efficient lighting technologies in Argentina, Peru, South Africa, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Latvia. ELI developed a “toolkit” of five different market enhancement activities that each country program could adapt to fit its own market conditions. One of these tools is a public education and marketing initiative built around the ELI “Green Leaf” logo.

After a brief introduction of ELI, this paper discusses the strategic objectives of the logo within the global ELI program. These include providing market pull to motivate manufacturers to produce high-quality CFLs, and introducing as a market push a logo that allows consumers to identify high-quality CFLs. After explaining how ELI settled on the “Green Leaf” for its logo, the paper briefly mentions the quality criteria CFLs need to meet in order to qualify for the logo. The paper then summarizes the logo’s use in each of the seven country programs , and the response to the logo from large and small manufacturers,.

The paper closes by providing a critical analysis of the following questions. Under what market conditions can the ELI logo be effective? What value has ELI created for its logo? Is the value such that at the close of ELI (end 2002 - early 2003) one or more institutions could become caretakers of the logo? What would be the profile of such institutions? How would they administer and benefit from the logo?