Thanks to Luis Maram for this perspective!
http://www.wobi.com/blog/advertising/sustainability-isnt-sexy-three-tips-make-it-irresistible
In the last World Marketing Forum Mexico, we had the opportunity to interview marketing expert Martin Lindstrom with the sole objective of asking the following question: What is the relationship between marketing and sustainability?
It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the neuromarketing guru to respond:
“I think the problem with sustainability is that it isn’t sexy. Just hearing the word I fall asleep, and I think consumers feel the same way.”
The saddest part about his reply is that he’s right. Does this mean sustainability isn’t an important topic? Of course not. It is one of the two biggest revolutions catalyzing business today; however, it isn’t something that interests many people. So whose fault is it? It is businesses’ fault for not transmitting the concept’s value, and it is our fault, the marketers, because we haven’t found a sufficiently seductive way to make it sellable, or even worse, we’ve interpreted it as just a business strategy.
So what can we do? An obvious and rational answer is…benchmarking. Observe who is successfully managing their organization in a sustainable way and take away the best practices to turn it into a strategy to follow. We briefly analyze some examples and attempt to synthesize the three tips to make sustainability irresistible.
1) Sustainability isn’t about green campaigns…it is the new way to do business from the heart of the organization.
A lot of us confuse green products with sustainable ones; however this is a short-sighted vision. Sustainability implies viability in three channels: environmental, social and economic. To think that being environmentally friendly is synonymous with sustainability is to tarnish the concept.
On Nike’s sustainability page they define the concept as follows: It isn’t about just being better at what we do – studying the impact of our entire supply chain – it is about fighting for what matters, creating value for our business and innovating for a better world.
If you analyze the information on the site, you’ll find that they not only discuss the environment, but also transparency, corporate government, innovation, empowering employees, and supporting communities in order to inspire…
Nike understands that sustainability involves environmental, social and economic factors, and are injecting this knowledge into the core business of the organization to generate enormous savings in their supply chain, developing a profound engagement with collaborators and other interest groups. In doing so, they become a source of inspiration for consumers, avoiding reputational risk, and in doing so, unleashing enormous profitability…without having to go crazy with green campaigns…although occasionally they do so as well.
2) Sustainability should be taken to social media.
At the beginning of the post I mentioned that sustainability was one of two revolutions catalyzing the business world; the other is social media. It is impossible to avoid either of these two transformations. The companies that have understood and crossed the two are obtaining impressive results.
Through the online initiative “My Starbucks Idea”, the coffee chain has generated explosive crowdsourcing that allows clients to become the generators of innovative ideas to improve the business, from product development to…yes, sustainability. From there arise initiatives such as biodegradable teabags, recyclable coffee containers, a push for local products, support against child labor in coffee communities, and more. Today, the brand has collected over 18 million ideas related to the subject. What better example is there of crossing sustainability with social media to be more profitable?
3) Sustainability should be marketable.
Stewart Henderson Britt used to say “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know you are doing it, but no one else does...”
...and he was completely right. Not advertising because a company does so for conviction rather than profitability; it is a decision that someone should lose their job over.
Not letting the world know what you are doing positively for it is wasting a huge opportunity to generate a corporate reputation and competitive advantage in the market. It is a big error to not understand that sustainability can and will have transformative economic results .
Coca-Cola understands this idea perfectly, and besides inserting sustainability into its DNA, they are telling it to the world. Their philosophy, “Living Positively”, is one that they dedicate a good part of their advertising budget to, and is a great example of “a commitment to make a positive difference in the world, and making sustainability as much a part of their business as for the communities they serve.”
As you can see, sustainability isn’t about a ton of hippies trying to change the world… it is a business matter that is driving not only positive impacts on the environment and society, but also generating enormous profitability for the companies that know how to make it sexy. Is your business ready to do the same?