The sooner organizations adopt strategies to improve the quality of their products and services, the better.arketing sustainableand our environment will be better off, emphasizes Forbes Network in an article signed by Martha Rivera Pesquera y Antonio Casanueva Fernándezteachers of the IPADE Business School.
By sustainable, the professors mean achieving profound environmental, social, cultural and economic change.
"Something is sustainable when it complies with a series of processes that help create a better social and planet-friendly environment. Sustainable marketing involves the commercialization of products designed with environmental or social awareness, in a way that is sensitive to concerns with the planet and society. It also includes transmitting values that are committed to sustainability," they define.
Doing as little harm as possible, doing more good, and doing it differently are the three levels of sustainable marketingthe article highlights.
Companies seeking to "do as little damage as possible" focus on fixing what already exists, they explain. For example, Apple established mechanisms to ensure that everyone involved in its supply chain has high ethical standards so that the people involved in the manufacture of its products are valued, respected and work safely.
For its part, United Airlines committed to reduce CO2 emissions and become a green company, reducing greenhouse gases by 100% by 2050. Unilever explains the impact on people and the environment caused by the use of its products containing volatile organic compounds and trans fats.
IPADE Business School professors report that other companies try to "do more good" and promote sustainable lifestyles.
"This has led to the use of shared services, such as Rent the Runway in New York or Estrenón in Mexico, which use e-commerce platforms for their users to rent designer clothing and accessories. Mexican technology wholesaler CompuSoluciones works with its supply chain so that the packaging of the equipment it distributes is made from plastic salvaged from the ocean," they point out.
Other organizations are innovating to reverse the negative effects on the environment. These include the "Love Carbon" campaign of Interfacea company dedicated to the manufacture of carpets for stores, offices and hotels, which is dependent on oil and fights for industrial ecology. They designed a process that, through "carbon sequestration", added to a closed-loop manufacturing and circular economy, generates "negative carbon", they explain.
Patagonia Inc.the U.S.-based outdoor apparel company, has gone a step further in its marketing to "do it differently". Since realizing that climbing tools damage rocky cliffs, Patagonia's philosophy has focused on environmentally friendly policies. It also designs programs to reduce clothing consumption, repair and reuse its products, and manufacture with recycled inputs.
"Sustainable marketing invites us to rethink the rules of marketing. Instead of the traditional 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion), market solutions that help create a better environment, with greater convenience, where all aspects required for products and services to reach the customer in the simplest and most environmentally friendly way are valued. A price perception that reflects the value provided to the customer, including ecological and social issues. And a communication where the customer is the protagonist through an honest dialogue that includes ESG issues," they explain.
The article indicates that there is recent evidence that consumers care about sustainability and demonstrate this through their purchasing decisions. When asked if they care about buying environmentally and ethically sustainable products, the majority say yes.
A recent study by NielsenIQ found that for 78% of U.S. consumers a sustainable lifestyle is important, however, Greenwashing, a deceptive sustainable marketing practice noted for trying to communicate an environmentally friendly brand image without any substantiation, should be avoided.
The guest writers of Forbes Network highlight that having a brand purpose and caring for people and the planet is not just about doing the right thing, it also generates long-term profit and growth for the organizations that are committed to it.
Source: Forbes
