Brands contribute to the sustainability movement by creating demand for products and services that people need and that are also responsible. There is a real opportunity for brands to lead the movement. While many companies understand the moral pay off of investing in this, what they may not realize is that incorporating sustainability as a business practice will also increase brand value and guarantee a long life for the business.
Sustainability and Brand
These days, the word “sustainability” is overused and applied to everything from cars to economics to agriculture. It is everywhere – in magazines, newspapers, corporate brochures, and on the front and back of consumer packaging. And yet, while most of us would associate sustainability with the green movement and being environmentally virtuous, many would have a hard time coming up with a definitive definition for the word.
“Sustainability” and “brand” have a lot in common. For instance, careful examination of the two concepts reveals that, like brand, sustainability is centered on the notion of building and maintaining value. Brands build value and contribute to a business’s economic growth by influencing and driving consumer choice. Sustainability also builds and maintains value – namely that of the earth’s resources, although, as we have seen over recent years, it is increasingly associated with building value for a business.
Brands and sustainability have something else in common: a unique relationship with behavior. When sustainability first entered the lexicon in 1987, with the publication of the report titled “Our Common Future” by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, it was defined as “…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In other words, behave fairly, don’t take more than your share, and put back what you use. This is easier said than done. As consumers we are used to making day-to-day choices based on what we want and need at that moment. Sustainability is a complex notion that demands we radically change our behavior in a real and meaningful way – to consider our individual actions as part of a sustainable whole.
Brands are also directly related to behavior. Rather than ask consumers to change their behavior, brands influence behavior through informing the choices we make on both rational and emotional levels. This is how they derive their value. By providing specific contributions to purchase decisions, brands can influence choice and secure ongoing customer demand. If brands contribute to the sustainability movement – however we define it – in a visible and demonstrative way, it is by creating demand for products and services that people need and that are also responsible. They are a unique mechanism to generate lasting change affecting both attitudes and behaviors. That’s why, in regard to sustainability, there is a real opportunity for brands to lead the movement. While many companies understand the moral pay off of investing in this, what they may not realize is that incorporating sustainability as a business practice will also increase brand value and guarantee a long life for the business.
Sustainability and Brand Value: a Changing Landscape
A changing landscape demands that businesses weave sustainability into their practices. This is because sustainability, as it is defined today, is not sustainable. This does not mean it is going away. Rather, quite the opposite – it will be something all businesses take into account in the future. .
The pressure to create ethical products has not only come from consumers, but also from peers. Already, in recent years, business leaders have taken charge by incorporating sustainability into the fabric of their brands. Today, as a result of these leaders, the entire landscape has shifted. We’re beginning to create more awareness in the consumer’s mind about the need for businesses to be sustainable.
Increased awareness has caused many businesses to implement CSR programs and sustainability initiatives without fully understanding their meaning and value. And yet, while it may seem like a whole lot of noise right now, as awareness increases, more businesses are being held accountable by public expectations and government regulations. A line between those who are sustainable and those who are not will become very clear. Those that have simply “greenwashed” – said but not done – will be identified immediately and cast out, not just by environmental groups, but by the general public as well. We’ll increasingly see sustainability becoming a table stake rather than a differentiator. It will become ingrained in the fabric of how all companies do business; they will not be able to do without it.
That’s why it is so important to craft a distinctive, relevant, and lasting sustainable proposition that will differentiate your brand. Look at GE, a brand that has a sustainable proposition that has added value to its brand. Whether it is engaging employees with its “Energy Treasure Hunt,” or partnering with Abu Dhabi to build the world’s first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city completely powered by renewable energy, GE leads by consistently doing the right thing in a way that is right for its brand and industry. Look at McDonald’s, which, far ahead of its competitors, has identified its specific challenges – like the impact of its litter on the world – and created plans to tackle them. Both of these companies have realized that real behavioral change does not come from reporting carbon emissions and showing transparency. Real behavioral change occurs when products and services are made the vehicle to deliver the message.
So take a clear leadership stance and begin creating a sustainability strategy that is right for your brand and your industry. Do the right thing and do it well – not just because it is a moral obligation, but because it is the best investment you can make in your business.
via:: Sustainable Life Media
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