Marketing Sustentável e os novos consumidores

Sem lirismos desnecessários o Marketing Sustentável tem algumas características dos modelos clássicos, do modus operandus habitual, independentemente do tipo que falamos.
Marketing Sustentável é trabalhar dentro do âmbito da Sustentabilidade, tendo especial preocupação com questões de transparência, responsabilidade social, ecologia e ambiente, entre outros. No entanto tem especial destaque para a comunicação, essa mais abrangente mas directa, mais dinâmica mas com muita clareza. A comunicação sendo sempre fundamental, é neste caso 
Talvez seja presunçoso descrever o Marketing Sustentável como uma evolução, mas bem vistas as coisas vai ao encontro de novos tipos de consumidor. Uma das tendências, talvez até o novo tipo de consumidor, tal como Luiz Moutinho afirmou no forúm Marketing Trends, no ano passado, "é alguém que quer controlar as interacções que tem com as organizações, porque sabe o que quer obter" e  "preocupa-se com as consequências do seu consumo e está farto do abuso mental do marketing".
Nesse sentido o Marketing Sustentável está bem posicionado para trabalhar junto deste novo consumidor, dado que é cada vez mais o marketing que se terá de adaptar ao consumidor, correr atrás e não o contrário. Alguns chamam também o Marketing 3.0. 
As novas tendências de marketing serão definidas pelos próprios consumidores e não o oposto. Aparece de certa forma como um Consumer Generated Marketing, que Pedro Dionísio, na mesma conferência, designa como "marketing feito pelos consumidores, e constitui um incontornável indicador de uma profunda alteração no comportamento do consumidor e da sua aproximação das marcas". 
Em resumo, o Marketing Sustentável, sendo um Consumer Generated Marketing é, sem dúvida, uma das novas tendências.

Sustainability, Marketing and Strategy

If you observe generally how Sustainability is understand and worked you'll get the impression that it's some sort of theme or subject that companies have to treat briefly at certain times. Like initiatives that the company management has only to worry in that time, not a continuous act. Sustainability initiatives are treated like campaigns, like advertising, like PR actions and so on.
But Sustainability is a lot more than all that. If you go back to the purest definition you have to understand it as the ability to everything necessary to meet current demands looking after to future needs, being flexible enough to  quickly adapt to meet future changes. You can only work with this on a global strategy, with the whole package, looking to the whole picture.
More, due to many specific characteristics, Sustainability has a lot of strategy, innovation and development, so it makes no sense to work it like punctual advertising campaign or PR initiatives. Sustainability it's the strategy, not a piece of it. You have to start looking to Sustainability as integrated strategy, a strategic development, planning the whole business strategy with Sustainability integrated in a natural way.
Last but not least, looking to the strategic point of view you can't ignore the importance of the Marketing role within this subject, because Marketing is the intelligence core of the company, Marketing is the main tool of the strategy planning and implementation, and is the company's communication HQ, with the ability to reach out all the stakeholders.

So what are you waiting for?

The Obvious Revolution

Orex SM

www.orexsm.yolasite.com 

Today's lack of vision?

Reading a fantastic book, from John Elkington, the 1997's "Cannibals with Forks", I saw in a page, in the 5th chapter, a definition of, in the eyes of the author, what was Revolution 1 been building in the last years. He demonstrated that there is a shift in business reality, shifting from a compliance focus towards a competition focus. This means that there was a shift from traditional ways and processes to more develop and market driven mechanisms. I'm talking about a book and a vision from 1997, and we are in 2011 having still many companies working on a traditional standard, even most of those who embraced sustainability. You certainly see it around the world, but I can talk about Portugal's reality, and that's the majority only worries about simple compliance to standards. The sustainability reports from that companies are a very good example of that.

So, what's the problem? Lack of vision? Knowledge or know-how?

Of course there's been a big progress in general in this area, but is it enough?

Another part of the book, I found a citation from Sir Ian Vallance, saying that "in today's society, companies not only need to operate in an ethical manner, but also need publicly to demonstrate they are doing so." (Elkington, 1997). This citation brigs a very important issue that many forget very easily, especially in reporting: you have to demonstrate that you're doing so. It's very different from just saying it. Today we're still worrying in preaching that good intentions are not enough, doesn't make changes, doesn't makes things better.

Sometimes this seems that we're speaking to a wall, to a crowd of stones, but the only way, the only path is forward, not to give up, and continue to work towards real sustainability, real integration, real sustainable development. 

Elkington, John. (1997). "Cannibals with Forks - The Triple Bottom Line of 315721st Century Business", Capstone

The Obvious Revolution

Orex SM

Sustainability: some pointers

Starting by understanding what's Sustainability - not so obvious as you mite think - and what's Sustainability in your business and for your business, looking into the business model, you will have a good picture. It's very simple for one side, but a whole lot of work for another. Just think you can't have success and good results without hard work.

Afterwards you'll have to have a good notion of what to do, at least in general, looking at simple steps towards your objectives. Having this kind of notion you can now start to think about about a strategy.

Strategies and strategic thinking are very important, but is essential that you realize the importance of strategy in Sustainability. Maybe you can not realize it but strategy is the core of the whole project, the core of Sustainability in your business. It´s not a closed process, it can be updated through time, and has a lot for you to think about.
Thinking about a strategy - on planning, designing and implementation - there's some tools that will be useful, like marketing, and other insights. In itself marketing has a lot of tools to work with and within Sustainability, helping achieve success and the objectives. 

The Obvious Revolution

Orex SM

Is Green Marketing over? My conclusions

I had written already 3 posts (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)on this subject, following not only Joel Makower article on Greenbiz.com "Green Marketing is over. Let's move on.", which raised a huge buzz around this theme. Agreeing or not with Joel's remarks, in my opinion, one thing I have been thinking is that one can even agree that Green Marketing is not dead, but surely it has to evolve.
Some prefer to say that is a subject still in the early, some other pledge that is a mature theme with full development, but others are saying, like Mark Lee,  that we're «trending away from the deep green consumer». He goes a little further saying «it feels the last thing needed now is more brands committing to pursue that same (still small) segment». My opinion goes towards Lee's statement. Beyond the question of the Green Marketing status, I strongly believe that Green Marketing needs to go further, needs to be up-to-date, needs to be be needed, and to make a difference. Letting greenwashing prevail in some aspects, letting to be wrongly used in some situations, gets us to think that it needs to develop ways to have a wider role in society.
Can it be done? Of course! Is it essential? It is for Green Marketing and for professionals in the area. If Green Marketing doesn't step forward, then it will disappear.

Is Green Marketing over... Part 3

Another great way to treat this subject is the approach from Koann Vikoren Skrzyniarz, President of Sustainable Life Media, on her article "Green Marketing Dead? Substance or Semantics?", in SB2011 blog.

It has been creating a great buzz, especially after Joel Makower article, and in my opinion it is very good. Again with great respect for everyone that works in this area, but I still think that the subject is too restrictive. I can agree that in substance it could go far, but it is not the way it has been worked. 

Green Marketing, as have been worked it enhances and gives opportunities to greenwashing. It has to have a broader horizon and objectives, and in that way we already have Sustainable Marketing. 

The Obvious Revolution

Is Green Marketing over, or never was a real issue?

Reading some more, following the last two posts, I came across another interesting article with an even more interesting statement. Joel Makower on GreenBiz.com, in his article "Green Marketing Is Over. Let's Move On", gives 5 reasons why should Green Marketing be put to rest: 

1. It's not working

2. It remains a niche activity

3. It's not moving the needle

4. It's deluding people into thinking they're helping

5. It's missing the bigger story

You should read the whole article for a more profound insight, but it very hard to disagree with most of Makower's arguments. Even if you have a more greener tendency, what are really the developments of green marketing, beside trying to market green products or services? Maybe Green Marketing never was more than a good idea.

Mark Lee on "On Brand, Transformation and Sustainability" article, says «Inside SustainAbility, our conversation is trending away from the deep green consumer – as much as we admire those people and the brands that serve them, it feels the last thing needed now is more brands committing to pursue that same (still small) segment.»

Going back to Makower, one of the questions is that we have to stop thinking that products and services environmental friendly, greener, will help to create a more sustainable economy or society. It's a too smaller part of the whole picture, and only with real broader, comprehensive, progressive and advanced objectives and initiatives, will get us to a better future. He says: «There’s plenty of hard work to do on the journey from here to sustainability.»

And in my opinion, with an integrated TBL perspective, working on sustainability path, we can achieve every goal. Within this perspective, aren't we talking about Sustainable Marketing? Aren't we wasting time with smaller insights, thinking about green marketing, because it's a less broader subject that we thought?

The Obvious Revolution