1. Marketing
“Sustainability”

2. D. John Carlson
• Strategic Planning Consultant
• Behaviour Change Specialist
• Group Managing Director – Linc
• Chairman – Days of Change

3. SUSTAINABILITY
• Why is it important?
• Who is it important to?
• What are the keys?
• How do you embrace it?

4. Why is sustainability
important?

5. • Moral responsibility
• Market expectations
• Bottomline performance

6. TOMORROW’S CHILD
Without a name; and unseen face
and knowing not your time nor place
Tomorrow’s Child, though yet unborn,
I met you first last Tuesday morn.
A wise friend introduced us two,
and through his shining point of view
I saw a day which you would see;
A day for you, and not for me
Knowing you has changed my thinking
for I never had an inkling
that perhaps the things I do
might someday, somehow, threaten you
Tomorrow’s child, my daughter-son
I’m afraid I’ve just begun
To think of you and of your good,
Though always having known I should.
Begin I will to weigh the cost
Of what I squander; what is lost
If ever I forget that you
will someday come to live here too.
- Suhit Anantula

7. “The best way to make money is to work
out what people want and give it to
them. It’s very hard to change what
people want and, if you lie, people will
see through you fast enough”.

8. CONSUMERS
• 10% - 20% want “true green”
• 50% to 60% want “light green”
• 80% take “green” into account

9. EMPLOYEES
• 90% of job applicants are
influenced by your reputation
• 61% of job applicants will
ignore incomparable brands

11. Who is sustainability
important for?

12. • Staff
• Clients
• Suppliers
• You

14. 30% of people now take the
environment into account in “all
or most” of their purchases.

15. “Major businesses throughout
the UK, Europe and USA are
demanding sustainability.”

17. What are the keys to
successful
‘sustainability’
marketing?

18. • Define sustainability
• Be sustainable
• Demonstrate sustainability
• Don’t “sell” sustainability
• Perform

19. DEFINE SUSTAINABILITY
‘Sustainability’ is close to
meaningless in Australia

20. Often confused with:
• ‘Ethical marketing’
• ‘Green marketing’

21. Economy Community
sustainability
Environment

22. Decide what you actually mean
when you talk about
sustainability and focus on that
meaning.

23. BE SUSTAINABLE
Given growing levels of
transparency, ‘walking the talk’.

24. Social media will destroy your
credibility if you fabricate your
‘sustainability’ credentials.

25. Adopt sustainable practices and
demand the same of your
suppliers.

27. DEMONSTRATE SUSTAINABILITY
Make sustainability part of your
brand and hence your behaviour
– walking the talk.

29. 1. Board 2. Senior Management 3. Middle Management 4. Lower Management 5. Staff

30. • Replace DM with EDM
• Use recycled materials
• Embrace digital media

31. DON’T “SELL” SUSTAINABILITY
• “Bragging” equates to “green
washing”
• Green washing is “death”

33. PERFORM
If your project does not
“perform” first – it will not sell
on the basis of “sustainability”.
Sustainability alone is never
enough.

34. “Successful green products have been
positioned around performance first, with the
environment as a secondary benefit,” he says.
“If green products can be shown to have a
personal benefit, they will do well, but not if
the benefit is societal.”

36. How do we embrace
‘sustainability’
marketing?

37. • Product
• Price
• Place (Distribution)
• Promotion (Communication)

38. PRODUCT
• Address consumer demand
• Satisfy accepted criteria
• Be certified where possible
• Perform very well

39. PRICE
• Be competitive
• Offer added value
• Demonstrate tangible value

40. DISTRIBUTION
• Reinforce ‘sustainability’
• Make it as easy as possible
• Make it a differentiator

41. COMMUNICATION
• Embrace new technologies
• Embrace credible sources
• Win ‘awards’
• Be open and honest

42. “Green marketing involves developing and
promoting products and services that satisfy
your customers’ wants and needs for quality,
performance, affordable pricing and
convenience without having a detrimental
impact on the environment”.

43. Some final thoughts…

44. ‘Sustainable’ business has been
called ‘principled capitalism’ –
and should be positioned as
such.

45. The community is embracing
‘deferred responsibility’ – and
want you to participate.

46. Sustainability is now a ‘brand
differentiator’ – but will soon be
a ‘consumer expectation’.

47. Consumers are staggeringly
sceptical; ‘trust’ is exclusive –
and social media can be your
best friend or worst enemy.

48. The fact that you are on a
journey does not damage
credibility – so long as you are
open and honest.

49. Avoid discussion of ‘climate
change’.

50. “SUSTAINABILITY”
Is all about delivering a better
(the best possible) quality of life.

52. Interface Carpets

53. THANK YOU
(for not going to sleep)