Great article in the NYTimes regarding the trendiness of carbon offsets. (You may need an account to read this article).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/weekinreview/29revkin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Adjustment isn’t optional
How must marketing strategy and implementation be adjusted/conducted to position a product for the 21st century consumer, and succeed within the new internal/external environmental forces associated with Business social responsibility (BSR)?
Introduction
I think all society, in particular the consumer societies, are at the cusp of a cultural shift (bear in mind that poverty excludes five/sixths of the world population from purchasing industrial goods). We are departing the recklessly naïve age of the consumer society and today stand at the dawn of the new epoch of the sustainable consumption model, inherent with the challenges and opportunities that this new era brings with it. Some governments and businesses will anticipate this transition and plan for it; others will have it forced upon them. For those who are not prepared, the transition will occur anyway. Fifty years after the apex of the Friedman consumerism age, we now know that the disposable consumption model is unsustainable; transition to the new model will be mandatory. Because of this change, to remain relevant and to maintain a resonant discourse in the new consumer model, the holistic marketing strategies of the new era will have to communicate the new language of sustainability. Marketing will continue to both reflect, influence and promote this culture shift.
Discussion
According to Hartman, a consumer has eight dimensions of consumption. Of these eight dimensions I think the Personal Benefits dimension will be of particular importance. Consumers will no longer consider the personal benefits of the purchase – the ‘me and my family’ benefits. Consumers will be compelled to ask ‘am I doing the right thing for my family and for the environment?’ Consumers are becoming compelled to do this because of the emotional connection between the well being of the family and the environment. The two are no longer disparate but are now directly connected. What is good for the family should also be good for the environment. Even suburbia America will have to succumb to this altruism (witness the slow death of the American automobile industry as an example of this enforced altruism).
So what is driving this new awareness? I actually think it is being driven from the boardroom. Many leading US corporations are dumping their own government’s intransigent stance over climate change and recognising the problem as the opportunity that it is. GE is a very prominent example of this. I would argue that investors are seeking accountability in sustainability from their boardrooms because, as investors, they recognize the detrimental consequences of climate change will have to the global economy and to their investments. Venture capitalists, for example, see the challenge for what it is – business opportunities to invest and develop ‘clean tech’ solutions.
A BSR report, Sustainable Business Practices, reports that “Many companies are publishing sustainability reports in addition to traditional annual and environmental performance reports. These reports not only present companies' efforts to integrate the environmental and social equity aspects of sustainability in their business practises, but also demonstrate the increased business value linked to these efforts. The Global Reporting Initiative is a collaborative effort to provide guidelines for sustainability reporting that is gaining increasing acceptance” (Internet, accessed April 23, 2007).
So as the sustainable consumption movement gathers momentum so do the services that orbit around these businesses. The response to the needs of the business will be identifiable by marketers communications promoting to the new sustainable consumption paradigm. As they do so, their strategies will adapt to the new model and they in turn will create their own momentum in their own dialogue with consumers as the marketers transition to promoting new sustainable consumption product life-cycles. I think in the US you can see this cultural change being forced down the corporate command chain - primarily because management is beginning to be held accountable to practice consumption sustainability, which in turn means that a performance criteria of good management will be the practice consumption sustainability. As this sustainability awareness permeates through the households of corporate American society, brands that are considered not be practising good sustainability will be impacted. Consumers will exercise their new awareness as a preference for sustainable consumption products over non-sustainable products. (Although I would suspect that that this will vary among age cohorts).
Conclusion
One of the ways to counter act the effect of green house gases is carbon offset. Carbon offset is already a sustainable consumption business model that is gathering momentum. I thought it might be interesting to review some of these vanguard business social responsibility (BSR) companies. If you are not already familiar with these companies I hope you find them interesting.
For example, travel is one of the most environmentally threatening activities consumers undertake. To offset some of the damage of travel pollution you can invest in “carbon offsets”. There are a number of companies that will allow you to do this.
Silverjet, from the UK, is “the first carbon neutral airline worldwide and is the [UK] Institute of Transport Management's environmentally aware airline of the year, 2007” http://www.flysilverjet.com/. A Silverjet ticket price includes a mandatory carbon offset contribution which is invested by their world leading climate consultancy partner, The CarbonNeutral Company, to ensure that every tonne of CO2 associated with a Silverjet flight, "is matched by one tonne saved through climate friendly projects around the world".
TerraPass, (US), http://www.terrapass.com/about/index.html, lets you calculate your emissions based on car model and mileage or flight distance. You then buy a Road TerraPass card calculated on the amount of your car’s CO2 emissions, which are then used to fund clean energy projects.
DrivingGreen.com, (US), http://www.drivinggreen.com/, does the same except its focus is on methane gases and nitrous oxide gases, which the site explains are more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Adjustment isn’t optional.
References:
Solomon et al., 2006, Consumer Behaviour; A European Perspective, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall, Pearson Education Limited
May 19, 2003; Forging a Link Between Shareholder Value and Social Good
[Source] Knowledge@Wharton [Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
Veeresh Srivastava 2007, Customer Behaviour Seminar 6 Lecture Notes, UOL/Laureate Education MBA program/
Sustainable business practices, available at http://www.bsr.org/CSRResources/IssueBriefDetail.cfm?DocumentID=50106
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
BSR and marketplace, available at http://www.bsr.org/CSRResources/IssueBriefDetail.cfm?DocumentID=49040
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
CSR: Strategic Implications, available at http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/rpirpiwpe/0506.htm
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
Marketing and Sustainability, available at the Center for Sustainable Design (click on “booklet” archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20031003071542/www.cfsd.org.uk/smart-know-net/smart-know-net.pdf )
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
Building sustainable value throughout supply chain explained at http://web.archive.org/web/20050210034351/www.cfsd.org.uk/sv/index.html
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
Introduction
I think all society, in particular the consumer societies, are at the cusp of a cultural shift (bear in mind that poverty excludes five/sixths of the world population from purchasing industrial goods). We are departing the recklessly naïve age of the consumer society and today stand at the dawn of the new epoch of the sustainable consumption model, inherent with the challenges and opportunities that this new era brings with it. Some governments and businesses will anticipate this transition and plan for it; others will have it forced upon them. For those who are not prepared, the transition will occur anyway. Fifty years after the apex of the Friedman consumerism age, we now know that the disposable consumption model is unsustainable; transition to the new model will be mandatory. Because of this change, to remain relevant and to maintain a resonant discourse in the new consumer model, the holistic marketing strategies of the new era will have to communicate the new language of sustainability. Marketing will continue to both reflect, influence and promote this culture shift.
Discussion
According to Hartman, a consumer has eight dimensions of consumption. Of these eight dimensions I think the Personal Benefits dimension will be of particular importance. Consumers will no longer consider the personal benefits of the purchase – the ‘me and my family’ benefits. Consumers will be compelled to ask ‘am I doing the right thing for my family and for the environment?’ Consumers are becoming compelled to do this because of the emotional connection between the well being of the family and the environment. The two are no longer disparate but are now directly connected. What is good for the family should also be good for the environment. Even suburbia America will have to succumb to this altruism (witness the slow death of the American automobile industry as an example of this enforced altruism).
So what is driving this new awareness? I actually think it is being driven from the boardroom. Many leading US corporations are dumping their own government’s intransigent stance over climate change and recognising the problem as the opportunity that it is. GE is a very prominent example of this. I would argue that investors are seeking accountability in sustainability from their boardrooms because, as investors, they recognize the detrimental consequences of climate change will have to the global economy and to their investments. Venture capitalists, for example, see the challenge for what it is – business opportunities to invest and develop ‘clean tech’ solutions.
A BSR report, Sustainable Business Practices, reports that “Many companies are publishing sustainability reports in addition to traditional annual and environmental performance reports. These reports not only present companies' efforts to integrate the environmental and social equity aspects of sustainability in their business practises, but also demonstrate the increased business value linked to these efforts. The Global Reporting Initiative is a collaborative effort to provide guidelines for sustainability reporting that is gaining increasing acceptance” (Internet, accessed April 23, 2007).
So as the sustainable consumption movement gathers momentum so do the services that orbit around these businesses. The response to the needs of the business will be identifiable by marketers communications promoting to the new sustainable consumption paradigm. As they do so, their strategies will adapt to the new model and they in turn will create their own momentum in their own dialogue with consumers as the marketers transition to promoting new sustainable consumption product life-cycles. I think in the US you can see this cultural change being forced down the corporate command chain - primarily because management is beginning to be held accountable to practice consumption sustainability, which in turn means that a performance criteria of good management will be the practice consumption sustainability. As this sustainability awareness permeates through the households of corporate American society, brands that are considered not be practising good sustainability will be impacted. Consumers will exercise their new awareness as a preference for sustainable consumption products over non-sustainable products. (Although I would suspect that that this will vary among age cohorts).
Conclusion
One of the ways to counter act the effect of green house gases is carbon offset. Carbon offset is already a sustainable consumption business model that is gathering momentum. I thought it might be interesting to review some of these vanguard business social responsibility (BSR) companies. If you are not already familiar with these companies I hope you find them interesting.
For example, travel is one of the most environmentally threatening activities consumers undertake. To offset some of the damage of travel pollution you can invest in “carbon offsets”. There are a number of companies that will allow you to do this.
Silverjet, from the UK, is “the first carbon neutral airline worldwide and is the [UK] Institute of Transport Management's environmentally aware airline of the year, 2007” http://www.flysilverjet.com/. A Silverjet ticket price includes a mandatory carbon offset contribution which is invested by their world leading climate consultancy partner, The CarbonNeutral Company, to ensure that every tonne of CO2 associated with a Silverjet flight, "is matched by one tonne saved through climate friendly projects around the world".
TerraPass, (US), http://www.terrapass.com/about/index.html, lets you calculate your emissions based on car model and mileage or flight distance. You then buy a Road TerraPass card calculated on the amount of your car’s CO2 emissions, which are then used to fund clean energy projects.
DrivingGreen.com, (US), http://www.drivinggreen.com/, does the same except its focus is on methane gases and nitrous oxide gases, which the site explains are more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Adjustment isn’t optional.
References:
Solomon et al., 2006, Consumer Behaviour; A European Perspective, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall, Pearson Education Limited
May 19, 2003; Forging a Link Between Shareholder Value and Social Good
[Source] Knowledge@Wharton [Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
Veeresh Srivastava 2007, Customer Behaviour Seminar 6 Lecture Notes, UOL/Laureate Education MBA program/
Sustainable business practices, available at http://www.bsr.org/CSRResources/IssueBriefDetail.cfm?DocumentID=50106
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
BSR and marketplace, available at http://www.bsr.org/CSRResources/IssueBriefDetail.cfm?DocumentID=49040
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
CSR: Strategic Implications, available at http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/rpirpiwpe/0506.htm
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
Marketing and Sustainability, available at the Center for Sustainable Design (click on “booklet” archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20031003071542/www.cfsd.org.uk/smart-know-net/smart-know-net.pdf )
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
Building sustainable value throughout supply chain explained at http://web.archive.org/web/20050210034351/www.cfsd.org.uk/sv/index.html
[Internet] Accessed April 23, 2007
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