Consumption is at the heart of the sustainability challenge and many
aspects of how we communicate today drive unsustainable consumption.
Marks & Spencer's in London have taken CSR to the next generation... sustainable business model making. They have created "Plan A" to explain to themselves and their tribe that there is no Plan B... that we have to make considerable changes to the way we live today...if we are to survive on this planet.
"Sustainability will be a key issue over the next decade, shaping government policy, business strategy and how we live our lives," say Lucy Calver and Mike Barry in Marketing Magazine.
As the world's population grows by billions and the Western way of consumption is adopted by hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, we are running out of the basics - trees, clean water, farmland and so on.
Point ONE: Many global businesses, including Nike, Unilever and Google, have recognised that the days of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are over.
TWO: 'Plan A' - because there is no Plan B when it comes to saving the planet.
THREE: 'Doing the right thing'. Our customers could connect with this simple sentiment that summed up our reasons for selling only Fairtrade coffee and tea, or using only free-range eggs.
FOUR: Consumers want business to do the 'heavy lifting' on sustainability, but you get more traction when consumers are given the opportunity to make some easy contributions themselves.
FIVE: A sustainable future will be achieved only when people feel they are part of a 'tribe' for change. They must be made aware they are not alone, but one among millions of individuals who are all making small changes that together make a big difference.
The businesses that will be prospering in a decade are those that are radically committed to becoming more sustainable. As important, they will also have found a way of communicating that change is necessary, possible and desirable.
Marks & Spencer's in London have taken CSR to the next generation... sustainable business model making. They have created "Plan A" to explain to themselves and their tribe that there is no Plan B... that we have to make considerable changes to the way we live today...if we are to survive on this planet.
"Sustainability will be a key issue over the next decade, shaping government policy, business strategy and how we live our lives," say Lucy Calver and Mike Barry in Marketing Magazine.
As the world's population grows by billions and the Western way of consumption is adopted by hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, we are running out of the basics - trees, clean water, farmland and so on.
Point ONE: Many global businesses, including Nike, Unilever and Google, have recognised that the days of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are over.
TWO: 'Plan A' - because there is no Plan B when it comes to saving the planet.
THREE: 'Doing the right thing'. Our customers could connect with this simple sentiment that summed up our reasons for selling only Fairtrade coffee and tea, or using only free-range eggs.
FOUR: Consumers want business to do the 'heavy lifting' on sustainability, but you get more traction when consumers are given the opportunity to make some easy contributions themselves.
FIVE: A sustainable future will be achieved only when people feel they are part of a 'tribe' for change. They must be made aware they are not alone, but one among millions of individuals who are all making small changes that together make a big difference.
The businesses that will be prospering in a decade are those that are radically committed to becoming more sustainable. As important, they will also have found a way of communicating that change is necessary, possible and desirable.
Mike Barry is head of sustainable business and Lucy Calver is head of food and Plan A marketing at M&S
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