Resources

Study suggests Canadian companies are lagging global leaders on using sustainability to drive competitive advantage.

motum 2b, in collaboration with Rogers Publishing and Innovative Research Group, conducted a Canada-wide survey to determine which Canadian businesses are investing in sustainability driven technologies and solutions, and why. High level findings are revealed in this short presentation.

Global brands and sustainability markets, sustainability in the supply chain and more.

Improving the Performance of Existing Commercial Buildings will be of interest to the sustainable construction community. motum b2b recently researched, wrote and produced this white paper for its client BASF Construction.

Want to know what’s happening in sustainable development? motum b2b has a free subscription to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development newsletter. Energy efficiency in buildings is one of its major projects which we follow.
Sign up at http://www.wbcsd.org

According to a recent McKinsey survey of global business executives, about half of them concede to a direct link between their suppliers’ carbon performance and their own carbon management strategies, yet only one quarter of these global brands have implemented sustainable, or green supply chain programs. But that is changing. Although many business-to-business suppliers don’t yet realize it, the green supply chain tipping point is around the corner.
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In an effort to minimize consumer eco-confusion, on June 28, 2008, Canadian guidelines were released to help companies and advertisers avoid the sins of greenwash. Greenwash refers to intentionally or inadvertently false environmental claims about a company or product. The principle behind the updated Canadian guidelines is that companies must be able to back up their claims with respect to the eco-performance of their products or company. The goal is to eliminate eco-confusion and to thereby mitigate concerns that greenwash is causing widespread skepticism and apathy in the consumer marketplace.
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The Canadian forest products industry hugs its trees daily — it knows how to manage its forests sustainably. Yet it continues to suffer from public relations misfortunes of the past. The reason is painfully simple — they didn’t act, communicate or collaborate soon enough. So, some environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) stepped into the void. The tree is the symbol of our environmental worries; we love our trees. ENGOs, the most skilled public relations people in the sustainability field, know this. So, they used the tree to make indelible impressions across a broad swath of people to provoke the public into demanding change in forestry practices. Some ENGOs also targeted the Canadian forest industry specifically, and this has had a very real impact on sales, because misinformed global buyers are avoiding Canadian products for fear of ENGO retaliation. The reputational and bottom line damage is taking years of industry-wide educational efforts to reverse.
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Break ahead of the competition by creating uncontested markets and technology applications. Interface, Herman Miller, Toyota - these are globally known brands that had sustainability strategies that made their competition irrelevant, demonstrating the simple power of ‘blue ocean strategies,’ a concept first described in Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne (Harvard Business School Press, 2005). Blue ocean theory says strong performance in overcrowded industries, or red oceans, can’t be sustained unless new, uncontested markets, or blue oceans, are created. Red ocean industries compete in a world where global trade and rapid technology development make brand differentiation difficult and technology leadership elusive. The threat of a price-driven technology marketplace is ubiquitous in a red ocean industry. This is true for both traditional industries and for emerging industries such as clean technology. In both cases, while the competition waits for proven buyers, stable markets, and clear standards and regulations, ‘green ocean’ thinkers create entirely new playing fields that set them apart from the pack.

Sustainability marketing is a specialty field of competitive strategy. Although a great deal of advertising seems to take a “we’re green” approach, effective sustainability marketing is not about learning the ins and outs of “greenwash.” As a competitive strategy, sustainability marketing is about generating a premium for your brand in the minds of your customers, shareholders and stakeholders.

Beat your competition by connecting the dots between your business and sustainability. A recent McKinsey study found that 72 per cent of CEOs of global brands felt that companies “should fully incorporate a stance on environmental, social and governance issues in strategies and operations.” Yet, only 50 per cent actually do so within their own companies.