• From Instability to Sustainability

    Posted on April 29th, 2008 by and currently 10 commenting.

    When I first came to Brains on Fire a few months ago and heard Geno, Spike and the rest of the team here talk about “sustainable” word of mouth, I felt like sustainable wasn’t the right word. For me it had specific connotations around environmental sustainability and I thought that green connection was already too established and could potentially cause confusion about what we were doing. It’s also a bit trendy, and there’s always a natural caution about tying yourself too closely to a buzz word.

    The more I think about it, though, the more I think it’s exactly the right word. Maybe it’s the idealist in me, but I’m hoping sustainability isn’t just a trend. I’m hoping this is the beginning of a paradigm shift toward more sustainable business practices in general. Not just with respect to the use of renewable vs. non-renewable resources for manufacturing. But also with respect to the kinds of consumer goods we innovate, and how we communicate about products and services to people. I long to see sustainability as a price of entry for doing business, and yes marketing. Wouldn’t it be nice if you actually kept, for example, 80% of the mail you get instead of throwing it straight in the trash?

    We spend billions of dollars on communications that are short-lived and sadly waste paper, vinyl, and other things. We know that mass advertising isn’t having the impact it used to, and that we need to look to other venues like word of mouth. But even then we’re still thinking short term; creating buzz, not lasting energy and enduring excitement.

    You’ll think I’m crazy. But I’m hoping that oil prices stay high. That the “crisis” mainstream advertisers are in doesn’t subside. That consumers continue to grow their demand for pesticide-free, natural, organic. Even that food prices rise. It’s instabilities like these that drive REAL change. Why? Because they create the motivation for finding a better way to do things. They force us to innovate and not relax back into the status quo.

    Marketing, like manufacturing, stands at the doorstep of a great opportunity. An opportunity to revolutionize how we think about growth, measure return, and exist in relation to the communities that support us. Will we invest in developing better, smarter, more efficient ways to excite people about our products? Or will we continue to play the numbers game and bask in a false sense of security we feel when we’re promised a reach of thousands and millions of people, even when our strategic objectives have moved beyond raising awareness.

    It will take courage to look beyond conventional ROI. It will take dedication and creativity to see new ways to measure return. It will also take companies demanding sustainability from their marketing departments and partners. And the recognition that it emerges from passion and excitement, not impressions.

    Anyhoo – don’t take offense or interpret my comments to mean all marketing is bunk. Definitely not. I just believe there is a better way to do things. Have you looked at your marketing program through the “sustainable” lens lately?

  • http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress BIG Kahuna

    I think it’s great that you (BOF employees) all talk the same talk. Although it’s a lot like the department of redundancy department. But here’s the skinny…

    Word of mouth marketing is ONE tactic. If you only rely on it you will be squashed. A multi-tiered integrated branding program (which could most definately include WOM is and will always be the best way for any company to go).

    Use the strategies and tactics that work best for your company. Hey, maybe billboards don’t work for your company but they may for someone else. Ads may work better for you than others. Direct mail works incredibly for some (our clients certianly don’t average 1%). If done correctly all tactics should leverage a companies brand identity.

    If you get stuck on word of mouth only, well it WILL be game over for most. Just my thoughts as a branding guy.

  • http://ubereye.wordpress.com/ Bill Gammell

    “It will take courage to look beyond conventional ROI. It will take dedication and creativity to see new ways to measure return.”

    I love it! Conventional ROI will only take us so far and can be a bad launching pad for creating better solutions.

  • Christy

    Is it just me, or do I feel like we’re missing a point in all this branding vs. word-of-mouth discussion?

    The part I took away from Justine’s post is that a company’s identity is what it is. You can’t brand your way out of bad business practices. Word-of-mouth isn’t an advertising strategy or a branding practice. And, no, you can’t raise all your awareness based solely on free PR forever.

    Sustainable is making sure that you are walking your talk. Are your values (and business value!) in the right place? If so, your *tactics* spring from there. Some may be online community-building, some may be giving fans a place to talk about you, and some may include “traditional media.”

    I think the point is that the tactics are just that — tactics. And those *must* change over time. We are continually changing the way we communicate as human beings, and companies must be aware and sensitive to those changes.

    Justine, I’m glad you’re no longer afraid of using the word, “sustainable” as it’s applied to how people view a company, organization or product. Sustainability isn’t just about zero land-fill or greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a total model for organizational health.

  • http://www.keyboard-culture-global-warming.com Mr. Sustainable

    Sustainability which is economically sound and good for the environment benefits everyone. It is true that we’ll have to undo a frame of mind which has been with us since the beginning of the industrial age but day by day, more and more people are coming to realize that sustainability is the only way to go (and for all the right reasons).

  • http://sae.holisticplus.org Robert Morgen

    “They force us to innovate and not relax back into the status quo.”

    Great point Justine, although a lot of people don’t want to hear that they have to make the changes.

    I agree with you that forcing people out of their comfort zone, while un-pretty, can be extremely effective.

    That space between comfort and effectiveness is called ‘growth’.

    Great blog,
    R:)

  • http://thebrandbuilder.blogspot.com olivier blanchard

    What Bill said. Terrific post.

  • http://www.redmarketer.wordpress.com Robert John Ed

    Realist statement: we exist to make profit. ROI measures our profit. It’s not going anywhere.

    “Marketing, like manufacturing, stands at the doorstep of a great opportunity. An opportunity to revolutionize how we think about growth, measure return, and exist in relation to the communities that support us. Will we invest in developing better, smarter, more efficient ways to excite people about our products?”

    Yes, we must step outside the conventional practices, we must continually work toward new and better ways to market. That’s what marketing is. It’s a shark. It can’t stop, or it dies.

    But at the end of the day, real marketers know that ROI is the only thing that keeps that company afloat. So you have to balance between experimentation and pragmatic practice.

    Nice post Justine, got me thinking.

  • http://www.brainsonfire.com Justine

    Kahuna – of course you’re right about branding being more than WOM, but I don’t think WOM is necessarily the only way to think sustainable.

    Robert – And businesses have to make a profit – that is the ultimate measure of return. The challenge is in determining what is driving your profit. It’s much easier for short-term initiatives than longer-term efforts that might more slowly build customer excitement, but the kind that lasts.

  • http://www.redmarketer.wordpress.com Robert John Ed

    I agree with that. How do you measure the long term, the sustainable at BOF?

    Is there anything in particular that deviates from more common quarterly ROI reporting?

  • http://www.carthew.com.au Roger Carthew

    Pointing the finger at business as being the villain misses a huge portion of the sustainability picture. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely do not defend business, but the sad part about businesses is that they are attuned to delivering what consumers want.

    Should the business step too far out of line in delivery to the market and no longer will the market offer support.

    I have run an SME for the last thirty years, the last 6 of which I have endeavoured to guide our business toward a more sustainable future. The results of our actions are for all to see http://www.carthew.com.au/2007_report.pdf .

    We are also endeavouring to dematerialise our activities so income earned is de-coupled from physical resources derived from the planet. We’ve stopped using direct mail for the very reasons you talk about… some 97% is in fact binned on average. At least the accursed spam email is a major advance here; as it involves a much smaller use of resources than the trees cut down to provide the medium of direct mail and so on and so on.

    So yes, marketing can be greener but it also needs consumers to play their role. And it is here there is enormous opportunity to educate the wider community to place a value on attributes of a product that are soundly based on environmental credentials. Then and only then will we begin to see people and business move in unison toward a sustainable future.