digital marketing

10

Sustainability for the digital generation

unethical marketing…

sometimes accused of being intrinsically bad…

encourages materialism, strips the

planet of valuable resources, promotes

greed, selfishness, hedonism and sets

aspirations too high

results in crime, loan sharks, serious debt, damage to the environment, to individuals, to communities, to the planet?

marketing ethics…

diverse as people’s views on any moral issue

are we happy with the ‘free-market’?

forced ‘self-regulation’ through consumer power…

…or should we have a interventionist, regulatory approach?

state controls in place to stop abuse of power

voluntary, self-regulating codes of conduct?

it is the role of the marketer to find

the line between ethical practice

and using marketing techniques

effectively to gain competitive

advantage

marketing ethics…

CSRcovers a wide range of issues…

employmentlabour and production in the supply chain

environmental concerns such as sustainability

refusal of ‘unethical’ practices

also about exercising care in where and how marketing communications are targeted

ethical decision making models

certain tests have been developed, Laczniak and Murphy

(1996) suggest…

‘the golden rule’ – act how you expect others to act

‘the professional ethic’ – act in a way that a panel of objective, professionals would view as appropriate

‘the tv test’ – can you explain your actions comfortably to your public via tv?

‘categorical imperative’ – act in a way deemed

universally appropriate for anyone in the same situation

ethical decision making models

transparency

depends on our perception and interaction with the internet…

can we add a new model?

don’t engage in any activities you wouldn’t like

shared and discussed over the internet..?

viral effect speed in communications

so…what actually is sustainability?

coming to terms with sustainability

human sustainability

the opportunity for all people to maintain fulfilling, productive lives while preserving or replenishing the natural and economic systems that make their well-being possible.

coming to terms with sustainabilitymarketing sustainability

can be thought of in two distinctly different ways…

the need to sustain the resources we use from our natural

environment… not knowingly doing any harm and working to

minimise our negative impact

the need to sustain competitive advantage and growth

within our market sector

the evolution of a new paradigm …

sustainable marketing

is the process of creating, communicating, and delivering

value to customers in such a way that both natural and

human capital are preserved or enhanced throughout

Martin and Schouten, 2011

sustainable marketing means marketing sustainably, that is, in

a sustainable manner

sustainable marketing means marketing sustainability — as a concept, a cultural value, and a set of practices

…and

three dimensions of sustainability

the ongoing ability of an economic system to provide for all human needs

environmental sustainability

the ongoing preservation of essential ecosystems and their functions

economic sustainability

social sustainability

the ongoing ability of communities to provide for the wellbeing of all their members

triple bottom line

EnvironmentalReduce footprint that negatively impacts on environmentLower pollutants and emissionsReduce energy wastageReduce usage of non-renewable energyMinimise climate change agentsUse sustainable packagingRecycleSource local produce

SocialCSR InitiativesFair TradingSupport local suppliersReduce promotion of potentially harmful substancesSupport well being of society – internal and external

EconomicEnsure future economic development of companyCreate sustainable financial bottom lineMinimise negative impact on other countries economiesSave money by reducing energy use

updated from CIM, 2009

sustainability continuum

PeoplePlanet

ProfitMarketing Strategy

Disciplines – e.g. Urban Planning, Law…

Macro Environment - PESTEL

Servicescape – attributes, hierarchies, service, brand, PR CSR – ethical operations,

sourcing, health education, fair trade, worker welfare, social inclusion

Broader Environment – recycling, energy, raw materials, water, waste, packaging GM, chemicals

Consumers’ – values, risk, enjoyment, power, involvement

Communitys’ – inclusion, involvement, access

Networks – CSR adoption, voluntarism

Richardson, 2010

The four S’s of sustainable marketing

Sustainable Marketing

Satisfaction of customer needs

Safety of products and

production for all

Social Acceptability or product, production

and activities

Sustainability of products, production

and activities

Richardson, 2010

Richardson, 2010

is sustainability essential,

fashionable or irrelevant?

some people argue that sustainability is just the business buzzword

of the day and that if they ignore it, it will go away.

…consider Freidmanite economics

…or caveat emptor

others see sustainability as the new “must do” that business must embrace, or die

…consider John Grant “The Green Marketing Manifesto”

are there merits to both sides of this argument?

declining supply and increasing demand

…and…

a continuous decline in natural resources and ecosystem services

a continuous increase in the demand for those resources and services

natural resources… resources occurring naturally in the environment such as wood, water, soil, minerals, coal and petroleum

ecosystem services… collective activities of natural systems that renew resources and sustain life

ecological footprint… the amount of earth’s resources required to support a particular lifestyle

• 18WWF Living Planet Report 2014,

Globalfootprintnetwork, 2011

current and future bio-capacity

…what can digital marketing offer?

shifting our product-dominant logic

focusing strategy on what needs people are trying to meet rather than on what products they will buy

dematerialization    

the process that allows fewer resources to be used to create

the same or equivalent benefits

referred to as ‘green products’

3d printing…

companies may partner with non-governmental organisations, or, more

interestingly, with the crowd… reached through digital media

although experts in their core competencies, many managers may not be

well versed in the philosophies, communication strategies, and systems-

level thinking that true sustainability requires

crowdsourcing… consumer driven ideas and solutions

the collaboration advantage

Martin and Schouten, 2011

crowdsourcing options

99designs

chaordix

cluster

poptent

redesignme

fiverr

creative commons

kluster

the long tail

the probability distribution within a demand curve

the final 80% has the same potential sales revenue but would

take longer

traditional retailers would only stick the most profitable 20%

technology enables these ‘niche’ products to reach their market

…and ‘niche’s are better at satisfying personal needs

the long tail…

new market channelsC2C and C2B

freecycle, gumtree, craigslist and eBay

Mazuma, sellmygadget, Marks and Spencer…

transparency and accountability

shamed and shared online

Obviously wikileaks set the standard for politicians and governments

apple and foxconn

dove

primark and major supermarkets

Panama Papers

must avoid ‘greenwashing’ and ‘astro-turfing’

linking digital communications and sustainable

marketing

Moore’s Law 

principle #1—rapid innovation and change are the norm

The expectation that computing capacity of transistors or chips will

double roughly every two years.

Martin and Schouten, 2011

consider how this will impact on the triple bottom line – people, planet and profit – this will continue to change

digital communications will continue to shift and develop at

a rapidly increasing rate

principle #2—consumers increasingly prefer digital media

permission marketing…marketing communication via email, which is

sent with the explicit permission of recipients

deliver personalised and relevant content communicated via

preferred digital platforms – less wastage and resources

linking digital communications and sustainable

marketing

Martin and Schouten, 2011

principle #3—digital products dematerialize

consumption

with digital products – music, books, films

linking digital communication and sustainable marketing

removal of need for some material products - payperuse

even paperless billing!

principle #4—digital communication aids process sustainability

large scale rethinking of supply chains, business

models and markets

M and S… plan a

linking digital communications and sustainable

marketing

Grant, 2011

principle #5— digital communities drive sustainability

linking digital communications and sustainable marketing

digital communities can fund projects, ideas and businesses

through considered used of digital marketing techniques and

technology we have the ability to…

market sustainability and support it in communities

in summary…

as well as marketing sustainably… using digital techniques and

technology to improve processes, dematerialise products and communications

sources

• http://www.johnelkington.com/TBL-elkington-chapter.pdf Accessed 20th March 2011

• http://intelli.cim.co.uk/e/d.dll?m=1294&url=http://www.cim.co.uk/dwnldr/450575

Accessed 20th March 2011

• http://www.davechaffey.com/E-marketing-Insights

• C. Li and J. Bernoff, 2008. Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

• Kourdi, J (editor), 2011: The Marketing Century, Chichester:Wiley and Sons

• Martin, D and Schouten, J, 2012 (Advance Copy) Sustainable Marketing, London: Pearson Hall

• Richardson, N. 2010:A Quick Start Guide to Mobile Marketing, London: Kogan Page

• Smith, P.R. and Chaffey, D. (2005). E-marketing Excellence. (2nd Edition). Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann