Over the last couple of years, the climate crisis has become a hot topic for both customers and brands. We’re all thinking more carefully about what we buy and the impact of choices have, i.e., do we really need that face scrub with micro-plastic?
You may be wondering about the importance of sustainability in business and whether it’s something you need to think about. The short answer is yes, consumers are becoming more conscious of their choices and the brands they shop with, and even B2B businesses are looking more closely at their supply chains.
It’s more important than ever to have sustainability at the top of your agenda, no matter who you’re selling to. In this article, we’ll examine the importance of sustainability and the benefits a sustainable approach could bring to your business.
It promotes transparency
Developing a sustainability strategy requires taking a really close look at your business and understanding where you could do better, and turning those words into action. Communicating your purpose and your brand clearly is important and by doing so, you’ll give stakeholders and customers transparency and clarity.
Being transparent about your operations and sharing key information widely as part of your sustainability strategy can improve your overall reputation by building trust and loyalty. It will also make your culture more open, improving business performance and helping you build better relationships by communicating better and recognising when you make mistakes.
It adds value to your brand
Putting a sustainability strategy in place for your business has lots of benefits, but we’re most interested in the brand value and competitive edge it can give you. According to Nielsen survey, millennials are twice as likely as baby boomers to say that they adjust their habits to reduce their environmental impact. It’s obvious that the younger generations are more concerned about sustainability and they’ll favour brands that mirror this and take steps to address it through how they operate.
If that’s not convincing enough, at this point, actively choosing not to have a sustainability strategy for your business is a risky move. Not only could it alienate your potential customers, but 40% of professionals claim that investor interest was a key driver in accelerating their sustainability efforts.
It boosts morale and drives innovation
Given sustainability is such an important issue for many consumers, it’s safe to say many of your employees are likely to feel the same way. Sustainability has been directly linked to increase employee productivity and satisfaction. With happy employees comes great ideas.
It can even drive innovation at product level. More than 80% of consumers feel that designing environmentally-conscious products is extremely important, and monitoring trends and consumer behaviour as part of your wider brand strategy allows you to quickly flag customer needs and pro-actively provide solutions, instead of waiting for your competitor to get there first.
It reduces costs
Last but not least, sustainability can impact your bottom line by helping you operate more efficiently. According to McKinsey, a sustainability strategy can manage your costs and improve operating costs by as much as 60%.
Why is that? Well, simple actions such as improving energy efficiency, using less water, printing less and managing inventory better by only producing in small batches or on demand all add up to big savings in terms of your operating costs. Saving money and saving the planet, what’s not to like?
Interested in exploring how sustainable branding could take your business to the next level? Let’s chat.