create counter
Previous Thread | Next Thread

 
Learn about scoring Forum's Raw Score: 1078750.0
June 29, 2010 09:40 PM

Categories: Sustainability

Rating (1 votes)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Rate This!

Member Avatar

Brad Peirce

Industry Expert
Joined: 05/18/2010

A recent article in BNET, http://tinyurl.com/2bjlayc points out that 50 to 100 million people are emerging from poverty every year and that this new market will want goods that are cheap, simple to make in large numbers, and green.  If that's not a wake up call for innovation, I don't know what is.  

According to the BSR Report 2009: Innovating for Sustainability, businesses will need to create solutions that "enable the rising middle classes to improve their well-being without draining the world's already-stressed natural resources.  Designing products that meet the needs of these populations - health, mobility, and information - will deliver good business outcomes and good social outcomes."

While consumption levels are on the rise in developing countries, the opposite may be true in the developed world.  Author Richard Florida forecasts in his new book The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity that in the future green products will enjoy more cachet, and frugality will become the new status symbol. Florida writes, "Instead of showcasing logos and material bounty as a mark of achievement in life, people - successful, affluent people - are beginning to wear their lack of consumption...as a badge of honor."

Either way, it is clear in both cases that there will be a growing need for innovative products and services that deliver more value with fewer natural resources.  Time to re-focus on simplicity, social and environmental responsibility, re-usability, reducing excessive waste, and being smart about what we produce and how we produce it.

I don't entirely agree that people will shift away from showcasing their logos but perhaps, more appropriately, people will shift away from logos that represent extravagance at the expense of people and planet and toward brands that represent solutions and a commitment to a cause or sustainability in general.

What say you?

Brad Peirce
Naturalinks Communications

Discussion:    Add a Comment | Comments 1-2 of 2 | Latest Comment

MatthewBallantyne Avatar
Member
  • member since: 06/30/2010
  • rank: 2787 of 7364
  • 1 comments
June 30, 2010 4:35 PM

Brad,

I like a lot of what is being said in this post, and I would agree that there is a trend in the wide, wide world where efficiency is the key.

However, I would also comment that there are places throughout the world where this concept may have reigned supreme has been thrown out the window and in place stands massive consumerism.

For example, in Angola, where Chinese construction workers are starting to out pace the country's birth rate, the focus is on extravagance, as business owners hurry to build infrastructure to accomodate the emerging population that has much in the way of disposable income.

I know that in places where money is hard to come by, or even places in economic recvoery, living "simplier" for lack of a better term will be the way to go.

But I also think that places that have a surplus economy and many skilled workers are going to continue the trend of it "just buy it."

That's the cycle, and it will take actual conscious change on people who do have large incomes to set a new trend to make the trend you're describing a reality.

And not to mention companies that have a large brand value, like Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Nokia, etc. Why would any of these companies want people to stop buying?

The top 100 brands in the world stood at a combined $1.94 trillion at the end of 2008. I would enjoy seeing a miminalized lifestyle take hold in the majority, but the companies with the most to lose are going to fight to either stop that kind of trend, or at least hedge it so it won't damage their portfolios.

Sincerely,

Matthew Ballantyne

Brad Peirce Avatar
Industry Expert
July 9, 2010 10:51 PM updated: July 9, 2010 10:59 PM

You make some good points Matthew. I agree that large brands are not going to *want* people to stop buying but if Richard Florida's scenario rings true then these companies will be forced to find new ways to sell to their customers. As I said, I don't think people are going to give up buying and certainly not going to give up brands that they respect and that they can "show off".

However, I think priorities will change as we become more aware of our relationship with our environment and our finite resources. I believe that it will become more a matter of volume where people will buy *less*. This doesn't mean that people will necessarily spend less but that things will be made to last longer and have the capability of being taken apart and rebuilt and recycled as opposed to the products that are designed to be thrown away today.

Look at a car for example. The life expectancy may be ten years and then you have a huge pile of metal and plastic and other toxic materials going to the junk yard. In the future a car may be made to be able to replace pieces of it as they break down. Those pieces may be recyclable into new car components so that the net resource use is greatly reduced. The difference will be in pricing. Stuff today is made cheap because resources are cheap and disposal is cheap. If cars cost a lot more initially but then the components that needed to be replaced were cheaper (and recyclable) then you probably would keep the car a lot longer.

Think about the effect on brand loyalty in a world where people keep products (cars, clothes, tools, etc.) ten times as long as they do today before buying new ones. Your brand stays with you a lot longer than it does today. It would probably make you think twice about what brands you are buying and, as a greater reflection of who you are, you would pick brands that reflect your values as opposed to the trends of others. Business profitability, in this scenario, will probably be generated through the delivery of additional services to these customers as they use these products through their longer life cycles.

I think the key to this vision for a resource friendly world will be a combination of product life cycle innovation and financing that encourages resource conservation, re-use, and recycling.

Brad Peirce
Naturalinks Communications

Discussion:    Add a Comment | Comments 1-2 of 2 | Latest Comment

Add Your Reply

(will not be displayed)

Email me when comments are added to this thread

 
 

Please log in or register to participate in this community!

Log In

Remember

Not a member? Sign up!

Did you forget your password?

You can also log in using OpenID.

close this window
close this window