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Date
Is it okay to be a sustainability poser? Interesting question if I do say so myself. I was reading a short interview in our local newspaper recently. The interviewer was questioning Tim Gaudreau, an “eco-artist”. You may ask, as I did; what is an eco-artist? According to his website, “Tim Gaudreau, works in collaboration with like minded colleagues, communities and schools to create public art work meant to challenge conventional thinking and catalyze action around environmental issues.” That’s about as good as any definition of an eco-artist. Challenging thinking and catalyzing action around environmental issue as they relate to business and project management is what EarthPM is all about, too.
Anyway, one of the questions asked of Mr. Gaudreau was “Has environmentalism become a marketing gimmick?” His answer was; “Yes, but there is a positive side to that, because it advances awareness of these green and social issues. Corporations are starting to realize it is better for the bottom line if their perceived as caring.” For the most part, I take exception to the use of “marketing gimmick”, although I understand the implication. The implication is that ‘the end justifies the means.’ In other words, even if it is a marketing gimmick, it’s okay because it furthers the cause. I guess that is where I differ some. I don’t believe that, in this case of environmentalism (or the overarching term ‘sustainability’), the end justifies the means and that perceiving sustainability efforts as marketing gimmicks turns people off. “It’s just a marketing gimmick therefore; the organization is not really being sustainable. They just want our money.” If that is truly the sentiment then “green and social issues’ will not garner much attention.
The more telling of his statement, in my mind, is; “corporations are starting to realize it is better for the bottom line if their perceived as caring.” I would change that a little to say that most organizations are sincerely trying to improve their sustainability. Their justification may be the improvement to the bottom line, and one of the drivers, that we at EarthPM have always advocated, is that a major driver of sustainability for an organization is the stakeholder’s increasing awareness of sustainability, whether it be the environment, corporate social responsibility to employees, the community and the world, as well as the sustainability or profits of the organization. That driver is very real and stakeholders are very smart.
So I would say that environmentalism has become a marketing necessity, rather than a gimmick. Organizations must use their sustainability efforts to further their cause in a truthful and sincere way. Or, don’t do it at all because stakeholders are smart and will see it for what it is.
Posted
by
Dave Shirley
on: July 16, 2013 11:19 AM |
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