Brands & Marketing: Between profitability and sustainable environment
By Felicia Nwosu
The need to have products that provide environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting public health and environment over their whole life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials until the final disposal, is the future of manufacturing. It is brands that key into this, understand the need for a safe and healthy environment for their consumers that are producing sustainably for the future. Such brands have also come into the understanding that growth and success that come at the expense of the consumer’s and planet’s future can only be marginal but not sustainable. They know consumers need to be healthy and happy first before they can think of purchasing their products.
On their own part, consumers are getting increasingly aware while buying into environmental sustainability campaigns. They therefore tend to consume more from an ethical, sustainable and eco-friendly point of view. They show preference for companies and brands that make a difference to them especially as far as their health and environment is concerned.
This consciousness on the part of consumers has gingered many companies and brands into getting involved in the fight to save the planet by embracing various technological innovations and other measures that will ensure the sustainability of the environment.
Following the announcement of the sustainability goals in 2015 by the United Nations, which is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030, top FMCG companies like Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, Diageo, and others have launched initiatives and partnerships towards achieving these goals. The initiatives were designed to promote recycling, going carbon-neutral, becoming future-fit, and protecting the health of the planet.
Each of these companies is implementing science-based, high-impact changes to its business to help decarbonize the value chain, including innovating in a circular economy, deploying clean energy solutions, and mobilizing supply chains to reach net-zero by 2040.
Coca-Cola in its special role for sustainability has introduced the Coca-Cola Foundation, which partnered with Statewide Waste & Environmental Education Project (SWEEP) Foundation to start off its “Waste in the City” initiative across target communities, as part of its sustained strategy of fostering a “World without Waste”.
Gbolahan Sanni, Marketing Director of Coca Cola Nigeria Limited, while validating this from Coca-Cola’s perspective, said Coca-Cola has a vision and that vision is to refresh the world and make a difference which it does sustainably for a better future.
“It’s about building the love that consumers have for those brands and doing it sustainably and making sure that we build the business and think about the future as well. Also, this is about things that are going to affect us in the future and our brand plays a role in making sure that those things are right.”
He reiterated that brands’ sustainability is a big part of what the company stands for, in terms of waste and managing waste, especially plastic waste.
Recently, Nestle Milo, world’s leading chocolate malt beverage drink, through its innovative idea moved from plastic to paper straw for its Ready-To-Drink (RTD) packs, with the aim of eliminating 60 metric tons of plastic yearly.
Speaking with MARKETING EDGE, Victoria Uwadoka, the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Nestle, explained what informed the move by a world-class chocolate beverage brand like Milo ready-to-drink, saying that plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today, and tackling it requires a collective approach.
In her own words: “We are committed to finding improved solutions to reduce, reuse and recycle. Our ambition is to achieve 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025. We envision a future without waste, and this means not only increasing plastic recycling but also identifying alternatives, whether in the form of delivery systems or materials. We are eliminating unnecessary packaging and phasing out materials that are not recyclable or are hard to recycle.”
According to her, consumers are already accepting the innovative idea. “What we have discovered is that better informed consumers not only prefer, but demand products that are good for them and for the planet. Citizens, stakeholders, and investors increasingly want business to be a force for good. They are also willing to contribute to and even lead efforts to help overcome society’s greatest challenges. One of such challenges is plastic waste”.
Plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today. Tackling it therefore requires a collective approach through investment in the development of mono-material packaging, as well as alternative materials such as paper and bio-based plastics and new refill/reuse systems.
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