Oyebanji canvasses need to infuse sustainability practices into brands’ lifecycle
By Felicia Nwosu
With environmentalism and sustainability taking centre stage in contemporary industry conversation, a seasoned marketing professional, Adetunji Oyebanji, the MD/CEO of 11PLC, has canvassed the need for brands to understand the nuances of communities. This, he said, will enable them infuse sustainability practices into brands’ and services’ life cycle to reduce the impact of climate change.
According to him, companies must embrace innovative practices that promote circular economy principles and encourage responsible consumption in today’s environmentally conscious world to reduce waste and minimize the environmental impact of products.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE on TV, he averred that the new bottom-line for consumer revolves around sustainable goals. He, therefore, urged companies to show more commitment and passion in championing a sustainable and socially responsible approach to renewable energy deployment in their product development processes.
“The current trend is focused on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Environment on the fact that our major product is from oil, which obviously is a dwindling resource. With that in mind, there’s a need to start looking at alternative energy sources that are not from fossil fuels. This will help the environment ultimately and allow for sustainability,” he said.
The veteran marketer suggested that brands should focus on integrating identified environmental, economic and social issues into the operations of their business, suggesting that such sustainable goals can also come through various forms of corporate social responsibility activities.
“Impacting the society includes everything that we would typically call CSR, so how do you impact your society and your immediate environment and your customers? What do you do to make life better for either the less privileged or people around you so that from a society standpoint, your impact will be felt socially?”
Oyebanji said brands should play leading roles beyond sustainability issues by evolving a strategic fusion of sustainable efforts and values into their DNA and adopting other environmental responsibilities for improved efficiencies, increased brand value through customer alignment.
“The one that doesn’t get talked about too much is governance. For you to run a sustainable long-term organization you have to get governance right. Governance includes paying your taxes on time, having sets of rules on how you manage your company and making sure you abide by whatever rules you have set for yourself. It also means following the regulations laid down by the government so that you run your business in a sustainable way that doesn’t affect or harm the environment. It is an all-encompassing thing. It’s not just the issue of CSR and donating things to people. It also means looking after the environment and having a very good governance structure,” he concluded.
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