Q&A: Sainsbury’s, Nestle, UPS & More on Sustainability as Driver of Innovation, Revenue, Brand Value

During the mid-1980s I was running Flag, a successful design and communication agency. I found myself coming back again and again to the question, "What is the point of this business?" I generally felt I was a lone swimmer against a Thatcherite/Gecko tide, but then came the Cadbury enquiry which led to the "Tomorrow's Company" report, and I realized I was not alone. Still less so when Charles Handy published The Hungry Spirit. In 1996 we applied ourselves to a workforce safety internal communication campaign for London Underground, which had a dramatic impact on their safety statistics, and I realised the power of communication to change the corporate world for good. Before long we saw the possibility of introducing environmental matters as an adjunct to safety and by 1998 were market-making in CSR reports.

Oh, and I should point out that my daughter was born in 1996, and I wanted her to know that I had an answer to her inevitable, "Dad, what did you do in the war?" question that is coming my way as climate change takes hold.

Since then I have dedicated my career to sustainability. After selling Flag I became CEO of Fairtrade to shift it forward and get some international development experience. Now at SustainAbility I have a chance to engage in a broad portfolio with a group of committed, smart people working at the highest levels in corporations, driving change.

When I first started talking to consumers about sustainability and brand during the first wave of 'green consumerism' in the mid '80s, it was clear to me that sustainability could offer brands many opportunities, and also that brands had a role to play in supporting a move to a more sustainable way of living. Sustainability could offer brands a platform for connecting more deeply with people around shared values. Sustainability could offer brands a way of differentiating from their competitors, and demonstrating that they were future-oriented, smart and in touch with trends. And sustainability offered fresh inputs to open up new possibilities for innovation — new product formulations, new formats and new business models. 

Sainsbury's put values at the core of its turnaround strategy after writing to over one million customers asking for feedback. We realised then that our values could make us different and [they] were something that all types of customers cared about — we're interested in the democratisation of sustainability seeing it as a mass consumer trend rather than a niche or premium market.

We also believe that it can transform our supplier relationships — stronger, unique and mutually beneficial for example our dedicated Framer Development Groups have helped unlock £20m payback for British farmers through cost savings as well as benefit from our £30m investment in higher animal welfare and environmental standards.

The idea needs to be shared across an organization. So the most important aspect has been building understanding so that individuals and teams can adopt more sustainable practices into their processes — whether it is innovation/R&D, operations or marketing.

My 'lightbulb moment' came from realising that the sustainability (ability to sustain) that I was responsible for was the sustainability of UPS, and that it was therefore by definition about the success of the business. But when you analyse what this requires you quickly conclude UPS cannot sustain unless its social and physical environments do, too. So it starts with this risk-management concept, but then gets strengthened by the revenue gain, cost reduction and other opportunities that accrue along the way.

We are on the verge of new era when it comes to "consumption." A massive (fast-growing) group of European consumers are actively seeking ways they can make "a positive contribution to a better world" — they are actively taking responsibility by choosing sustainable products. Nevertheless there is also a tremendous distrust of companies and government who claim they are "green," and therefore there is a strong demand for transparency. This development (an unstoppable train) is seen by many as a threat; we on the other hand see it as an opportunity — supplying what consumers are asking for - and as a consequence, set up the Nature & More "trace and tell" system in 2004.

I studied industrial design. During my studies it occurred to be that the world didn't need any more stuff or clutter. I realized that sustainability laid the foundations for an intelligent, logical and future-proofed approach to innovation and design. What we do at DR is help brands understand what that means for them and how powerful it can be in developing and growing their brand in an uncertain future.