May you inform us somewhat bit about Accenture and your position throughout the firm?
Accenture is a worldwide know-how and consulting organisation. And it’s divided into three markets. So you will have North America, Europe, after which the remaining, that are known as the expansion markets, collectively.
My remit covers the expansion markets, and it has two parts to it. The primary is because the sustainability innovation lead as a part of the expansion and technique organisation. The second is the accomplice ecosystem lead for the Microsoft relationship. So numerous my position attracts from my 22 years of selling expertise. And I work with the agency’s management on figuring out new markets, go-to-market methods primarily based on tendencies, and work with ecosystems to develop win themes that consider not simply the present addressable market, however markets that we would wish to create collectively. There’s a important deal with driving collective social affect via our ecosystem footprint, too.
What sort of tendencies have you ever seen creating round sustainability advertising?
It’s actually about the way you increase consciousness of the true points that pertain to sustainability.
Is it actually sufficient to speak concerning the 1.5 levels or ought to we, on the elementary stage, which is on the stage of the person, be involved about altering behaviour for the higher, as a result of when folks “wish to” do one thing they’re extra prone to settle for a brand new concept versus folks being compelled to alter behaviour via measures, typically draconian ones..
Right this moment’s method to implementing sustainability measures, typically, is about taxing the center class and making an attempt to pressure this behavioural change, versus working with folks as a result of the folks have the facility, whether or not we prefer it or not, to drive actual affect. And so they drive higher affect in case you recruit them to your imaginative and prescient, versus imposing stuff on them that they don’t essentially imagine in.
And that factors to a research that we carried out globally, wherein we interviewed completely different personas from housewives to college students and many others. And one factor that got here via that international research for sustainability was that your common particular person understands sustainability in so many various methods than the one which’s imposed on them by way of carbon in inexperienced. For some folks, sustainability is having the ability to perpetuate custom of their forefathers, as a result of meaning you’re caring for folks, you don’t take folks as a right, you are taking assets as a right, being a devoted steward of the atmosphere, and so forth.
It’s a much more stunning sentiment to have than saying don’t drive your automobile since you’re going to contribute to carbon footprint.
So I feel sustainability advertising is absolutely about having the gumption to alter the narrative, to place on a regular basis folks on the coronary heart of the message in addition to the result..
Do you suppose people and organisations are genuinely beginning to take sustainability significantly?
As with all international imperatives, we’re going to undergo a course of the place there’s going to be imaginative and prescient casting, adopted by set resolution pitching, then some quantity of regulatory coverage implementation, after which some common adoption, adopted by the imaginative and prescient coming to life.
Close to sustainability, I feel, after the Paris Settlement, we’re lastly at a spot the place governments are being severe concerning the regulatory frameworks for making their industries and companies accountable by reporting on their carbon emissions. After which, 12 months on 12 months, hopefully they’ll exhibit that they’re faring higher at managing their emissions. As an illustration, we’ve the Company Sustainability Reporting Directive in Europe. After which you will have the Nationwide Greenhouse and Vitality Reporting Act in Australia.
And there’s going to be an entire slew of those regulatory frameworks and mandates that we’ll see governments launch over the course of the following few months. However in case you have a look at it from the standpoint of the widespread man, I feel we’ve bought methods to go.
It’s the millennial and youthful individuals who genuinely imagine that they’ll do one thing and, subsequently, they cease consuming meat. However is that sufficient? In all probability not. There must be a really concerted effort to outline what sustainability means. And likewise an understanding of what the widespread man and girl can do to, subsequently, contribute to it and play a component in that agenda. I don’t suppose we’re there but.
Have you ever seen a distinction in angle to this subject, amongst people and firms, between the expansion markets you’re working in and the remainder of the world in international locations such because the USA or the UK?
Most actually. And the distinction in angle is because of an entire host of things.
Give it some thought this fashion, the expansion markets is the engine room of the worldwide financial system, whether or not we prefer it or not.
And the angle of the expansion markets in the direction of the impositions of a sustainability regime or imaginative and prescient is mostly within the ballpark of “hey, wait a minute. You guys are already developed. You’re already the primary world since you’ve transitioned via the journey that we are actually the start of or halfway via and, subsequently, to now inform us that we are able to’t get pleasure from what you guys loved whilst you bought to being a primary world nation is unfair – particularly as a result of we’re doing the grunt work.”
How sustainable do you suppose digital advertising is?
To my thoughts, there are three dimensions that basically matter – folks, course of and know-how. These are the three dimensions that may body the sustainability ambition, and likewise provide help to measure the way you’re doing towards that sustainability ambition.
So it’s not simply the variety of folks you’re throwing at a specific course of. It’s about how properly are they outfitted to make use of quicker, simpler, cleaner know-how? How are you going to reimagine processes so that you just don’t spend as a lot time or assets to get from enter to output? How are you going to repurpose, recycle, reimagine belongings, in addition to course of, for the betterment of not simply your self, but additionally your ecosystem?
After which after all, from a know-how standpoint, how do you find yourself balancing federated know-how investments with widespread platforms which you can co-tenant or multi-tenant on together with your ecosystem to get the perfect worth whereas lowering your potential carbon footprint?
Are there any corporations in Asia that you just suppose are doing a very good job of specializing in sustainability?
The reply isn’t any. Just because there isn’t a body of reference to say this one’s doing higher than the opposite one.
That’s why it behoves the CMOs to return to the fore to truly assist body the issue to begin with after which have a look at what a part of the issue will be solved by advertising. Then have an business advertising skilled commonplace, which CMOs can then drive by, which can then assist us perceive over time how we’re contributing to the sustainability agenda. However I don’t suppose we’ve something that resembles a concrete framework but.
And, to that extent, if we see something occur via advertising campaigns, it might find yourself being extra concerning the model than about driving enterprise affect via sustainability. For instance, there’s a model known as Muji, a Japanese division retailer, primarily providing garments, footwear and a few kitchenware and furnishings. They run some very fascinating recycling and sourcing packages that have interaction their ecosystem in inventive methods. It nonetheless looks like a CSR or sustainability model constructing train.
What recommendation would you give to advertising managers or corporations that wish to focus extra on sustainability with their advertising?
Contemplating that the majority advertising occurs on account of an ecosystem coming collectively, I feel each constituent of the ecosystem has a task to play, however primarily the company and the CMO. So the company community and the CMO are each side of the identical coin, however each have a task to play. For the CMO, it’s about making certain that he has the proper flying formation with companions who’re incentivised to run a sustainable operation.
Quantity two, the CMO has to reward campaigns, processes and expertise upskilling that assist speed up the sustainability agenda – not only for themselves, but additionally for his or her shoppers and doubtlessly their customers, their targets.
And quantity three, work in live performance with their friends within the business, to develop and set up one thing of a baseline of expectations by way of what a profitable CMO would appear to be, in the event that they had been to fulfill sure sustainability KPIs.
It actually would assist the advertising cohort to know what they’re taking pictures for. Right this moment, there’s nothing even remotely near a uniform definition. And, subsequently, there aren’t any KPIs that permit us to then examine apples to apples to say one is doing higher than the opposite from a sustainability standpoint.
What do you suppose the longer term holds for sustainability advertising?
It seems to be bleak within the quick time period, just because there’s no incentive for the CMO to be sustainable in the way in which they run their operations, nor embedding sustainability rules into the campaigns they run for his or her organisation or their shoppers. However I’m an enormous believer within the younger folks which are coming via the ranks who’re continuously difficult all of us to do extra from a sustainability standpoint.
So I feel we’re undoubtedly going to show the nook on what it means to be sustainable as a marketer. And what’s going to wish to occur earlier than that’s for the CMOs to agree that there’s a necessity for a standard framework of reference.
Platforms like DMWF, the CMO Council right here in Southeast Asia, the B2B Entrepreneurs Discussion board in Australia and different suppose tanks and platforms like these can change into accelerators to make this a entrance and centre difficulty for CMOs. And so they additionally present a possibility to collaborate with CMOs to work collectively within the quick and medium time period, in order that we are able to get to that future the place the CMO turns into a catalyst for sustainable advertising.
- VC John is the regional director of sustainability innovation at Accenture, knowledgeable providers firm specialising in IT providers and consulting.
On December 7, 2023, VC John will host a webinar titled ‘Advertising Leaders View – Developments and Predictions for 2024’. For the complete agenda and to register at no cost, go to: https://www.digitalmarketing-conference.com/asia/dmwf-asia-webinar/
VC John can even chair DMWF Asia 2024 in Singapore on February 28-29. For all the main points, go to: https://www.digitalmarketing-conference.com/asia/monitor/dmwf-asia-agenda/
