‘Carbon miles’, ‘fair trade’, ‘CO₂-e emissions’, ‘carbon neutral’. The list of issues that threaten the sustainable growth of brands and businesses is large and growing larger.  At times, the challenges of delivering sustainability can seem overwhelming.

Sustainability is a term that has now entered our vocabulary, but what does it mean exactly? The most commonly used definition, from the United Nations, is “creating value through meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

In this context, the task for business is to create ‘Sustainable Value’ – value that will endure given all the environmental, social, and economic challenges. The successful business must turn the sustainability threat into an opportunity to create Sustainable Value.

Businesses are increasingly realising that they can’t take a ‘head in the sand’ approach to sustainability, but the challenges are large. In fact, analysis (Media Monitors, 2008 Report) showed that less than a third of Australian press articles on Sustainability were concerned with solutions. The report concluded that “there was a strong focus on the problem,….ensuring the most likely outcome is indecision and therefore inaction”.

However the response in the market place is also problematic. A recent Canadian survey (TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc.) identified 1,018 consumer products bearing 1,753 environmental claims. Of the 1,018 products examined, “all but one made claims that are demonstrably false or that risk misleading intended audiences”. Closer to home, the ACCC has recently faced an increase in environmentally based claims, from toilet paper to automobiles.

At Circ Consulting, we take a practical approach to mitigating the risks and developing the opportunities that come from the need to create Sustainable Value. We apply the Circ Consulting process to the issue:

1. Insight
What are the current and emerging views of your stakeholders on the sustainability issues facing your category? This will involve understanding the attitudes and behaviours of customers, employees, retailers, regulators – and the analysts.

2. Performance
How does your brand/business match up against the stakeholder issues? This needs to encompass issues along the whole supply chain for your products and services – from ‘cradle to grave’.

3. Strategy
How do we create Sustainable Value? 
What risks can be identified from the analysis? What opportunities can be developed?
What strategy should we adopt for the brand/business? Are we a leader or a follower? What is the best way to approach the market?

4. Implementation
What plan should we put into place to make the strategy real? What are the implications for our products and services? What should we communicate?

5. Measurement
How do we track our Sustainable Value performance? How do we ensure continuous improvement?

'Circ Consulting - Insight. Strategy. Sustainable Value.'