Sustainable brands that are shaping the future view social and environmental challenges as an essential driver of brand innovation and value creations that have a positive impact on their growth. The shift to the circular economy, predicated on the re-use of materials to minimize waste, has been a focal point of the industry for several years.
A recent Retail Marketing Society webinar examined the current state of the cradle- to-cradle design concept and the future of sustainability practices for brands. The panel, moderated by Nancy Marino, principal, Columbus Consulting, included Mark Messura, senior vice president, global supply chain marketing, Cotton Inc.; Robert Riccoboni, senior vice president, supply chain, Kenneth Cole Productions and Marie Stafford, global director, Wunderman Thompson Intelligence.
The Cradle-to-Cradle Design Concept
Marino: It is a set of principles, which stand for innovation, quality and beneficial design. Cradle-to-cradle circularity is the safe and potentially-influenced circulation of materials based upon the design of products that ultimately generates products that are recyclable, as sustainability does not come at the expense of style.
Messura: We talk about people, planet, profit, our society, environment and business. Good sustainability solutions find a sweet spot that meets the needs of all of those things or reduces the negative impact
now and into the future. For example, if we can take fabric and measure key things like the weight, texture and durability and transform that into a digital file, we can exchange digital files that represent fabrics instead of physical fabrics. So, imagine as companies use digital design programs, they can reduce samples. They can cut down the lead time. The [research and development], the product development side of new apparel, can account for up to 50% of the time, just to bring an idea to market. And you can remove shipping, air freight, physical sample dyeing and sample development. You can dramatically reduce waste and costs.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Regeneration
Stafford: We see regeneration as an advance on sustainability. Sustainability is obviously important, but the problem is it’s no longer enough. Regeneration by its nature is the opposite of the take, make, use and lose approach. It’s about avoiding waste; it’s about maximizing resources and trying to restore them. We really see this as a growing trend and the future for businesses who wants to lean into sustainability.
Messura: Regenerative agriculture refers to a combination of practices, things that are done that support the resilience and build and nourish the ecosystem … not just the farm, but the farm community and everyone involved in that. Concrete examples include no- or low-till plowing. That means if farmers don’t have to take a tractor through the field to cut up the soil that’s a good thing. It means less diesel, less greenhouse gas and can improve the quality of the soil and prevent erosion. And cover crops, [meaning] farmers using other kinds of crops planted on a field. Why would you do that? Well, when you have heavy rainstorms, like we’re seeing in the Texas and Louisiana area today, you lose soil; and soil to a farmer is like retail floor space to a brand and a retailer. So, you want to preserve it.
Are consumers willing to pay more for sustainable products?
Riccoboni: Being a sustainable brand, that will drive [consumers] to that brand. But if the product is not competitively priced, I think that the chances are 50:50 that they will come to your brand for it. [In the footwear division], we’ve had to really re- engineer product and figure out how to make product more competitively priced so we could be able to have corporate social responsibility and use sustainable materials but also be very cognizant about pricing.
Impediments to Adoption
Stafford: There are a lot of competing pressures that drain on company finances. We hear, time and time again, that there is this kind of tension between investing in things like sustainability and the pressure to hit quarterly targets and deliver returns to shareholders. But also, a lot of what we hear is that, historically, sustainability has been seen as something of a burden and a cost rather than an opportunity. A lot of businesses are still in that mindset, that this is something that is just going to be a drain on their resources. And on some level, brands have been waiting to be pushed into [sustainability practices], either by governments or by grassroots pressures from their customers. Most often we don’t see brands taking a leadership role in this and that might be through fear of acting. The task is daunting; sticking your head up above the parapet and saying, “We are a sustainable brand” is not an easy thing to do. A lot of brands fear getting their head shot off by activists or consumers.
Retail Marketing Society
201-692-8087
www.retailmarketingsociety.org
retailmarketingsoci@retailmarketingsociety.org
