SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING IS SIMPLY JUST MARKETING
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Sustainability Marketing Definition
With ample online resources willing to address green business strategies, very few recognize that products and services' eco-friendly marketing is no different from marketing their less-sustainable alternatives. Still, many websites define marketing sustainability - as if it is a separate discipline or marketing function.
Examples of Marketing Sustainability Advice found online
One example is from Diane Maceachern. Her article, “To Market Sustainability, Focus on What Consumers Love, Not What They Hate,” provides seven strategic insights for marketing sustainability. Another example is Allison Woodbury’s “Green Marketing: 5 Strategies Every Manufacturer Must Know.” Both of these articles are insightful and offer useful information.
Nevertheless, the same advice applies to the general field of marketing as well. Additionally, the recommendations primarily focus on Promotion - the fourth “P” in the marketing mix. This editorial emphasis requires both authors to assume that their audience has adequately addressed Product, Price, and Place. Sustainability marketing - like traditional marketing - requires a strategic approach that includes all 4 Ps - a green marketing mix.
Sustainability as a marketing tool
Marketing as a Sustainability tool
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The key to answering the question is recognizing that marketing sustainability is merely marketing. The American Marketing Association states that "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large." This definition even applies to sustainability-minded businesses. Yet, many companies and even seasoned marketers want to create a new marketing discipline that focuses on sustainability. Why is that? Perhaps they are looking for a simple solution or believe that sustainability requires a new marketing approach. Still, there is nothing different or unique about sustainability, requiring its own method. Like traditional marketing, marketing sustainability requires adhering to the basics – The Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place, and then Promotion.
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There is no panacea for marketing sustainability. It requires the same strategic marketing basics that have enabled companies to be successful in the past. Effective sustainability-minded brands like Patagonia, Columbia Sportswear, Prana, and Toad & Co recognize this fact and embrace it. Their success is rooted in a well-executed marketing mix that emphasizes the mutual importance of Product, Price, and Place along with Promotion.