Emphasising the business shift to green and sustainable practices can improve the company’s reputation. Brands these days are more conscious about their consumers’ awareness of the environment than ever before. They are adopting all feasible and environment-friendly marketing practices to influence their customers.
For the best kind of branding strategies, the natural tendency is to think of direct to consumers. Nevertheless, B2B marketers too can adapt. If one examines the number of suppliers for all the products and services, it can be seen that green branding can help leaders stand out in the B2B space too, as it does in direct marketing to consumers.
In a market where sustainability is fast becoming the measure of excellence, most companies look for sustainable brands of newer products. This could be that vital differentiator between any other product and a preferred one. Resulting in higher profits but may also form a long term bond of respect between buyer and vendor.
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Opting for Greener Supply chains
In the Paris Agreement of December 2015, 195 countries at the United Nations climate-change summit shared plans for and pledged to do everything to drive a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The aim was to bring down the rate of increase in global warming, capping it at 2%.
The most significant commitment came from CPG companies, who would have to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emitted per unit of output by more than 90 per cent over 35 years. Each of these 195 countries has been strategising to meet these limits. Every aspect of the business needs a certain amount of transformation to reach there.
Supply chains play a huge part in reducing emissions, and most enterprises have been very sensitive to planning for this. In addition to keeping their pledge, this strategy will also add value to their product, as the brand that is sensitive to the environment and global issues.
As consumers worldwide become more conscious of this business attribute, this is a good stamp of approval to get in their kitty.
Use of Supplier Scorecards
With the onset of supplier scorecards, B2B marketing also gets a bigger focus. These scorecards will push B2B companies to highlight the greener benefits of their products and services. With customers keen on knowing if the product contains specific toxic chemicals or if the products are manufactured using renewable power, it’s in the company’s best interest to clearly highlight or communicate which product has the green features.
Waste Management
Waste management should not be considered the last tick on the sustainability list. The entire supply chain management needs to be tuned to managing every step of the by-products and processes- sustainably. Recycling or re-using any part of the waste should be an intermediate process. Once this plan is in place, the enterprise can make informed decisions on the flow of the materials chain-at every step, to ensure the least amount of waste is generated. Hence, waste management needs to be a process- not an event.
An ingenious way to minimise waste management costs and maximise efficiencies is to collaborate with other organisations or public-private organisations that can partner in this process.
A critical part of this process will be waste auditing – to ensure zero bad investments- what need not be used a component, will not be exiting as waste. So a waste audit can help to streamline costs as well as efficiencies- for the entire process. Aside from obvious practices like disposing of hazardous waste properly, including alternative eco-friendly processes in your waste management is a key to going green.
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Taking most of the steps to sustainable processes may be an initial investment for all brands, but this will pay for itself down the road. The biggest advantage comes from being the leader in competition- as the brand gets increasingly applauded for sustainability practices in the entire production cycle.
Retaining Employees
Green B2B marketing depends on not just the customers viewing products and services but how the business is viewed by employees too.
The company’s workforce is vital in influencing the environmental awareness of B2B consumers. More and more people these days believe that honest and sustainable initiatives are essential, conveying responsible business practices that hire competitively.
Marketing Business Efforts
Though maintaining feasible and greener practices is a noble undertaking, the effort to become a green business should be balanced with marketing campaigns for notifying the public about business efforts.
When businesses promote their name, they must highlight that the company has gone green, and if possible, getting certified by a well-known sustainability audit organisation will also help promote success.
Many customers are eager to support businesses that embrace sustainability, which holds true for investors, customers, and employees.
