Stephen Ilagan's Blog

As I was watching The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, an interesting interview with Unilever CEO Paul Polman caught my attention. In it, Polman elaborated on Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan, which was launched in 2010. The 10-year plan has completely remoulded how home product giant (Vim, Dove, Q-Tips, Becel, Knorr, etc.) has approached business.

Now, I personally have been skeptical of businesses getting into sustainability movements. The way I see it, jumping on the sustainability train has either been businesses capitalizing on a social trend to boost sales or its an ill-fated strategy that isn’t maximizing profit.

Polman, however, brought up some interesting points based on not just value-based marketing, but value-based business as a whole. Polman debunked several negative perceptions around sustainability movements. A common argument against the movement has been that it adds unnecessary expenses to the bottom line. Polman said that simply isn’t true. In fact, the sustainability movement has allowed Unilever to save $50 million on transportation costs for moving factory waste to landfills.

The line that really resonated with me, however, was Polman’s statement that “sustainability makes good business sense when it becomes an integral goal.” For example, the free distribution of Unilever household goods to 3rd world countries to raise living standards isn’t a money sink. Rather, its an investment for a whole new consumer base. Polman reasoned that solving a problem like the lack of handwashing in underdeveloped countries – through the distribution of cheaply manufactured soap – exposes more people to Unilever’s products.

Perhaps that is the reason why I had viewed the sustainability movement with skepticism. Few companies have done what Unilever has by making sustainability an integral part of the company. Most companies seem to just set aside cash and run sustainability “charities” that don’t really factor into the company’s value chain. Unilever, however, has re-worked its operations from top to bottom, forcing sustainable critical mass throughout the company’s supply chain – from suppliers, consumers, and even investors (Unilever has re-worked its investor information packages  to compensate for the fact that sustainability progress isn’t something that can be tracked in cyclical periods).

From a marketing standpoint, Unilever is creating a core competency that matches the values of their consumers. Unilever isn’t just running some fake for-show “I care about the planet” campaign. This is truly value-based marketing working to create value for all people stakeholders.

Need more proof that profit is matching value? Unilever’s stock price has doubled in the past 4 years.

Info Video for the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan:

Unfortunately, I could not post the actual Lang and O’Leary Exchange interview. However, if you go to the cbc player (link below), select the Feb. 14 episode you can watch it there (starts at around the 13:00 min mark)

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/Lang+%26+O%27Leary+Exchange/ID/2335277883/