One of the things I’ve been thinking a lot about since joining this class back in September is how Sustainability Marketing should be viewed as building a relationship. From building community roots in the creating shared value article to shifting our focus from the standard 4 P’s of Marketing towards the 4 C’s. This idea of a relationship between companies and consumers as the future of marketed has remained a focal point throughout the entire course. There are countless examples of real world businesses applying this idea to increase their presence in the market and to create innovations where none existed. Here in Vancouver we can look at the telecommunications giant, Telus, to see the impact they have within the community and how they leverage this into a competitive advantage.

One look at at the organization’s business operations and it is easy to see how sustainability is one of the core pillars of their brand. They continually advocate for an increase in “work from home programs”, they build up their portfolio of LEED certified buildings and enforce higher supply chain standards. These not only help to lower overhead costs, they also improve employee efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. As a particular example, by allowing their staff to work from home Telus avoids the costs necessary to power and maintain an office while also drastically reducing the greenhouse gases released from employees commuting to work. Instead of getting stuck in traffic for an hour workers under this flexible structure now also have more time to focus on their actual jobs. In 2015, the company was named as one of the top 100 most sustainable corporations on the Global Knights 2015 list. That year Telus ranked 37th, a vast improvement from their previous ranking of 70th in 2014.

While most companies would be happy to call it a day and pat themselves on the back for this kind of sustainability achievement, Telus continued to take their efforts one step further. Free wi-fi on public transit busses and billion dollar investments to improve their telecommunications infrastructure may just be simple win-win acts whose benefits to the local area come as a byproduct of a giant corporation reinforcing its position in the market. But this is just scratching the surface of how Telus gives back. Aside from their actual day to day operations I was surprised to discover how much they give back to their local communities. A quick dive through the company’s list of past initiatives within just this past year paint a picture of a company that has deep roots in the community. Their impact is vast and widespread, supporting a multitude of issues ranging from promoting the arts to social justice issues like tackling homelessness and supporting Indigenous families. Telus even stepped in recently and put in a $150,000 sponsorship to help keep the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade alive.

Through their sustainability initiatives and community outreach programs, its clear that Telus has  approached their business as a way to create shared value. Truth be told, while I think that the lessons I’ve learned in this class are encouraging signs of how business can have a positive impact there was always a voice in the back of my head that would question just how much companies benefit from these efforts. But looking more and more into how Telus operates, the happier I am knowing that I use them as a provider and I’m actually more inclined to continue supporting them. Its now clear to me the value that businesses and consumers receive when a strong community relationship is built.