“Is ESG management a cheat to captivate customers?

 

Is ESG a Cheat Code to Captivate Customers?

 

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) provide a set of standards for companies by which they can see how far they have come by maintaining their sustainability.

Recently, formulas such as 'Green' or 'Eco-friendly' have started to stand out a lot.

[caption id="attachment_4116" align="aligncenter" width="212"] ECO FRIENDLY[/caption]

It is a feeling of superiority that is different from others, and even if you spend the same money for a T-shirt or bag. You can also get the pleasure of 'I am also participating in the environmental movement'.

this world... No, would any consumer object to making the planet a better place?

Consumers no longer open their wallets simply because they like a product.

Consumers who consider product eco-friendliness and corporate social responsibility have emerged.

To understand this phenomenon, we first need to understand ESG.

ESG

ESG is an abbreviation of Environment, Social, and Governance.

It refers to the importance of a company's impact on the environment and society, and furthermore, to maintain sustainable management by making the corporate governance transparent.

So, let's think backward, shall we? If a company targets these three well, there is a high probability that customers will choose that company. On the contrary, it can be a weakness for companies pursuing only commercial profits.

In a survey of 'what would you do if a company fulfills its social responsibility (CSR)?', 44% of respondents answered 'buy the company's products.

Also, 17% of respondents answered 'recommend the product to others.

Interestingly, 16% of respondents answered 'buy products even if they are expensive', 'forgive the company's negligence' and 'accept the company's poor products.

This is enough to make me think that ESG management is a kind of cheat for companies.

Let's take a look at whether ESG management really won the hearts of consumers.

First, we will introduce related IT services. Sweden, the country of IKEA, is an IT powerhouse and a country of unicorn companies.

There are domestic services that the famous IKEA has invested in.

MATSMART

Matsmart sells foods, cosmetics, and daily necessities that are not sold in general marts at low prices because they are expired

Even though the quality has not deteriorated, food and ingredients that would otherwise be thrown away are collected and sold at a low price.

Selling expire shampoo? Shouldn't we discard it after the expiration date?

Hmm... you might have some doubts.

Shelf life means 'Best Before' quality maintenance period in English. This means that it is best to eat within this period, not that you should never eat it after that.

At the longest, pasta noodles that can be eaten several years after the expiration date but cannot be sold at regular marts after the expiration date are representative products sold at Matsmart.

It is estimated that a third of all food produced worldwide is thrown away every year.

The problem is that we don't just throw away these huge amounts of food because it's old and spoiled.

Most of the products are mass-produced but not sold for specific anniversaries such as Christmas, products that have passed their expiration date, and products that are difficult to sell due to problems with their packaging.

Matsmart just dug into this and it hit the jackpot.

As a result, Matsmart is now serving in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, and is reducing food waste by reselling 708 tonnes of overproduced food each year.

'Save the world one bite at a time.' This is Matsmart's corporate slogan. You seem to be doing it right.

Google Map

It may be a little out of the way, but that Google is correct.

Based on factors such as traffic volume and uphill roads, an 'eco-friendly route' service that guides users to the route with the lowest carbon emissions is scheduled to be launched.

It means guiding users on the most energy-efficient route to their destination.

Google Maps has a market share of about 67%. I'm already curious about the effect.

Patagonia is one of the most loyal brands to our customers.

Thanks to the worldview of the product. Patagonia ran a "Don't Buy a Jacket" ad campaign in the New York Times on Black Friday in 2011.

It was a message not to buy our products unless absolutely necessary for the environment. I think it was a fresh advertisement that resonated in a situation where fast fashion spa brands were overflowing at the time.

The 'Worn Wear' campaign to realize the value of long-wearing clothes can be seen on the product tag, and it is said that purchasing a T-shirt made of recycled material can save 4.8 plastic bottles and 63 gallons of water. is printed on

In addition, whenever a Fair Trade sewing product is purchased, the 'Fair Trade Certification' mark is printed, in which cash is paid to the workers who produce the product or a subsidy used for social investment is paid.

Arket

Arket is H&M's high-end line, and the most striking thing is that it emphasizes 'sustainability'.

As of the 2020 collection, 76% of the products are sustainable and 11% are made from recycled materials.

Arket has committed to using 100% sustainable materials by 2030 and completely climate-positive materials by 2040. What does sustainable material mean here?

It refers to natural materials such as organic cotton or linen, which are ethically or responsibly produced without irritating the environment.

Materials that Arket does not use include angora, fur, and wool.

This is because there is a risk of harming the health and safety of workers or concerns about animal welfare.

Evian

The bottled water bottle made by the French bottled water brand Evian has redesigned the PET bottle itself, not the vinyl graphic side.

When it comes to environmental issues, PET bottles are indispensable.

It seems to have thrown a message of recycling by marking the vinyl label printed with the brand trademark so that it can be separated, or by eliminating the vinyl label altogether these days.

In fact, it is the first water bottle made from 100% recycled plastic in Evian.

It was an idea that intuitively conveyed the texture of the plastic that was crushed when throwing out the water bottle after drinking.

Designed in a shape that encourages consumer action, this water bottle is off-white and designed by renowned designer Virgil Abloh.

Is being green enough?

But being green isn't always the cheat.

Reminds me of the Athletes' Village bed from the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

The bed for the Athletes' Village apartment is a paper cardboard frame, so it came from a very cool idea of ​​recycling it into paper after the Olympic event is over. Good intentions, but not practical

It was not suitable for athletes who were taller than the general public and needed a more comfortable rest than anyone else, so they could not avoid criticism and ridicule.

Everyone wants to be a good consumer. The real question is whether it really works.

A few years ago, when the image of a plastic straw stuck in a turtle's nose became known, there was a time when social reluctance to use plastic straws grew.

However, the real problem wasn't the plastic straws.

According to Adam Minter, a famous American media columnist and recycling expert, statistics show that even if all plastic straws on the planet end up in the ocean, only 0.03% of marine debris is generated.

Reducing plastic straws may be temporarily good for making consumers feel good, but it doesn't really help. A survey analyzing samples of marine debris found that 'nets' accounted for the highest weight of marine debris at 46%

Of course, this is not to say that the straw reduction exercise is wrong.

In any case, I think it is desirable that awareness about the use of plastics is spreading.

However, I think that it is more important to focus on 46% and focus energy rather than focus on 0.03%.

And Starbucks' practices, such as eliminating paper receipts, leads without straws, and stores without disposables. It is deserving of applause in many ways.

No. 1 companies are doing what someone should do.

Conclusion

I will end this article today with the hope that corporate social responsibility and the good influence of companies fulfilling those responsibilities will extend farther and further to more companies.