Mining the truth ⛰
Understand the in-and-out of green brands (in other words, Sustainability 1.1)
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Mining the truth ⛰
Introduction
I. Mass-customisation
ll. The circular economy
lll. Cradle to Cradle
lV. Up-cycling: Mining the cities
V. Subscription box
Vl. Shared economy
Conclusion
Reference
Introduction
the story of stuff - Linear economy:
For a long time, our material's economy has been linear. This means that raw materials are used to make a product, and after its use any waste (e.g. packaging) is thrown away. A linear economy depends on two basic assumptions: one, that there will always be resources that can be extracted and two, that there will always be an “away” to send our discarded materials. Stuff moves through a system from extraction (natural resource exploitation which also means trashing the planet) to production to distribution to consumption to disposal where resources and communities get wasted. Extraction is leading to exceeding our planet's resources by cutting, mining, hauling and trashing undermining the planet's variability for people to live. Every country uses more than they take resources from (their own or third world's resources) and at that speed, we would need more than 3 earths to waste our waste ! Next, the materials move to production: we use energy to mix toxic chemicals in with the natural resources to make toxic contaminated products using polluted manufactures and mass consumption techniques. Next is distribution that means selling all the toxic contaminated junk as quickly as possible, the goal here is to keep the prices down (externalising the costs) keep the people buying and keep the inventory moving. Here it comes to the consumption phase where shopping rates are growing fast (99% of the stuff we run through the system is trashed within six months). How? well, planned obsolescence are designed for the dump (from coffee cups to computers) and perceived obsolescence which are products that convinces us to throw away stuff that is still perfectly useful (Apple has succeeded in these products with iPhone iOS updates and designs creating a way of life). Media helps convince consumers to buy more. What's the point of an ad except to make us unhappy with what we have? That's exactly the last phase, disposal: this garbage either gets dumped in a landfill (which is just a big hole in the ground) or first it's burned in an incinerator and then dumped in the landfill. Either way, they both pollute the air, land, water and change the climate.
The story of brands:
Brands are separated in 4 categories:
Functional brands (ego-centric demand) which basically states that the brand is worthy of respect). Pharmacies, groceries supermarket and fast food restaurants (McDonald's) are omni-present where you can find services and buy useful products that customers are constantly looking for .
Aspirational brands which sells industrialised goods that are here to be consumed such as conspicuous cars luxury brands and fashion items: Consume - own - have.
Meaningful brands are brands that matters to people, in human terms: Companies that are not harming the society, the community, nature at minimum (ethical) which has a minimum tangible positive impact (smarter, fitter, better connected, Productive, financially) - Ex: Nike+are selling more than a product; they’re selling aspiration. In fact, Nike’s ads rarely, if ever, mention their products at all. Patagonia is a great example as well as Lululemon.
Allocentric brands pretenda strong sense of purpose & well-being (products that people value). These brands have to reach the next level becoming desirable brands. Some premium brands such as Louis Vuitton and Apple are turning to be all-kind brands from functional to meaningful brands, becoming an everyday luxury need.
Understanding CSR
I. Mass-customisation
This slow movement is a marketing and manufacturing technique that combines the flexibility and personalisation of custom-made products with the low unit costs associated with mass production. Mass customisation products may also be referred to as made to order or built to order. Additive manufacturing has already revolutionised the car and jewelry industries using 3D printing techniques. It allows the production of unique, customer-specific likes and dislikes, such as seat colors or even front flash light colors.
ll. The circular economy
Based on the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, recycling reduces the garbage and reduces the pressure to mine and harvests new raw materials. What if we didn't buy the goods we use, but instead favoured access and performance over ownership? This performance-based circular economy is known what to do with whatever a company has. The concept is based on buying a service instead of product: instead of buying a new product, we reuse an old one to have a new one, disable and regenerate (cleaning, new design, ...). Hundreds of different solutions can be designed with tailored contracts, variety, freedom, flexibility and frequent upgrades. Our world is fast becoming a platform where we find, exchange services or even re-market goods. It's all about access and it works for homes and offices too ! It is all about providing better services with better rates. This would help the switch to renewable sources, a system that works long-term by designing out wastes and keeping valuable products in the loop and maintaining or remanufacturing them creating jobs in the process shifting to a performance model. The perfect example of this option would be the Fairphone. The first version of the Fairphone was launched in 2013 and featured conflict-free tin and tantalum, a recycled polycarbonate body, an open-source operating system and replaceable battery, a dual SIM system allowing users to merge work and personal phones (for instance) and a promise that manufacturers throughout the supply chain were paid a living wage. The phone retailed at €325, with the company selling out of the 60,000 handsets manufactured.
lll. Cradle to Cradle
C2C reuses and repurposes a product to another life product: it suggests that industry must protect and enrich ecosystems and nature's biological metabolism while also maintaining a safe, productive technical metabolism for the high-quality use and circulation of organic and technical nutrients. Ford Model U is a design concept of a car, made completely from cradle-to-cradle materials. Another example of C2C design is a disposable cup, bottle, or wrapper made entirely out of biological materials.
lV. Up-cycling: Mining the cities
Up-cycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value. Typical fashion examples would be Petit-H (The brand started a collection named Petit h in 2010, which uses excess materials that remain after making their products. Using bits and pieces of leather, silk, crystal and porcelain, the artists and craftsmen at the French house create new works of art every year) and Eva Zingoni (uses the surplus luxury fabrics from top Parisian fashion houses).
V. Subscription box
Subscription e-commerce, led by start-ups such as Dollar Shave Club, Blue Apron meal kits, and Stitch Fix personal styling, Glitz-box beauty, is a fast-growing new way of buying online, recurring revenues applied. With the rise of technology and software as a service (SaaS) products, many companies are moving from a business revenue model where revenue is made from a customer's one-time purchase to a subscription model where revenue is made on a recurring basis in return for consistent access to the delivery of a good or service. Subscription e-commerce services offer new emerging consumers—often younger, affluent urbanites—a convenient, personalised, and, often lower-cost way to buy what they want and need. Churn rates are high, however, and consumers quickly cancel services that don’t deliver superior end-to-end experiences.
Vl. Shared economy
SE is an economic model often defined as a peer-to-peer (P2P) based activity of acquiring, providing or sharing access to goods and services that are facilitated by a community based on-line platform. Many successful companies have proven the works of the system:
Uber (or any of their competitors) - Grab a taxi 🚕
Airbnb - House sharing 🏠
Lyft / Blablacar - Find a friend with a car, whenever you need one 🚗
Spinlister - Rent a bike 🚲
Rent the Runway - Rent your dress 👗
Express Style - Rent 3 items for $69.95 a month 👜
Flont - Rent jewelry 💍
Vinted - Sell your unworn fashion 👕
Conclusion:
Mining the truth is all about understanding how the world around us is evolving. It’s changing at a pace we can’t even catch up. Let’s try though…
References:
Coursera - Age of sustainable development
Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom by Robert Kiyosaki
Meaningful branding By Umair Haque (HAVAS MEDIA)