Communicatie over duurzaamheid zorgt voor overzicht, inzicht en uitzicht

Below you find an article on behalf of a round table debate I moderated at VOKA, Vlaams-Brabant.
It will be published in the magazine for their members, and you can find it already below. (in Dutch)

Communicatie over duurzaamheid zorgt voor overzicht, inzicht en vooruitzicht

(Stefaan Vandist, Trinity Planning)

Op donderdag 27 mei was de Oude Abdij van Kortenberg het toneel voor enkele rondetafelgesprekken van het MVO-platform van VOKA Vlaams-Brabant.

Eén van de tafels ging over maatschappelijk verantwoorde marketing en communicatie. Blijkbaar leeft er bij heel wat bedrijven de vraag of er over MVO moet gecommuniceerd worden. En indien we met fierheid onze inspanningen delen met de buitenwereld, wat zijn dan de regels? Hoe doen we dat dan op een verstandige manier?

Deelnemers

Rond de tafel zat een gezelschap van divers pluimage wat zou leiden tot een gevarieerd, boeiend (en dus) een iets te kort gesprek:

· Mevr. Halina Bletek, zaakvoerder ‘De Duurzame Drukker’

· Dhr. Gerard van Os, zaakvoerder Van Os – Sonnevelt

· Dhr. Benny Smets, zaakvoerder Ninatrans

· Dhr. Luc Daelemans, Directeur Kringwinkel Televil

· Dhr. Geert Vanhees, zaakvoerder 4Growth

· Dhr. Dieter Vanderbeke, Programmatorische federale overheidsdienst Duurzame Ontwikkeling (POD DO)

· Mevr. Ilse Balis, Voka – Kamer van Koophandel Halle-Vilvoorde

· En Stefaan Vandist, zaakvoerder bij Trinity Planning die trachtte het spraakwater van de groep toch enige structuur te geven.

Duurzaamheidsverslaggeving

Een interessante getuigenis kwam van Halina Bletek van ‘De Duurzame Drukker’, die twee weken eerder haar tweede duurzaamheidsverslag mocht voorstellen. Het jaar daarvoor was ‘De Duurzame Drukker’ de eerste KMO (en drukkerij) die onder grote belangstelling van de pers een duurzaamheidsverslag op de wereld bracht. De analogie met een zwangerschap bleek uit haar getuigenis zeer terecht.

Duurzaamheidsverslaggeving is een heel intensief traject. Je komt jezelf tegen en je stelt de juiste vragen bij je rol in de samenleving. In een duurzaamheidsverslag communiceer je immers over alle duurzaamheidsfacetten van je bedrijfsvoering.

Het is een proces dat heel wat zaken die in de dagelijkse routine verborgen blijven aan de oppervlakte brengt. Je weet alle doorslaggevende paramaters te identificeren, kwantificeren, en je legt opportuniteiten bloot om economischer en ecologischer tewerk te gaan. Het proces lijkt dus veel belangrijker dan het uiteindelijke resultaat, het duurzaamheidsverslag zelf.

Strategische keuzes maken

Eenmaal de hele totaliteit van je milieugerelateerde en maatschappelijke impact in kaart staat, is de vraag uiteraard wat je daar als bedrijfsleiding mee gaat doen. Voor heel wat bedrijven blijft de hamvraag welk strategisch belang duurzaamheid heeft voor zijn of haar organisatie. Waar is de milieu-impact het zwaarst? Waar is de urgentie en de druk van je stakeholders het hoogst en waar bevinden zich de krachtigste hefbomen?

Heel veel heeft ook te maken met je ambitie:

· Wil je aan de wetgeving voldoen?

· Wil je besparen op energie, transport en grondstoffen?

· Zie je duurzaamheid als kans om je concurrentiepositie en aantrekkingskracht te versterken? Op de consumentenmarkt? Op de arbeidsmarkt? Beide?

· Of wil je zelfs een leidende rol in je sector opnemen? Net zoals ‘De Duurzame Drukker’ dat doet?

Hoe ambitieuzer, hoe meer je je duurzaamheidstrategie en communicatiestrategie niet meer los van elkaar kan zien. De voorwaarde is dan wel dat je communicatie zeer waarachtig gebeurt. En daar zit een heikel spanningsveld met marketingcommunicatie, want wordt marketingcommunicatie niet ingezet om mensen te verleiden, en gaan we de zaken dan niet automatisch mooier voorstellen dan ze zijn? Je kan het de marketeers en reclamejongens alvast niet kwalijk nemen dat zij zijn opgeleid om dingen op een zo mooi mogelijke manier te vertellen. Daar betalen we ze voor, en ze worden afgerekend op het resultaat ervan.

Greenwashing

De grens tussen waarachtige groene marketing en greenwashing (de zaken groener voorstellen dan ze zijn om zo de consument of de stakeholders te misleiden) is vaag.

Wat we heel veel zien in de marketing arena zijn campagnes die één groene eigenschap of product maximaal uitlichten, en zo de aandacht afleiden van de rest van de werkelijkheid. Ons medialandschap is echter niet meer van gisteren. Dankzij onder andere de kracht van de nieuwe media komt de waarheid vaak sneller dan verwacht aan de oppervlakte.

En zelfs al is je verhaal authentiek, dan nog heb je er alle belang bij dat die geloofwaardig gebracht wordt.

Drie mooie vuistregels om greenwashing te voorkomen zijn:

· Probeer van een duurzaam bedrijf of product niet iets speciaals te maken. Probeer duurzaamheid vooral normaal te maken.

· Zorg dat alles wat je communiceert een reële onderbouw heeft. Zorg dat je overal bewijsmateriaal voor hebt. Zorg dat je wat je zegt kan hardmaken met cijfers.

· En voor mensen die het graag becijferen: wanneer je communicatiekost om de groene boodschap in de wereld te brengen groter is dan je werkelijke duurzame investeringen, dan kan je spreken van greenwashing.

Duurzaamheid als business opportuniteit

Je hoort verschillende redenen waarom duurzaamheid niet meer te negeren valt. Consumenten worden steeds kritischer en weten dat ze via hun winkelkarretje een enorm verschil kunnen maken. Ook op de arbeidsmarkt zou het groene imago van een bedrijf steeds belangrijker worden. Duurzaamheid is een opportuniteit om kosten te besparen en voorsprong te creëren ten aanzien van de competitie, zeker in sectoren waar wetgeving strenger lijkt te worden. Ongeacht waar het zwaartepunt of de opportuniteit zich bevindt, persoonlijk ben ik de gedachte genegen dat duurzaamheid voor voorsprong en volhoudbaarheid zorgt.

Enkele weken na het rondetafelgesprek, zag ik mevrouw Halina Bletek opnieuw. Dit keer als gaste in een panelgesprek van Beco over duurzaamheidrapportage.

Een interessante boutade tijdens dat gesprek was dat duurzaamheidrapportage zorgt voor ‘overzicht, inzicht en uitzicht’. Dat leek me een perfecte titel en besluit voor dit artikel.

Stefaan Vandist is zaakvoerder van Trinity Planning (www.trinity-planning.be), en werkt als communicatiestrateeg gespecialiseerd in duurzame producten.

Voor meer vragen over dit artikel kan u terecht op stefaan@trinity-planning.be

For Enfinity, Solar is first and foremost a business case

Philip Maes (the godfather) and I today visited Enfinity in their headquarters in Waregem to talk about their brand, their origin, their values and style. On the picture below we are in their 'showroom' which is their own roof where all different solar installations are exhibited.

Apart of their technical expertise, they are very well in the know of the urgency to shift towards a low carbon society and what contribution they offer in this evolution. But what flattered me the most is their serious attitude towards Solar. No frills, no flower power. It is business, negotiating and making money. And that is what it should be, to play big and push the barriers in this evolution. Spending an afternoon in their office makes you realize that they are driven by business expertise in the first place. They have a healthy commercial drive.

No wonder Enfinity is one of the most fast growing renewable energy companies in Belgium, with lots of activity abroad: in Canada, India, Spain, China, VS, Greece and more.

Transit to plant based plastic bottles

It's an initiative of an unexpected player, and therefore worth noticing.

The Ritz-Carlton chain of hotels has announced its plan to do away with traditional plastic water bottles and replace them with plant-based versions in their hotels in the U.S. and the Caribbean. The new bottles, manufactured by Prima Bottles, can be decomposed in a commercial composting facility or reprocessed and remade into new bottles, using less fossil fuel and energy. Currently, the hotel chain uses 5 million water bottles annually.

Via PSFK

This is what happens when BP spills coffee

According to me: the story told in a more successful way then BP does.
6.3 million viewers... and counting

If BP survives the Oil Spill, what would their best future be?

During the Milk the Green Cow conference in Maastricht, we asked ourselves an interesting question:

If BP survives the Oil Spill as a company, what would their best future be?

On of the participants of the afternoon workshop Bastien Wauthoz (geologist and paléontologist) took the challenge, and used the golden circle canvas of Simon Sinek to structure his thoughts and vision. As a good imagineer, his story included many things and came with a good quantity (as always ; - ).

Last week, he did send me his notes by email that are really worth sharing:

belief (the why question)

After the massive spill, we finally started to understand that we should work radically hard developing alternative energy solutions and limit petroleum uses to high value products. Thus our new philosophy is much more congruent with our name "Beyond Petroleum"

Strategy (the how question)

We want now petroleum to be used mainly for its high quality/value uses such as precision oils and chemistry. In order to achieve this we will develop a 5 axis strategy.

1/ Engage into and promote a Fair Trade Petroleum Act for petroleum industries to be more concerned with political, social and environmental issues;

2/ Invest less into prospecting new oil fields and use that saved money to invest into buying top industries and promising patents in renewable energy and in fields consistant with our new R&D philosophy (see 3);

3/ Redirect our R&D into developping high quality/high value uses for petroleum and into developing renewable energy;

4/ Promote hard the high quality/high value uses for petroleum ("Petroleum is too valuable a natural ressource to be burnt in cars")

5/ Lobby renewable energy powered cars to car industries, politicians and related stakeholders.

Measures (the what question)

We provide:

- a true commitment to the Fair Trade Petroleum Act;

- top of the art renewable energy solutions for all applications;

- only high quality uses for petroleum with a real benefit for people and our planet;

- top of the art CO2 capture and transforming solutions

Behind this is a strategy I outlined with cynical reflexions during the presentation (since it was destined to "BP top managers"). Here it is.

The strategy behind this comes from BP realising that as a multinational company it has a role to play into preserving the environment (and thus its market). Today consumption rate of fossil fuel will not permit petroleum industries to last much longer moreoverso if public pressure prevents extraction from oil fields in deep sea and/or protected zones.

A first consequence is that humanity needs new and renewable energies and that these provide a great business opportunity. This is already the case but efforts in that direction must be strengthened. A second consequence is that BP has to value all its tremendous efforts in prospecting and valuing oil fields into new and longer lasting ways.

Thus by promoting renewable energy cars with all its lobbying power while investing to be a leader into these new technologies, BP will ensure its future. By promoting high quality/high value uses of petroleum and investing into transforming most petroleum components into these, BP will value its remaining fields over a longer period of time without losing too much money (smaller market but higher return).

Moreover, lowering extracting rate from oil fields will allow an increase environemental security of the process.

Pecha Kucha Maastricht in Hasselt was great!

Already some weeks ago, the 20th of May, I was the first to provide a talk on my work in the Pecha Kucha line-up at Hasselt. I chose to be the first so I could enjoy the rest of the show in a relaxed way. And I was really surprised by the quality of the talks. Moste were fresh, very passionate innovative and powerful. Not arty-farty or fluffy.

The most charming talk of the evening was without any doubt Astrid Vyt (the youngest participant) who talks about her own ecodesign brand Bombasj, and how she keeps big memories on big moments like festivals alive.

Then there was Nik of Pantopicon inviting the audience trough a stroll in his hometown Hasselt, igniting people's imagination on how particular things would be in the future.

I also appreciated the talk of Jan Keymis on why to 'go down' instead of going up in architecture. It provided the audience with some amazing images and ideas on how to rethink the way we live.

Next interesting talk was Evert-Jan De Kort on his passion for chocolate and his invitation to rediscover Chocolate as it was initially intended.

I also did like Rob Van Ackers view on Africa as a continent with people that are surpisingly resilient towards unplanned events. He argues that the best survival kit is not a set of tools, but the right mentality between your ears.

When it comes to mine, I talked about how to fool the brain for sustainability. The Captain Spock versus Homer Simpson-thing. As you can see, the strickt timing and fast tempo of the format is really killing me again.

Many more interesting talks are to be found on the website. Thanks again to Nik Decrock of Creative Class for the excellent organisation of this event.

Great presentation on the creative sustainable opportunity

Really worth sharing because of the quality of its content and examples. Very inspiring

CultureofFuture.com: Lo-Carbon Lifestyle Trends

View more presentations from CultureofFuture.com ---- Jody Turner.

BP oil spill communications

Common guys, ...

Challenging the status quo/ Change habits

These days, we wipe our ass with paper.
Nobody challenges this habit, however a large part of the world uses water for his or her personal hygiene.
It is a cultural status-quo on this side of the globe.
Not for Geberit Aquaclean, who takes on the big challenge of swapping the wiping habit with a wet and refreshing splish-splash. And as it is a campaign that aims for a cultural change, I'm always in the front seat to see wether they will succeed.

This is an outdoor campaign I saw in Amsterdam, past weekend.
Interesting. Won't be easy, although I believe there is a potential support for this as they fully claim cleanliness.

What you remember after you forgot the ad is prbably a system loaded with a feeling of real purity.

Enthusiasts and first buyers will say: If you really love your bum, you don't wipe it, you wash it.

More at their website: www.i-love-water.nl

How to become a change agent? (3) The Golden circle starting with "WHY"

Golden triangle for sustainability

View more presentations from StefaanVandist.

The golden circle of Simon Sinek (@simonsinek) is probably the best tool to map the 'business know-why' that I've seen so far. This is the slideshow we used to turn it into an exercise to apply the golden circle to our own individual sustainable entrepreneural projects @recentre, Maastricht (Milk the green cow)

A more complete set of guerilla techniques for 'change agents' will follow soon (ca. 24th of June)

How to become a change agent? (2) The Country clean-up project "Let's do it 2008"

1) Watch this movie

2) Watch it again

3) Take a notebook

4) Write down the different steps in this project

5) Write down the key success components of the project

6) Now apply to your own

How to become a change agent? (1) Leroy Stick - The man behind @BPGlobalPR

For those who believe that as an individual, you are nothing: think again.

This is the story of the man behind @BPGlobalPR who used twitter to really make a difference and start a movement. What started as a joke became as big as 100.000 followers sharing opinion, graphics, video and most important... information.

The reason why it grows is the lack of information, transparency and credibility from BP.

Only when it comes to the environment, criminals are the investigators of their own crimes. People sense the bullshit in this. It is not the good idea of BPGlobalPR that makes it big, it is the belief of the people who agree that makes it big.

And no, it doesn't stop the oil spill. But it helps gaining ground to think different by the way we make things and the way we harvest our energy (make-take-waste and brutal force)

Lots to learn about how to become a change agent. Read the full story here:

http://streetgiant.com/2010/06/02/leroy-stick-the-man-behind-bpglobalpr/

Join the conversation here:

http://twitter.com/BPGlobalPR

Wondering where this goes.

The classic election campaign ad becomes a 'friend request'

We're in full election time, both in Belgium and the Netherlands. While leaving the train last Frirday in Maastricht, I saw this election campaign of 'Groen Links'.

Here the classic election campaign is turned into 'a friend request'.

Both engaging and differentiating. Nice. Smart.

I'm really wondering how many people really scan the QR-code

Igniting Marvel

Three great books - spotted at Fnac - that help you discover a field of interest in a smart and pleasant way

People will be careful with the things they love, understand and appreciate. Good insight.

Not that we should be careful with 'weather', 'stars', or 'pollen', but I really appreciate the sort of books that succeed to ignite marvel. What are the key elements to provide access to a new field of interest and create marvel among audience?

Interesting question.

A lot of answers are to be found in the BBC documentary series 'Life' that I really appreciate.

David Attenborough is really a skillful storyteller. He masters Marvel as no other.

S let's take a notebook. Let's watch the entire DVD set and take notes every-time everytime you are amazed. Ask yourselve what's the trick here? How is the marvel delivered? What are the narrative techniques? Lots to learn here

IBM Study: The end of advertising as we know it

For those who love all the old versus new marketing stuff, IBM came up with a
very interesting report based on extensive research among consumers and advertisers.
You can find it here:
IBM Study: The end of advertising as we know it