Holistic or Sustainable Marketing

Holistic or sustainable marketing refers to the ability of the company to be able to take into consideration the concept of inter-generational equity and work towards it.

Today, when global warming has becoming a serious issue and a growing movement, marketers should develop a holistic approach and think about how their steps affect the environment. They must ask themselves the question: What we are doing, is it sustainable?Can this be continued over a number of generations to come?

Thus, marketers have started following the triple bottom line approach today:

1)Economic growth

2)Society and human community: Are we creating growth by exploiting other individuals?

3)The living environment: Do our actions have damaging consequences for other living species like plants and animals?

Companies are shifting from the narrow approach of maximising bottom line(profits) to a more holistic approach,either due to increasing pressure from government or as an initiative by themselves.

HUL(Hindustan Unilever Limited) has developed a Unilever Sustainable Living Plan with three goals in mind: Improving health and well-being,reducing environmental impact,enhancing livelihoods.

Concentrating on their top 10 agricultural raw materials, they are on track in moving their suppliers to sustainable agricultural practices.

 Statistics:

• ·        25% of fruit purchased sustainably by end 2013.
• ·       76% of our top 13 vegetables and herbs purchased from sustainable sources by end 2013
•       49% of sugar sustainably sourced by end 2013.  
•      The total footprint from packaging waste to landfill has reduced by 11%. Efficient pack designs and innovative use of materials, as well as the disposal of sauce brands with large waste footprints, have been the main drivers. 

·       Approximately 97,000† fewer tonnes of total waste disposed in 2013 than in 2008. This represents a 66%† reduction per tonne of production.

Compared to 1995, this represents an 89% reduction in absolute terms.

·       75% (186) of our manufacturing sites achieved zero non-hazardous waste to landfill by end 2013, an increase of more than 50 sites compared to 2012.

·       New factories in India and Turkey started production in 2013. When fully operational each aims to dispose of zero non-hazardous waste to landfill and generate less than half the waste of those factories in a representative 2

99% of PVC removed from our portfolio by end 2012.