Is the Customer Always Right? Yes, When it Comes to Sustainability.
The world’s leading companies all conduct extensive research to determine what their customers want and how they want it. Whether they hire firms like Synovate or Millward Brown, or do consumer research in-house, companies know the value of crafting products that fit their customers’ needs and desires.
This is why it’s so perplexing that companies don’t do the same when developing substantive sustainability strategies. All too often, companies launch campaigns that are later accused of greenwashing or limit their efforts to indirect efficiency improvements, when it’s their core product that really needs the greening. It turns out that by paying more attention to their customers, companies can unlock solutions for true environmental innovation and get richly rewarded for doing so.