Mrkt 330 Week #1: An Inroduction
To start things off within the class, past the usual dance of introductions, outlines, and expectations, the class hit the ground running with an imediate discussion about two subjects withing the realms of sustainability and marketing. These subjects revolved around the ideals of the effects of marketing in terms of how we interpret sustainably sound products through marketing strategies and what they actually mean, then the class was broken into groups in order to debate the role of business in sustainablity and how possible and long lasting this focus on sustainability really is.
Now we have to ask ourselves; what came first, the legal obligations or the egg? Egg cartons and the egg industry in general are a good example of the role of marketing in food. Greenwashing is probably a common terms that those in the know have heard of. What that is, is essentially a strategy implemented on food packaging to make that product more relevant to the conscientious and environmentally aware crowd. This product is organic, the animals used for the product are pasture raised, in terms of the egg industry, the eggs are non GMO and the chickens were not antibioticall treated. The packing for these products are blasted with all these claims that represent the good nature of the product; But what does it all mean? In my opinion, these posts on the packages do more harm than good becuase of a non existing system that regulates all the certificates and claims posted. Pretty much any organization can make a regulatory system that needs to be passed in order to get their certificate of guarantee posted, which can cause confusion and mistrust in the customer if they are to catch wind of these practices.
Now in terms of sustaining the environment for generations to come, what exactly should the role of businesses be to attain a posive future. In today's economy, sustainability is seen as a fad; which means that no one really knows how long it will hold. In our class discussion, where we were divided up on the topic at hand, both sides really came across the realization of this notion that it is a fad at the moment; just like the atkins diet, or swearing off eating pants, or parachute pants, this worry and interest in companies practicing sustainability will eventually pass. This is a problem though as many developed nations use more resources at a pace that the environment cannot sustain and we will have to deal with in the forseeable future. this is a major problem that is only being addressed on a major scale more for public relation reasons than anything else. As previously mentioned, sustainability really is a fad right now, and any business with any sort of marketing savvy will know that they should give into the craze. They pass certain certifications that make them look more environmentally friendly, they look like they are trying to leave less of a footprint on the ecosystems, they donate to organizations focus on certain issues. The point is that this is a step in the right direction, but it is ultimately a very souless gesture that will probably be abandoned when society stops really caring. This is a very infuriating notion considering that we will definately deal with the reprocusions of our practices in our lifetimes if we do not change, but we also have the power to prevent most catastrophies relevant to this if we trully deal with this now. The way big business work is they try to make easy money, which is essentially the most amount of profit with the least amount of effort. In this mindframe sustainabilty is a joke because it hurts their bottom line. They more than likely fail to realize the financial implications moving on if they do not change their way which will hurt their bottom line in the long run. What these businesses need to realize is that sustainability should not be seen as a fad, but rather an investment and insurance should anything bad ever actually happen.
