These differ in every country. Buying milk in the UK? You’ll probably see messages about climate change and the environment. Go to China and the packaging is more likely to emphasise its origins and address consumer concern about food safety.
These simple but fundamental differences, with in this case milk, illustrate how businesses adapt their marketing strategies depending on the market. They use whatever elements of sustainability consumers care most about in a given market.
This was borne out by the findings of our Global Opportunity Report 2016. In it we asked more than 5,500 business and public sector leaders worldwide whichSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they think hold the best business potential in their region. Their answers showed differences across the world between the sustainability issues people care about.
If we stay with the example of milk we can see what this means for companies and how they market their produce. In sub-Saharan Africa, the SDGs dealing with the social bits of sustainability ranked highest for business potential – this is what we would call the people market.
For global dairy company Danone, which has acquired 40% of east Africa’s largest milk company Brookside Dairy Limited, this means promoting to people that consuming its product is doing them and their children good. As a result, milk packages in Africa focus on the nutritional value of milk.
In Europe, where business leaders rate the SDG on climate change as a top driver for new business, companies are operating in what we would call a planet market. Here the term sustainability tends to be associated with environmental issues and organic production. Animal welfare is also an important requirement in organic production in the EU, which helps explain why the dairy company Arla’s milk cartons in this region feature animals and clear reference to their work reducing CO2 emissions.
In Asia, we see the growth of what we would call the safety market – a series offood scandals has made consumers look for options that put safety first. In China, for example, people are increasingly concerned about the origin of their food, especially when it comes to feeding their children. Organic milk, with the emphasis on the quality of production and traceability of the product, is considered to be a safe product. Arla has said that it is working to rebuild credibility with consumers in the region by instituting safety measures as it introduces its product to this new market.
What business should do
These differences mean global brands face a challenge coming up with coherent and consistent sustainability standards.
For example, look at how milk is generally consumed in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, most people drink milk out of small plastic bags which results in an increase in plastic waste, to the extent that I have seen these bags end up in the walls of traditional clay huts. As the plastic has been laying around for years it has been incorporated into the top layers of the soil and unintentionally ends up part of the building materials.
The challenge for global dairy companies, such as Arla or Danone, is not just to focus on the issues that will help them sell products to consumers, but to understand all the sustainability issues around dairy. Just because consumers in one region don’t care about plastic waste, doesn’t mean it isn’t a key issue.
To be truly sustainable, businesses must do more than just adapt adverts and packaging for different countries. In the case of dairy, companies should develop more environmentally friendly packaging or initiate a collection and reuse system. Brand values are about what you do as a business, rather than how you push products to consumers at the end of the value chain.
Source: The Guardian
