The beauty of advocacy and the need for good data

One of the key challenges facing retail leaders and the manufacturers of consumer goods is how to balance urgent sustainability objectives with their business operations. This was the subject of a survey conducted by IBM's Institute of Business Value and the Consumer Goods Forum earlier this year, 'Redesigning Brand Values,' which included input from more than 1,800 industry executives across 23 countries.

The report revealed three main insights. First, two thirds of leaders are aligning operational and sustainability objectives. Second, three quarters recognise the need to effectively track sustainability and sustainable performance but lack the capabilities. And third, businesses are increasingly turning to technology, with budgets projected to grow by an estimated 34% over the next three years.

I was recently joined by Char Love, Global Director of Advocacy at Natura &Co, and Natalie Deacon, Head of Purpose and Sustainability at?Avon, to discuss how consumer goods businesses can create a positive impact on people and the planet, while fostering deeper connections with consumers and driving sustainable business growth.

I first asked Natalie how Avon views its sustainability journey.

“We’re trying to balance out the triple bottom line – people, planet and profit – and the importance of aligning operations with environmental targets. IBM’s findings really resonate with where we are today.”

Char agreed, adding that advocacy is an important part of Natura &Co’s behaviours around sustainability.

“When I first took this role at Natura &Co we spent some time trying to think about the definition of advocacy. From a business perspective, we believe it’s taking a clear-cut stand on things we feel really strongly about, mobilising the power of people and business to be a force for good, and joining with others to drive system-level change.

“System change is one of those phrases we hear spoken all over the place but what does it actually mean in practice? Well, when we talk about it, our focus is on changes in policy and culture.”

Char also spelt out the need for the ‘five As’: authenticity, ambition, agency, activism and allyship. These interlinked qualities are all needed if the best possible results are to be achieved, she explained. But what role does technology have in delivering the overall sustainability objectives?

Natalie had some clear ideas on this topic.

“Data is one of the biggest challenges many of us face when we're looking at measuring, reporting and driving progress in an organisation. It’s one of the most important starting points for us if we’re to really understand where we're going. You can't manage what you can't measure. For example, when it comes to carbon footprinting, it's really important that we start to get better data because only then can we make progress, both as individual organisations and as an industry.”

I then asked Char how enhanced collaboration can help provide a better sustainability outlook.

“Building relationships and aligning expectations are core ingredients of the advocacy recipe. These partnerships can be with NGOs, academic institutions and other businesses.? We know that to reach the ambitious goals we're setting we have to find friends and fellow travellers to walk alongside.?We all have pieces of the puzzle – the key is how we fit these puzzle pieces together to make the bigger picture.”

Natalie added that Avon was also looking to develop partnerships and initiatives to help motivate more sustainable thinking and actions.

“One of the things that we want to do is drive more sustainable behaviours, so we're undertaking a lot of work to help inspire the millions of women that buy and sell Avon around the world, and our peers in the industry, to look at how to recycle their beauty products. That’s a big issue in our industry; only about 10% of bathroom waste makes it into the recycling bin, most of it just ends up going into landfill.”

To hear the full discussion and to learn more about this fascinating topic, click here and watch the full LinkedIn Live session. You can also download the 'Redesigning Brand Values’ report here.