Modern Marketing and Sustainability

An amazing WFA global conference for the top marketing professionals in the world just took place in Athens at the beginning of April. It's incredible to see everyone talking about new concepts and how marketing is such a key element in getting our world on track.

I love the way leaders are finally facing the fact that business is 99% about making a profit and that we're really not doing very much to improve the state of the world. With all due respect to the beautiful reports and well-crafted statements, things keep getting worse.

The global CMO of Dole Sunshine Company, Rupen Desai, declared that with its concepts of premiumisation, mass consumption and profit above all else, marketing today is “incompatible” with a sustainable future:

Forget marketing, it is quite arrogant for us to believe any business in the world is compatible with a sustainable world...

Speaking at the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)’s Global Marketer Week on April 7th, Desai referenced research by the Social Progress Index in 2019, which found the world to be 43 years behind in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals. It would take until 2073 to meet those goals, the report said.

Debating with Procter & Gamble (P&G)’s European senior vice-president of brand, Taide Guajardo, Desai claimed that today “maybe 99%” of companies focus on profit above all else, using a language of marketing that is based on consumerism and consumption.

My Commentary

I love these super conscious statements by Desai and I'm thrilled that such a debate took place. But even though the concepts are more advanced than usual, we're still seeing the traditional format of VIP speakers debating an issue one ego to another. So what actually happens? Everyone came and enjoyed the drinks and food, networked a bit, and heard these great professionals speak. And the next day we forget what we heard and everything goes back to normal.

What Can We Do Differently?

The whole purpose of a Connection Workshop is for all participants to contribute to coming up with new ideas together, and forming a plan for implementing them. This would be far more fulfilling and engaging for audiences, organizers and the VIP speakers. Everyone takes part in the workshop and that's where our common humanity kicks in. So there is no need to focus on details in the workshop because once we connect above our differences - we'll be talking about these things that concern us all on a whole new level.

Our joint effort to connect by applying the integral method gives us all a boost of emotional intelligence - similar to what we experienced right at the beginning of the pandemic.

The Integral Approach

When we connect in the most optimal way there is a general knowledge flow of information and opportunities. Our joint effort to connect by applying the integral method gives us all a boost of emotional intelligence - similar to what we experienced right at the beginning of the pandemic. Suddenly we're all a lot smarter about what's really important, and what the right thing to do is. Suddenly we all care about everyone a lot more. So even if I'm someone's assistant, I may not get as much knowledge as the professionals at the event, but I will feel 100 times more than I normally would because:

a) Everyone is actively participating in the workshop

b) There is a new general force flowing between us

What are we going to feel? We'll feel a new positive force that we've never experience before because we're connecting in an optimal manner. The reciprocity we all agreed on when reading the workshop rules allows everyone to up their game, and get more out of the activity. And we actually get a natural high from our connection.

What happens in the workshop? We brainstorm together, attack a subject together, and everyone adds their insight to what's being built in the middle of the circle. So we're actually building a better business model together - a sustainable business model with the right marketing and advertising built into it.

The format is one point I wanted to get across. The other big point is that we're focusing on the wrong things ....

The Real Change Will Come From Us Changing

For change to really happen, we're going to have to change. Here is the big newsflash - when we begin connecting in an optimal manner, this will automatically generate positive forces that will help create balance in our world. The integral method is the key to making our world sustainable, and the key to us all getting the fulfillment we're all searching for. We all know on some level that enhanced human connection is the thing that makes us happiest, but our ego is always pulling us in the opposite direction. There is only one method in the world for overcoming the tremendous power of the human ego and that's the integral method I'm always talking about. No other method can take on the human ego. No man made method can take on the human ego. To overcome the human ego we need to take examples directly from nature.

The world's top CMO's have a HUGE ROLE to play in all this and I'm very excited to see that we're getting closer now.