Sustainability innovations and sustainability marketing are like twin brothers. One cannot do without the other. Simply put: When sustainability marketing is about the marketing of sustainable products and services, sustainability innovations is about developing them.
How "sustainable" is sustainability marketing without new inventions? And what is the value of sustainability inventions, if they are not adopted by users? Sustainability marketing has to make sure: that novel sustainable products and services solve customer problems, and satisfy customer needs; that they are communicated in a credible way; that it is convenient for customers to adopt them; and that the total customer cost of sustainable solutions are taken into account.
We define sustainable solutions as offerings that satisfy customer needs and significantly improve the social and environmental performance along the whole life cycle in comparison to conventional or competing offers (Belz and Peattie 2009, p. 154). Sustainable products and services are not absolute measures, but are dependent on the state of knowledge, the latest technologies, political and societal aspirations, which change over time. A product or service that meets customer needs and that has an extraordinary social and environmental performance today may be considered standard tomorrow. Thus, sustainable products and services have to be continuously improved regarding customer, social and environmental performances, making innovations inevitable. These kinds of innovations may be incremental or radical in nature. Based on the novelty of knowledge, and the novelty of the application of that knowledge, we can differentiate between four different types of sustainability innovations (Tidd and Bessant 2009, pp. 581-583).
Exhibit: A Typology of Sustainability Innovations
The first type of innovations focuses on the improvement of existing products and services with regard to environmental and social performance. The increase of fuel efficiency of cars is a good example for this kind of innovation (e.g. BMW Efficient Dynamics). Making toy products safe and healthy for kids and producing them under acceptable social conditions is another.
The second type of innovations represents alternative technologies to existing problems. Growing social and political pressure over vehicle emissions and their regulation have forced the automobile industry to reconsider the dominant design based around the Otto motor, a gasoline or diesel-fuelled combustion engine. Car companies all over the world are active in the search for alternative technologies such as fuel cell and electric cars (Pilkington and Dyerson 2004). Toyota is the innovation leader when it comes to hybrid-electric cars (e.g. Prius), gaining competitive advantages. An alternative technology in the area of food packaging is bioplastics, which stems from renewable resources and biodegrades after use.
The third type of innovations applies existing knowledge to new market areas. Car sharing is a good example for offering mobility without car ownership (e.g. zipcar and Mobility CarSharing). The novel service combines existing technologies such as cars, electric customer cards, and online services to offer mobility solutions which are cost-efficient, and convenient for an increasing number of customers. A different example for the application of existing knowledge in new areas is the Base of the Pyramid (Prahalad 2005). Often a new configuration of existing technologies helps serving this market segment with quality products at a low price (e.g. washing detergents and shampoos in single sachets).
The forth type of innovation is probably the most fundamental contribution to sustainable development. Berkhout and Green (2002) argue that the literature on innovation management and sustainability is too focused on firms, supply chains, and specific technologies. They suggest broadening this point of view and focussing on socio-technological systems or regimes, where developers and users interact, and where many actors are involved in the process of sustainability innovations. Examples would be: sustainable mobility systems, which apply complementary modes of transportation (e.g. electric bikes, electric cars, and public transportation); and sustainable energy systems, which are based on different sources of renewable energies. Such innovations require changes in energy pricing and regulation, an infrastructure to allow the sale of energy back to the grid, and new skills and services they typically evolve by a combination of top-down policy, and bottom-up social change and firm behaviour over a (long) period of time.
How "sustainable" is sustainability marketing without new inventions? And what is the value of sustainability inventions, if they are not adopted by users? Sustainability marketing has to make sure: that novel sustainable products and services solve customer problems, and satisfy customer needs; that they are communicated in a credible way; that it is convenient for customers to adopt them; and that the total customer cost of sustainable solutions are taken into account.
We define sustainable solutions as offerings that satisfy customer needs and significantly improve the social and environmental performance along the whole life cycle in comparison to conventional or competing offers (Belz and Peattie 2009, p. 154). Sustainable products and services are not absolute measures, but are dependent on the state of knowledge, the latest technologies, political and societal aspirations, which change over time. A product or service that meets customer needs and that has an extraordinary social and environmental performance today may be considered standard tomorrow. Thus, sustainable products and services have to be continuously improved regarding customer, social and environmental performances, making innovations inevitable. These kinds of innovations may be incremental or radical in nature. Based on the novelty of knowledge, and the novelty of the application of that knowledge, we can differentiate between four different types of sustainability innovations (Tidd and Bessant 2009, pp. 581-583).
Exhibit: A Typology of Sustainability InnovationsThe first type of innovations focuses on the improvement of existing products and services with regard to environmental and social performance. The increase of fuel efficiency of cars is a good example for this kind of innovation (e.g. BMW Efficient Dynamics). Making toy products safe and healthy for kids and producing them under acceptable social conditions is another.
The second type of innovations represents alternative technologies to existing problems. Growing social and political pressure over vehicle emissions and their regulation have forced the automobile industry to reconsider the dominant design based around the Otto motor, a gasoline or diesel-fuelled combustion engine. Car companies all over the world are active in the search for alternative technologies such as fuel cell and electric cars (Pilkington and Dyerson 2004). Toyota is the innovation leader when it comes to hybrid-electric cars (e.g. Prius), gaining competitive advantages. An alternative technology in the area of food packaging is bioplastics, which stems from renewable resources and biodegrades after use.
The third type of innovations applies existing knowledge to new market areas. Car sharing is a good example for offering mobility without car ownership (e.g. zipcar and Mobility CarSharing). The novel service combines existing technologies such as cars, electric customer cards, and online services to offer mobility solutions which are cost-efficient, and convenient for an increasing number of customers. A different example for the application of existing knowledge in new areas is the Base of the Pyramid (Prahalad 2005). Often a new configuration of existing technologies helps serving this market segment with quality products at a low price (e.g. washing detergents and shampoos in single sachets).
The forth type of innovation is probably the most fundamental contribution to sustainable development. Berkhout and Green (2002) argue that the literature on innovation management and sustainability is too focused on firms, supply chains, and specific technologies. They suggest broadening this point of view and focussing on socio-technological systems or regimes, where developers and users interact, and where many actors are involved in the process of sustainability innovations. Examples would be: sustainable mobility systems, which apply complementary modes of transportation (e.g. electric bikes, electric cars, and public transportation); and sustainable energy systems, which are based on different sources of renewable energies. Such innovations require changes in energy pricing and regulation, an infrastructure to allow the sale of energy back to the grid, and new skills and services they typically evolve by a combination of top-down policy, and bottom-up social change and firm behaviour over a (long) period of time.
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Well, there is not innovation in the market without sales, sure if you innovate something, there will be some income money generated for a change in the way it builds.
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