3 Model of Sustainable Marketing
The Model of Sustainable Marketing (MSM)
1 embodies the
challenges faced in the marketing sciences. Scientists and
entrepreneurs are faced with the task of changing the current
paradigm predicated on the belief that marketing and
responsibility are adversarial. To effectively implement the
principles of sustainable marketing, a Model of Sustainable
Marketing (MSM) has been developed that takes the form of
connecting the mechanism supporting business and social
relationships in terms of responsibility and business
competitiveness.
The term “model” is understood here as a simplified
representation of the complex marketing management process of an enterprise. The proposal of the model’s construction is aimed at presenting the functioning of the
complex state of affairs.
At the heart of MSM is the understanding that sustainable
marketing is not merely about producing “healthier, better,
and cheaper” goods, which satisfy customer needs. It is the
authentic, practical value of running a business, influencing
productivity, inspiring creativity, promoting, and nurturing
business collaboration with the social and market environment. By maintaining the long-term balance between the
needs of people, the global environment, and the development of the economy, sustainable marketing gives businesses and organizations the confidence and strength to
produce more while using less resources, while taking into
account the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s generations of
customers and a global society.
On an operational level, the MSM is designed to influence the behavior of both the management and staff of the
organization and its customers in order to create positive
social and environmental changes and thereby achieve profit
in a reasonable way. It also influences what the customer
receives—by creating a brand that fits into the commercial
and social future. Finally, it is important to influence the
delivery of goods and services, thanks to responsible management and being open to cooperation in fair and ethical
marketing communications.
The idea underlying MSM is a business proposition that
can meet the needs of people, increase the efficiency of
global society development, create new jobs and increase the
quality of life today and in the future. The use of MSM
allows building a new marketing mindset in the organizations that use it, based on the principles of sustainability.
The proposed MSM is based on three pillars (see Fig. 1):
• responsible leadership,
• a brand that is positioned as responsible,
• popularization of responsible consumption.
In the business management space, MSM encourages the
sustainable enterprise to be managed responsibly in three
areas: economic, social, and ecological, and stipulates that
the leadership be based on the noble attitude and character
of those responsible for managing the company. Especially
today, where the topic of business ethics is emerging, which
in turn should lead every organization in the socioeconomic
space to pay attention to the concept of a common good.
Representatives of science and practice increasingly see that
without ethical principles it is impossible to lead an enterprise. For the development of a sustainable enterprise, it is
important that the leaders take responsibility for the performance of the activity not only in the economic but also in the
social and environmental aspects. In the chain of values, the
sustainable enterprise should strive to maintain a balance
between the creation of a market offering and its distribution,
the impact on the environment, business development, and
the impact on social development both inside and outside the
enterprise. A company run by a responsible leader should
create value for the consumer and the investor as well as
society as a whole, to meet their needs by using environmental resources in a harmonious way.
Another pillar of the MSM is the well-established,
well-positioned, and well-managed brand—as a sum of
associations and preferences related to the organization, but
also a collection of actual experiences, recommendations,
and attributes of its quality. Brand is understood as a complex combination of functional and emotional values.
The sustainable enterprise should ensure that its brand
lives with the organization both within and outside its
environment. The most successful brands are characterized
by two qualities: vitality and rank. Each of these features has
two dimensions: the brand is vital when it is differentiated in
the minds of customers from other brands and when that
diversity matches the needs of customers. A brand has a high
rank when it is highly respected and well known on the
target market. The vitality and rank of the sustainable
enterprise should be based on values such as integrity,
morality, and the resulting business ethics (Kotler 1999),
which underlie the sustainability theory. Brand is a fundamental aspect of marketing and at the same time it is
crowning. All the organizations operating on the market and
their brands have a specific identity, name, and reputation.
The art of marketing is the art of brand building. If an
1
The Model is the result of scientific inquiry, market experience, and
research carried out as part of Marek Seretny’s Ph.D. dissertation
presented to the public on October 14, 2014 at the Faculty of
Management of the Warsaw University of Technology. The validity of
assumptions presented by the Model has been verified in the conducted
research. Apart from the public defense of the dissertation, the Model
has been repeatedly presented to scientists and business representatives
at conferences and seminars both nationally and internationally, where
it has received recognition and approval.
286
M. Seretny and D. Gaur
The Model of Sustainable Marketing (MSM)
1 embodies the
challenges faced in the marketing sciences. Scientists and
entrepreneurs are faced with the task of changing the current
paradigm predicated on the belief that marketing and
responsibility are adversarial. To effectively implement the
principles of sustainable marketing, a Model of Sustainable
Marketing (MSM) has been developed that takes the form of
connecting the mechanism supporting business and social
relationships in terms of responsibility and business
competitiveness.
The term “model” is understood here as a simplified
representation of the complex marketing management process of an enterprise. The proposal of the model’s construction is aimed at presenting the functioning of the
complex state of affairs.
At the heart of MSM is the understanding that sustainable
marketing is not merely about producing “healthier, better,
and cheaper” goods, which satisfy customer needs. It is the
authentic, practical value of running a business, influencing
productivity, inspiring creativity, promoting, and nurturing
business collaboration with the social and market environment. By maintaining the long-term balance between the
needs of people, the global environment, and the development of the economy, sustainable marketing gives businesses and organizations the confidence and strength to
produce more while using less resources, while taking into
account the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s generations of
customers and a global society.
On an operational level, the MSM is designed to influence the behavior of both the management and staff of the
organization and its customers in order to create positive
social and environmental changes and thereby achieve profit
in a reasonable way. It also influences what the customer
receives—by creating a brand that fits into the commercial
and social future. Finally, it is important to influence the
delivery of goods and services, thanks to responsible management and being open to cooperation in fair and ethical
marketing communications.
The idea underlying MSM is a business proposition that
can meet the needs of people, increase the efficiency of
global society development, create new jobs and increase the
quality of life today and in the future. The use of MSM
allows building a new marketing mindset in the organizations that use it, based on the principles of sustainability.
The proposed MSM is based on three pillars (see Fig. 1):
• responsible leadership,
• a brand that is positioned as responsible,
• popularization of responsible consumption.
In the business management space, MSM encourages the
sustainable enterprise to be managed responsibly in three
areas: economic, social, and ecological, and stipulates that
the leadership be based on the noble attitude and character
of those responsible for managing the company. Especially
today, where the topic of business ethics is emerging, which
in turn should lead every organization in the socioeconomic
space to pay attention to the concept of a common good.
Representatives of science and practice increasingly see that
without ethical principles it is impossible to lead an enterprise. For the development of a sustainable enterprise, it is
important that the leaders take responsibility for the performance of the activity not only in the economic but also in the
social and environmental aspects. In the chain of values, the
sustainable enterprise should strive to maintain a balance
between the creation of a market offering and its distribution,
the impact on the environment, business development, and
the impact on social development both inside and outside the
enterprise. A company run by a responsible leader should
create value for the consumer and the investor as well as
society as a whole, to meet their needs by using environmental resources in a harmonious way.
Another pillar of the MSM is the well-established,
well-positioned, and well-managed brand—as a sum of
associations and preferences related to the organization, but
also a collection of actual experiences, recommendations,
and attributes of its quality. Brand is understood as a complex combination of functional and emotional values.
The sustainable enterprise should ensure that its brand
lives with the organization both within and outside its
environment. The most successful brands are characterized
by two qualities: vitality and rank. Each of these features has
two dimensions: the brand is vital when it is differentiated in
the minds of customers from other brands and when that
diversity matches the needs of customers. A brand has a high
rank when it is highly respected and well known on the
target market. The vitality and rank of the sustainable
enterprise should be based on values such as integrity,
morality, and the resulting business ethics (Kotler 1999),
which underlie the sustainability theory. Brand is a fundamental aspect of marketing and at the same time it is
crowning. All the organizations operating on the market and
their brands have a specific identity, name, and reputation.
The art of marketing is the art of brand building. If an
1
The Model is the result of scientific inquiry, market experience, and
research carried out as part of Marek Seretny’s Ph.D. dissertation
presented to the public on October 14, 2014 at the Faculty of
Management of the Warsaw University of Technology. The validity of
assumptions presented by the Model has been verified in the conducted
research. Apart from the public defense of the dissertation, the Model
has been repeatedly presented to scientists and business representatives
at conferences and seminars both nationally and internationally, where
it has received recognition and approval.
286
M. Seretny and D. Gaur