How do you get your internal culture to embrace the right sustainability message that you have worked so hard to craft? What do you do to convince brand managers to incorporate your message as a sustainability manager working at the corporate level? Or, how do you get your higher-ups to not see it as too big a risk, if you are a brand manager or marketing director who wants to incorporate sustainability messaging into your existing messaging? Given you are unlikely to have much money (i.e. media budget) to put your message out there, what do you do to get social and viral play? And how do you sell something "out of the box" or "disruptive" in a conservative culture?

1. Gain a sustainable advantage
Storytelling for
Organizational Engagement:
Selling Sustainability
Internally
Suzanne Shelton, Shelton Group
Jeff Rehm, Grainger
Rob Zimmerman, Kohler

2. Gain a sustainable advantage
Storytelling for Organizational
Engagement
Selling sustainability internally
Sustainable Brands
June 6, 2013

3. Gain a sustainable advantage

4. Gain a sustainable advantage
We help companies define
and leverage their
sustainability commitment to
gain a market advantage

5. Gain a sustainable advantage

6. Gain a sustainable advantage
Why should you tell a corporate
sustainability story?

7. Gain a sustainable advantage
Environmental efforts at the brand or
corporate level ARE a reason for consumers
to choose one product over another

8. Gain a sustainable advantage
of Americans say corporate environmental
reputation impacts product choices
48%

9. Gain a sustainable advantage
How do you know that a product is green?
48.8% 39.7% 31.0% 25.0% 22.8%
Ingredients,
content, energy
savings details
Label says so Company
has green
reputation
Certified by
3rd party
Advertising
says so
27.0%
Researched
on the
internet

10. Gain a sustainable advantage
34%Know a product is green because the
brand has a reputation for green
products

11. Gain a sustainable advantage
33%Say a Company’s Non-profit
Partnerships and Donations Impact
Purchase Decisions

12. Gain a sustainable advantage
Who does this matter to?

13. Gain a sustainable advantage
Actives – 24% of Americans
• Slightly more likely to be female than male
(56% vs. 44%)
• Somewhat more likely to be age 45 or older
• Well educated and relatively affluent – almost
twice as likely to be professionals
• Predominantly white
• More likely to be homeowners
• More likely to have children under 18
• More likely to vote Democrat
• More likely to be physically and culturally
active

14. Gain a sustainable advantage
Actives have high expectations
• Want products and packaging
that are recyclable and/or
biodegradable
• Want companies to be more
socially responsible – and will
reward them with purchases
• Strongest sense of personal
responsibility
• Participate in 20 green
behaviors

15. Gain a sustainable advantage
Actives also:
• Shop more often than any other consumer segment
• Are more brand loyal on average
• Will regularly pay more for brands they trust
• Prefer new products vs. used
• Rank themselves the happiest
• Are the most materialistic of the groups

16. Gain a sustainable advantage
Rethink “materialism.”
Materialism for Actives = “external
expressions of internal values.”

17. Gain a sustainable advantage
Rethink “Green Consumers.”

18. Gain a sustainable advantage
Brand-hugger (N)
Nearly a quarter of the
American population; pretty
well-off, educated, shops
often, buys lots of new stuff,
and pays more for brands
they trust. Oh, and searching
for meaning in those brands
they purchase. Actively
seeking to buy from brands
and companies with a sense
of purpose that either aligns
with or expands their own.

19. Gain a sustainable advantage
A strong corporate sustainability and/or
CSR story can drive better employee
recruitment & retention outcomes

20. Gain a sustainable advantage
2010 Gallup Poll:
Only 28% of workers are
engaged/emotionally connected to their
work. 53% are indifferent; 19% are
actively hostile

21. Gain a sustainable advantage

22. Gain a sustainable advantage
Millennials don’t see corporate responsibility as an
optional add-on; they expect & demand it.
• Deloitte survey: 61% of Millennials said they would prefer to work for a
company that offers volunteer opportunities.
• Shelton’s Green Living Pulse: Millennials are more likely than non-
Millennials to purchase items associated with a particular cause (37%
vs. 30%).
• After learning a company is socially and/or environmentally responsible:
− 83% of Millennials are likely to trust the company more.
− 79% are likely to purchase that company’s products.
− 44% are likely to actively pursue working at that company.
Sources: 2011 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey; The
Millennial Consumer, Boston Consulting Group; Millennial
Cause Study, Cone Communications

23. Gain a sustainable advantage
The right corporate sustainability story
can help you sell more products and
attract/retain the best employees
Now, how do you build that story and sell it
internally?

32. Promote
Responsible
Resource
Use
Conserve
Energy
Improve
Transportation
Efficiency
Build
Team Member
Engagement
Protect
Corporate
Reputation
Manage
Carbon
Footprint
1st Choice
Customer
Offer
Grainger’s Sustainability
Strategic Framework
Sustainability
We will operate our business to help
preserve and improve the environment. We
will help our customers by offering products
and services that are more sustainable or that will
make our customers more sustainable.

38. What does the word
‘sustainable’ mean to you?

39. What is Grainger’s commitment
level?

40. Are you aware of current
initiatives?

41. How should we communicate?

50. 1873

51. Kohler Co.: 140 Years and Counting

52. Every day of our working lives, we seek to improve the
level of gracious living for those people who are
touched by our products and services.
Gracious living is marked by qualities of charm, good
taste and generosity of spirit. It is further characterized
by self-fulfillment and enhancement of nature.
We reflect this mission in our work, in our team
approach to meeting objectives and in each of the
products and services we provide our customers.
Kohler Co. Mission Statement

53. • live on the leading edge of design and technology in
product and process.
• maintain a single level of quality across all product
categories. Prices will vary based on differences in
materials, functions and design detail, but should never
vary in quality.
• provide consistent quick delivery to the end user.
• employ service-minded people who enjoy solving
problems, are passionate about their work and business,
who take ownership, and are accountable.
• reinvest an average of at least 90% of our earnings back
into the Company.
Kohler Co. Guiding Principles

55. Kitchen &
Bath

56. Global Power

57. Interiors

58. Hospitality

60. Sustainability Champions
Over 130 Kohler Associates leading our efforts
globally…

61. Use All Existing Tools to Communicate
• Intranet site
• Learning
Academy
• Orientation
• Newsletters
• Team meetings
• Management
training
• Executive meetings
• Awards
• Performance
Evals

63. 63
Lunch ‘n’ Learn

64. 1. Develop a simple message that invites all
associates to engage.
2. Identify and engage your Champions.
3. Adapt the tools/processes you have to
communicate and educate.
4. Always, ALWAYS embed sustainability
with other business objectives.
What Have We Learned?

65. Gain a sustainable advantage