Fishburn Hedges

16.11.2010

Unilever launched its new Sustainable Living Plan this week, which "aims to decouple future growth from environmental impact".  The launch event was chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby with presentations from CEO Paul Polman and a panel discussion which included guests such as John Elkington and Jonathon Porritt.

Key commitments

The plan is made up of 50 social, economic and environmental targets.  The ambitious overarching goals, which Unilever intends to reach before 2020, include: 
- halve the environmental footprint of its products
- help 1 billion people improve their health and wellbeing
- source 100% of its agricultural raw materials sustainably
When presenting the new plan Unilever were keen to explain that this is not about a series of new initiatives, but about a new way of doing business, a new business model, “in fact the only way to do business now”. 

Leadership from the top

The most impressive part of the event was Paul Polman’s evident commitment and leadership.  It’s a hackneyed saying that CSR needs to be 'led from the top' but, at the end of the day, it is a reality. 

Polman's easy manner worked well during the discussion, he appeared close to the detail of the plan and how it would be implemented.   He was also quite feisty in some of his responses to questions, particularly when challenged about how the City would respond to the plan. 

He replied categorically that if investors didn’t like this way of doing business, he would be happy for their money to go elsewhere: “we need to attract the right kind of investors interested in long-term value creation”.

Communication is crucial

Although Polman wouldn’t be pressed on how much of his marketing spend would be devoted to the new plan, the role of communications in changing consumer behaviour is a vital element of the approach. 

With Lifebuoy soap they aim to change the hygiene behaviour of 1 billion consumers across Asia, Africa and Latin America by promoting the benefits of hand washing with soap at key times – a challenging brief for any communication professional. 

Two billion consumers use a Unilever product every single day, so the NPD (New Product Development) division must be hard at work already devising innovative new products with built-in environmental upsides.  And then those upsides will need hard-working comms plans to explain them to consumers who, let's face it, still look for quality and value first and foremost. 

Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration

Jonathon Porritt quite rightly made it clear that collaboration with other private sector companies and NGOs will also be essential to deliver the plan - as we highlighted in our recent 2011 business predictions. 

Porritt described the pattern of collaboration as “eye wateringly different now” and “the lynchpin in making sustainability a reality”.  Unilever knows well that it cannot deliver this alone and working even more closely with partners, particularly with NGOs, will be crucial. 

Early reactions

At the event itself, Unilever rightly received plaudits from the panel and handpicked audience for their hugely ambitious goals and the holistic nature of the plan – the fact that it combines environmental metrics with nutrition and hygiene targets, community investment and educational projects, as well as employee engagement.  

But at the end of the day, it is still just that – a plan.  The hard graft starts here.  And as far as I am aware, Unilever hasn’t yet committed to any revised measurement or reporting protocols which seems surprising and perhaps a missed opportunity; they will continue to report on progress annually.  Wouldn’t it be great to see them opening up their data to stakeholders or reporting in real-time? 

Only time will tell how much these new targets impact on their long-term reputation when, after tomorrow, the initial interest has died down.  

*With thanks to Jonathon Porritt for what was undoubtedly the best question of the day.  Unilever tell me all cocoa for Magnum will be 100% Rainforest Alliance certified by 2015... so halfway there.

 

Posted by Rachel Woods