How can you create a growth strategy where everyone wins? | EY

In the latest EY Future Consumer Index survey, 68% of respondents think brands have a responsibility to invest in the sustainable production of their products and services. Further, 70% say that brands must be transparent about the social and environmental impacts of producing their products and services. As consumers begin to prioritize planet over affordability in their purchasing decisions, sustainable product and service innovation has shifted from first-mover advantage to baseline imperative for growth.

Chief marketing officers (CMOs) will want to collaborate with a much wider group of functional experts, from their chief experience officer (CXO) and chief innovations officer (CINO) to the chief commercial officer (CCO). Together, they will need to transform existing products and services to help ensure they are meeting existing and future consumer demand. The more acclimated C-suite executives are reaching beyond their comfort zones to continually disrupt themselves based on circular principles, the more they can drive their sustainable product and innovation agendas that lead to purposeful growth.

Four ways companies can drive sustainable innovation that is both planet and profit-friendly

Sustainability in product and service innovation is no longer aspirational, and it can’t be bolted on to innovation cycles after the fact. It’s essential that organizations think about and embed commercial, environmental and social sustainability into their purpose, design thinking, prototyping and scaling of every product and service.

Here are four ways to fuse planet with profit:

1. Stay in the problem longer than you feel comfortable. Companies are so used to rapid problem-solving that they’re not solving the issue behind the issue.

2. Make innovation a mindset. Innovation isn’t the responsibility of only one part of the business. Organizations need to create an innovation mindset across the entire enterprise.

3. Think backcasting rather than forecasting. A future-back approach to transformation can help companies unpack key megatrends, assess how they might shift market conditions and align these insights with the organization’s purpose.

4. Create your own competitor. Setting up a private company outside the structure of the incumbent company enables it to operate without legacy issues. It’s one of the biggest levers of innovation that most companies don’t use.