Comments on: Sustainability And Marketing Must Walk Hand In Hand http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/06/09/sustainability-and-marketing-must-walk-hand-in-hand/ Environmental Leader Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:25:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Karl Ramjohn http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/06/09/sustainability-and-marketing-must-walk-hand-in-hand/comment-page-1/#comment-57840 Karl Ramjohn Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:14:01 +0000 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/06/09/sustainability-and-marketing-must-walk-hand-in-hand/#comment-57840 In its most basic sense, “marketing” may be defined as the identification and addressing of an unmet need. In that context, it is not difficult to see that the very fact that there exists a gap between marketing staff and technical personnel is symptomatic of an (almost inevitable, yet avoidable) tendency towards functional over-compartmentalization within the corporate structure. This “organizational fragmentation” is one of the fundamental mechanisms by which operations within a corporate environment may become increasingly unsustainable (both internal and external perspective). As such, perhaps it may be better to consider the role of “sustainability officers” more along the lines of active facilitators in bridging this gap between technical and marketing, i.e., re-establishing and building upon the overlap between these two fields, as opposed to being considered as “missionaries” (which implies a not particularly welcomed role of “converting” the heathen engineers and pagan marketers?). In its most basic sense, “marketing” may be defined as the identification and addressing of an unmet need. In that context, it is not difficult to see that the very fact that there exists a gap between marketing staff and technical personnel is symptomatic of an (almost inevitable, yet avoidable) tendency towards functional over-compartmentalization within the corporate structure. This “organizational fragmentation” is one of the fundamental mechanisms by which operations within a corporate environment may become increasingly unsustainable (both internal and external perspective).

As such, perhaps it may be better to consider the role of “sustainability officers” more along the lines of active facilitators in bridging this gap between technical and marketing, i.e., re-establishing and building upon the overlap between these two fields, as opposed to being considered as “missionaries” (which implies a not particularly welcomed role of “converting” the heathen engineers and pagan marketers?).

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