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The buzz of Lacoste’s Capsule polo line replacing its iconic croco logo with endangered species sends a positive signal to all brands: sustainability can be sexy! Designed to cast attention to the fragile equilibrium of biodiversity at the Paris 2018 Fashion Week, the line sold out immediately. For Lacoste, ‘The Save Our Species’ polo shirts mark the beginning of a three-year partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Cynics will argue that Lacoste could work on a greener production line instead of selling polos. I asked myself the same question. But got pleasantly surprised when reading the brand’s extensive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments. Next to Lacoste, Lego recently announced they’ll market a range of eco-friendly bricks made from responsibly sourced sugar cane. The group wants to reduce its plastic waste by fully replacing current raw materials with eco-plastic by 2030. Not later than this year you’ll be able to buy the first set of sustainable plant shaped collection…raise your hand if you want to be a child again! However, it is not just about owning a historical fashion item or some eco-friendly bricks. As marketers, we are sensitive about what customers want. Part of their expectations now includes a commitment from the brands they buy from on issues of general concern. The pull is dubbed by a push coming from employees who are themselves on the lookout for more purpose and positive impact in their jobs. Are we entering an economy of ethics? I’d dare to think so. Today the circular economy is in a full scale-up phase. While initially encouraged by smaller, somehow marginal actors, big players like Coca-Cola, Unilever, L’Oréal and Mars are joining the movement. OK, to be fair there has been a decent amount of pressure from world leaders at the Economic Forum in Davos asking multinationals to step in. But who doesn’t need to be pushed to start to change…? Ethics should be considered as a competitive advantage, a determining factor of choice between two comparable options for a picky customer. All organizations will have to confront sustainability. And this is not a boring nor a moralizing message anymore, but an exciting realm to explore. Winning on the 3Ps leads to opportunities such as supply chain optimization, employee retention, new product development at low CapEx and risk mitigation in the innovation funnel. But how? If CSR is only considered within organizations in an isolated manner, CSR will fail. Stories of customers discrediting shady make ups of multinationals got a lot of harmful press exposure (Shell, Coca-Cola,…). Sustainability needs to run in the corporation’s veins. What we see today is that many companies are still missing out because CSR is not integrated in key departments, namely marketing. The Lacoste and Lego stories are sexy because they are so cohesive with their respective corporate long-term vision. These brands understood how to integrate good causes into their brand building strategy in order to win on all 3Ps and have involved their marketing departments closely to get there.  CSR is not philanthropy. It starts with a clear business strategy. Social promises should meet business targets that are clearly communicated with internal and external stakeholders. No promises to be made before assessing how CSR investments support the organization’s objectives and practices. In this context marketing can be the guardian of market success by providing relevant customer insights and preserving the brand identity when integrating a CSR dimension. If no customer-centric thinking is applied to the roll-out of sustainability policies, it will not have the desired effect on the bottom line. The rise of viable sharing economy models as well as changing consumers’ and employees’ expectations create a positive climate to include more ethics into business models. Examples show that integrating sustainability factors can increasingly be achieved without compromise on financials targets and even reinforce brand equity. The most it takes is to start to look at things differently and find a cause that resonates with the brand’s core values. Adding this little effort, let’s make marketing make sustainability sexy and make sustainability a priority for marketing. As a marketer, I sign for it. And you?

31% van Belgische bedrijven neemt steeds beslissingen op basis van beschikbare data

31 % des entreprises belges prennent toujours des décisions sur la base des données disponibles

Digital advertising allows you to measure (almost) everything, optimize quickly and provide great reports. This is especially useful when you are an active advertiser on platforms such as Facebook and Google. If you have a look at a campaign performance report your conclusions will probably be:

Creative assets ready. Media budget booked. Online campaign started. Online campaign ended. Results in mailbox. Key metrics presented to management. Repeat… More than often the routinely process of setting up a digital campaign has become a habit within marketing departments.  Especially when relying on an external agency for media buying parts, marketers tend to be less critical about the tactics behind their campaigns. But resting on your laurels won’t increase conversion rates. Are you your agency’s most docile client never asking for change? When you are contemplating, your competition is acting. Result: your leads convert elsewhere. Sad.

La deuxième édition du Baromètre de l’E-commerce – qui présente une vue d’ensemble du commerce en ligne en Belgique d’après les données de transactions - montre qu’en 2017, le marché de l’e-commerce belge se développe avec un chiffre d’affaires atteignant 5,8 milliards d’euros, soit une hausse de près de 17 % par rapport à 2016. D’autre part, le nombre de commerçants en ligne a augmenté d’un quart pour atteindre plus de 20 400. 4 % des acteurs du secteur belge de l’e-commerce représentent 89 % du chiffre d’affaires réalisé en Belgique. The House of Marketing et SafeShops.be viennent de communiquer les résultats de la nouvelle édition du Baromètre de l’E-commerce. Cette étude s’est basée sur les tendances du secteur de l’e-commerce, et notamment les données de transactions des boutiques en ligne fournies par les prestataires de services de paiement ou PSP (Payment Service Providers). Ces derniers recueillent les volumes de transactions des boutiques en ligne belges assujetties à la TVA, quel que soit le mode de paiement (carte, modules bancaires, PayPal, etc.). Le Baromètre de l’E-commerce offre une vision précise des dépenses effectuées en ligne auprès des entreprises belges. Il présente les caractéristiques du secteur belge du commerce en ligne grâce aux données transmises par CCV, Europabank, Worldline, Ingenico ePayments, Mollie, Multisafepay, Six Payment Services et Icepay, qui représentent ensemble une part de marché estimée à 85 % du volume des transactions en Belgique.

De tweede editie van de E-commerce Barometer - die het Belgische online landschap in kaart brengt vertrekkende vanuit transactiedata - toont aan dat de Belgische e-commerce markt in 2017 groeit tot 5,8 miljard, een stijging met bijna 17% ten opzichte van 2016. Ook het aantal online handelaren is met een vierde gestegen naar meer dan 20.400.  Vier procent van de Belgische online spelers is verantwoordelijk voor 89% van de gerealiseerde omzet in België. Vandaag maakten The House of Marketing en SafeShops.be de resultaten van de nieuwe E-commerce Barometer bekend.  Uitgangspunt is informatie vanuit de online handel zelf via de gegevens uit transacties van de webshops. Deze data worden aangeleverd door betaalproviders of PSP’s, Payment Service Providers. Zij beschikken over de transactievolumes van Belgische BTW-plichtige webshops, ongeacht het betaalmiddel (kaart, bankmodules, PayPal,..). De E-commerce Barometer biedt een fijnmazig inzicht in de online bestedingen bij Belgische bedrijven. Het Belgische onlinelandschap wordt in kaart gebracht op basis van de data aangeleverd door CCV, Europabank, Worldline, Ingenico ePayments, Mollie, Multisafepay, Six Payment Services en Icepay.  Samen vertegenwoordigen zij een geschat marktaandeel van 85% van het transactievolume in België.  

Lightening bugs transform chemical energy into light in a process coined bioluminescence. The metamorphosis serves to attract mates and acts as a natural defense against predators. Glowing is thus a key survival feature for such insects that come out in the night. Looking at your network, have you ever noticed that some people seem to be positive energy magnets? Whenever I come across such individuals I can’t help it to imagine those persons ‘glowing’. They radiate a sense of openness and confidence that attracts peers and make you want to stick around. In a business context, they seem to find their way through any situation by deploying their charismatic personalities. Hence the question, is ‘glowing’ the key to informal authority?

In addition to being an enthusiastic marketer, I am, of course, also a consumer. Paying extra attention to promotions and marketing messages; I love to shop and am not afraid to buy online because it is easy, convenient and fast. Or maybe I’d better say: it should be easy, convenient and fast. I must admit that since I started shopping online, I have had my fair share of experiences where things did not go as smoothly as anticipated.

All good things come to an end, also our GDPR articles… But we would not close without a happy ending! In this last article, we describe our framework for managing GDPR compliancy which can be used across different industries and different levels of data privacy maturity. After reading, we hope you will be able to continue (… or to start) building your own GDPR roadmap within your organization. We promise to not blow you away with a revolutionary and complicated framework. Because we like to keep things clear and simple, we focus on a 4-step approach: (1) define your data protection strategy and describe your data processing activities (2) assess your level of compliance (3) set your priorities and (4) define the project plan towards GDPR compliance.