Blog #12: Working For A Better World

Sustainability is becoming increasingly more important in our world’s culture today. A huge emphasis is being placed on how environmentally friendly the product or service being offered is. Because this is such an important characteristic to day’s customers, people are willing to spend more money for a product or service that will somehow benefit the environment. The most recent assignment for my marketing class is to make a video that highlights the sustainability of whatever you want to focus on. This assignment has taught me the importance of marketing towards customers who value sustainability.

One of the world’s largest theme parks knows just how important sustainability is to their customers. A few months ago, we read an article for class that discusses the different ways Walt Disney theme parks are environmentally friendly in their practices. The article was about a study that was conducted in order to decipher how companies face the environmental issues that they face.

The study described the following ways that Disney works towards being more environmentally friendly. Disney sees itself as pioneering ways to look after the environment, with Walt Disney himself focusing on the issue. Starting in 1990, Disney established a department that was focused on sustainability efforts, called the environmental policy department. The company also trademarked the term Environmentality, meaning having an attitude and commitment to think and act with the environment in mind, and who’s sponsor is Jiminy Cricket. By adopting this slogan and environmentally friendly practices, Disney is taking into consideration not only the environment, but also the interest of their stakeholders.

Disney wanted to keep their environmentally friendly practices to themselves for some time, and did no public campaigns or release any information to their stakeholders. After some time, Disney released a corporate social responsibility report, which discussed its achievements and goals and targets regarding the environment. Since then, Disney has been much more open about their practices concerning the environment. By establishing an Environmental Council, Disney aimed to implement long-term strategies so that they could minimize their impact on the environment. They planned to measure and reduce waste, the use of fossil fuels, and greenhouse gas emissions, and to work towards protecting the eco-system.

Disney works hard to include employees and cast members in their efforts towards sustainability. An example of this would be a contest held among the custodial staff to see who could collect the most recyclable bottles. The collection resulted in the pick-up of over 425 tons of bottles between the years of 2000 and 2005. Another example took place in Germany among the main performers. They were assigned the task of biking to work, and were able to cycle over 11,000 km between May and July of 2010.

The various efforts made by Disney show that it is a company that cares about more than just making money off their customers. By taking into consideration their environmental impacts, Disney is working towards a better world. They are marketing themselves as a company that wants to do right in the world and give back to the environment. These characteristics are essential in a company today because it takes more than just an efficient business plan to be successful in today’s business environment.