Colin McLeod's previous positions include General Manager, Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs, at the AFL; Executive Director, Marketing and Brand Management at Goldman Sachs JBWere; and Group Marketing Manager for Telstra's Mobiles division.
He holds a BA, an MBA and a PhD and is a director of a number of private companies involved in technology development and investment in innovation. He also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Olivia Newton John Cancer Centre at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne.
Retailers are moving towards more sustainable practices to gain a competitive advantage, and appeal to the growing number of environmentally-aware stakeholders.
Companies that build sustainability into their operations - and do it well - gain an important marketing advantage, according to newly-appointed director of Monash University's Australian Centre for Retail Studies Associate Professor Colin McLeod.
In the past 12 months Australian consumers spent more than $20 billion on 'being green', with sales growing at more than 20 per cent per year despite challenging economic conditions.
Associate Professor McLeod said any business that built green initiatives into its overall corporate strategy could reap fantastic benefits, provided it was genuine and there was organisational commitment.
"We're seeing more and more consumers making their purchases based on environmental values. For any organisation, taking steps to reduce its environmental footprint creates quite compelling financial outcomes, not to mention customer and employee loyalty," he says.
Associate Professor McLeod cites British retailer Marks and Spencer, which has more than 895 stores across the world, as one of the best examples of companies using the green movement to their competitive advantage.
In 2007 the company launched a new initiative called Plan A, which outlined how it would increase its environmental sustainability across five themes: climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, 'fair partnership', and health.
"Retailers that invest in the idea of sustainability and actually examine all aspects of their product and how it is manufactured will be the real winners as consumers increasingly seek out goods and services that are produced in environmentally sustainable ways," Associate Professor McLeod says.
"More and more companies are using sustainability as a focus for real innovation. UK supermarket chain Sainsburys has recently opened a green concept store that uses one million less litres of water, 50 per cent less electricity and produces 50 per cent less CO2 emissions per year than standard stores.
"Australian companies like Woolworths and Bunnings are also hoping to achieve very challenging sustainability targets through a range of initiatives, from more energy efficient store design and extensive water recycling programs to training and incentive systems for suppliers."
Associate Professor McLeod said being a
"good corporate citizen"
was also one of the new considerations for business in attracting and
retaining staff.
"Young people coming out of university today have strong views about the level of social responsibility a company should have. Where they want to work will be directly in line with their value system.
They'll ask themselves whether the company is fulfilling their expectations or whether environmental initiatives are just window dressing. They want to be proud of the organisation they work for. If they're not, they will move on."
Associate Professor McLeod says being seen to be environmentally responsible would soon be a minimum competitive requirement for retailers.
"Climate change as an issue in our day to day lives has happened so quickly - consumers don't know how to factor environmentalism into their thinking and consumer decision-making. As the market becomes better educated about the environment, consumers will simply expect retailers to demonstrate their sustainability and will have more knowledge to discriminate.
"Legitimate companies will be the winners and that poses a real challenge for marketers in communicating effectively and sincerely with consumers. Reputation in the business community and amongst consumers is key: the truth always comes out."
