Sustainability Marketing Strategies: BMW Group Report Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of sustainability marketing practices within the BMW Group. It begins with an introduction to sustainability marketing and its relevance, followed by a background on BMW Group's operations, including its automotive industry context. The report delves into key sustainability concepts such as the triple bottom line, managing sustainability, communicating sustainability, and supply chain sustainability. It explores frameworks like biomimicry and footprint concepts, and examines environmental factors such as pollution, resource depletion, fuel consumption, and climate change. The report assesses the potential impacts of these sustainability issues on BMW, including increased costs and poor community relations, as well as societal impacts like pollution and unemployment. It then discusses how BMW manages sustainability through models like the 4Ps and 4Es, supply chain management, and marketing communication. The report concludes with recommendations for enhancing BMW's sustainability efforts.

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 1
Sustainability marketing.
By
[Student’s name]
Course
Institution
Date

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 2
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Background of the organization..................................................................................................................4
Automotive industry analysis......................................................................................................................5
Sustainability concepts................................................................................................................................5
Triple bottom line....................................................................................................................................5
Managing sustainability...........................................................................................................................5
Communicating sustainability..................................................................................................................6
Supply chain sustainability......................................................................................................................6
Biomimicry framework............................................................................................................................7
Footprint concept....................................................................................................................................7
Cradle to Cradle concept.........................................................................................................................8
Environmental factors.................................................................................................................................8
Environmental pollution..........................................................................................................................8
Depletion of resources............................................................................................................................9
Fuel consumption..................................................................................................................................10
Climate change......................................................................................................................................10
Potential impacts of sustainability issues on the organization..................................................................10
Increased costs......................................................................................................................................10
Poor quality products............................................................................................................................11

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 3
Poor community relations.....................................................................................................................12
Potential impacts of the sustainability issues on the society.....................................................................12
Air and water pollution..........................................................................................................................12
Unemployment......................................................................................................................................12
Managing sustainability in the organizations............................................................................................13
The 4P’S Model..........................................................................................................................................13
The products..........................................................................................................................................13
Place......................................................................................................................................................14
Promotion..............................................................................................................................................14
Price.......................................................................................................................................................15
The 4Es framework................................................................................................................................15
Supply chain management....................................................................................................................16
Marketing communication....................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................17
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................18
References.................................................................................................................................................19

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 4
Introduction.
Business are established for purposes of providing products and services in exchange for
revenues that enable the business meet its financial obligations. The products and services of the
company are availed to the market through marketing. Due to dynamics in business environment,
there is the need for most organizations to adopt sustainability marketing. Sustainability
marketing refers to embracing sustainable business practices that enable the organization to
create long term values (Zeriti, et al.2014, p.50). These practices are both socially and
environmentally friendly and they enable the organization and the community to enjoy a lot of
benefits. This report is written to highlight how BMW Group is practicing sustainability to
enhance its operations, the factors that influenced the need for sustainability marketing, the
impact of the sustainability issues and the plans to manage sustainability marketing within the
organization.
Background of the organization.
Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) Group is a German company established in 1916. The
company operates in automobile industries, and it produces both motorcycles and motor vehicles
that are sold all over the world (bmwgroup.com). BMW is one of the largest manufacturing
companies in Europe manufacturing luxury vehicles as it has 30 production locations within 14
countries, employing about 106,000 employees. BMW Group requires a larger number of
employees to perform different tasks in the firm and also ensure the people in the surrounding
community are employed.
The company has three brands which include BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce. The products of
the company include BMW X1, BMW X3, BMW 6 series among others series. The company
manufactures touring vehicles, racing and sports cars and motorcycles and luxury vehicles. The

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 5
supply chain of the company starts from research and development where the company
researches what the market wants. The company then procures the needed materials from the
trusted and selected suppliers who are committed in environmental sustainability and this is
achieved through collaboration. The company then manufactures the motor vehicles and
motorcycles with the best design that will attract many customers. Through outbound logistics
the manufactured are transported to the showrooms in different parts of the world where
customers can access them easily, hence creating the needed convenience.
BMW Group is a member of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which recognizes
companies which have put a lot of effort in conserving the environment by the production of
environmentally responsible products (bmwgroup.com). It is also a member of South Carolina
Environmental Excellence Program. In 2012, the company received an award for being the
world’s most sustainable automotive company. The company has held this fete for eight years
and it was recognized by Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and it is the only automotive in this
list.
Automotive industry analysis.
Automotive industry due to much competition has found itself in a position where it does not
care about environmental sustainability. This is because the industry stakeholders are trying as
much as possible to minimize costs that reduce their revenues. These practices have led to
production of poor vehicles that consume a lot of fuel that emit carbon monoxide in to the
atmosphere. Unlike, BMW Group which is committed to producing vehicles that conserve the
environment, the other companies in automobile industry practice green washing through
advertisements

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 6
Sustainability concepts.
Triple bottom line.
This concept enables the organization to measure performance in three different aspects which
include environmental factors, social factors, and financial factors (Kucukvar, et al.2014, p.236).
In environmental factors, the organization should ensure that it does not pollute the environment.
In social factors or people, the organization should ensure that it provides employment to the
people in the community. The profits or financial criteria is where the business should make
profits and reduce cost.
Managing sustainability.
During the transition period, due to various factors, some consumers can revert to the old ways.
The transition process requires time and resources to be successful (Hofmann, et al.2014, p.166).
Business owners should be aware of the need for change so that they can provide the needed
support and time to make the process a success. The consumers can be educated on the
importance of conserving the environment.
Communicating sustainability.
This concept highlights strategies and actions taken by organizations so that other stakeholders
can see that the company is advocating for environmental responsiveness through promotions
and advertisements (Grunert, et al.2014, p.180). The organization may be in the real sense not
putting any effort to move to the sustainable practices that conserve the environment. In this
case, BMW Group has conducted green washing because its i3 model of vehicle advocates for
production of vehicles that conserve the environment. BMW Group has been fighting European
Union tirelessly to ensure that the body does not enact laws that limit car pollution levels. As for
fair trade, BMW Group has put in place measures that will ensure that it is fully committed to
responsible and lawful conducts. They have ensured that customer complaints are well

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 7
addressed. To fully practice fair trade, BMW competes for customers on the basis of the products
but this is just green washing as the company sometimes produces low quality products that does
not match the price and this is not fair trade. BMW can ensure sustainability by producing cars
that conserve environment and are of high quality like BMW i3.
Supply chain sustainability.
There is need to incorporate environmentally sound aspects in the supply chain to minimize
environmental costs, waste costs, and risks costs (Beske, et al.2014, p.139). By doing so,
companies will be able to receive raw material that enables production of environmentally
responsible products. This will be achieved through collaboration with the supplier to ensure that
the company gets the needed material in time. Through collaboration, BMW Group will be able
to assure the customers and members of the public that environmental sustainability cars can be
availed to the market in time.
Biomimicry framework.
This concept advocates for organizations coping systems, models and natural elements to solve
complex human problems (Lurie-Luke, 2014, p.1499). The designed models resemble the natural
ones and they are used to solve sustainability challenges that human beings are not capable of
solving without involving natural organism. The designed structures take the role of the living
organisms. BMW Group is using biomimicry concept to develop head gears that will help to
protect the workers and this will help to minimize injuries and improve their welfare and that of
the society biomimicry.com, 2016). The level of biomimicry in automotive industry is rising
only that the projects are not implemented like the BMW’s jellyfish biomimicry to help control
traffic in many cities.

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 8
Footprint concept.
Automotive industry has had a lot of impact on footprints which comprise of ecological, water
and carbon. Automotive industry uses a lot of resources such as copper, iron and water and this
is causing depletion of resources. Automotive industry also emits a lot of carbon into the
environment leading to global warming.
Ecological footprint helps to measures the land used to produce the resources needed for
manufacturing of the vehicles and the waste produced. BMW Group has helped in reducing
ecological footprint by embracing innovative technology to enhance efficiency which helps in
reduction of the resources consumed and also minimizing waste produced. Carbon footprint
measures the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere by the vehicles (Gaussin, et al.2013,
p.520). BMW has manufactured electric cars that use renewable sources of energy and this has
helped to minimize the carbon footprint. BMW has also started car sharing program which will
minimize the number of cars on the roads and this will also minimize carbon emission into the
atmosphere. Water footprint is used to measure amount of water used in manufacturing different
products. BMW Group is minimizing water footprint by recycling and reusing products which
helps in saving the water that could have been used to manufacture the recycled components.
Cradle to Cradle concept.
This framework advocates for total elimination of waste as it designs packaging products that
ensure that the purchased product is useful including the package. The framework advocates for
the design of systems and products which are powered using renewable energy (Silvestre, et
al.2014, p.40). It perceives human model systems as natural processes and it is very efficient in
conserving the environment. BMW Group is using this concept and it has manufactured BMW i3
using this concept and this has helped in environment sustainability as this car can be recycled
and the process was successful.

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 9
Environmental factors.
The company operates within an environment which has a lot impact on the organization
operations. Some of the environmental factors that have forced BMW to adopt sustainability
marketing include
Environmental pollution.
Automotive companies produce products which include motorcycles and motor vehicles which
emit a lot of harmful gases into the atmosphere. The emitted gas pollutes the atmosphere as the
harmful gases cause hazardous health complication that affects the community (Triassi, et
al.2015, p.1220). This implies that the government will spend a lot of money in helping the
affected individuals. This will lead to government increasing the tax rates and other avenues of
collecting tax so that they can finance the increased expenses. The increased taxes will reduce
the profits of the company and this will lead to reduced return on investment. BMW Group to
avoid the high taxes due to air pollution decided to adopt sustainability marketing which
advocates for production of automobiles that emit less fumes into the environment (Li, et
al.2014, p.850)
Environmental pollution forced BMW to start manufacturing vehicles that can be recycled and
reused to avoid polluting the environment. Although this design is very expensive, it offers a
sustainable method of reducing environmental pollution which has long-term value to the
organization.
Depletion of resources.
The excessive use of raw material leads to reduced resources. If the trend is not checked, this
leads to depletion of resources that are used for the production of the automobile. BMW

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 10
Company realized that without employing efficiency in the use of resources, the company would
miss the raw materials for production in the near future (Klinglmair, et al.2014, p.585).
Depletion of the raw materials such as copper will put the company out of business and this is
more costly than practicing sustainability marketing which advocates for the efficient use of
resources and minimizing the wastage of resources. This is because due to wastage of resources,
in the near future, the resources will be scarce and the company will end up paying more to
purchase the products. This will increase the cost of operations and can even result in loss and
minimized profits.
Depletion of resources threat forced BMW to adopt methods which will enable the company to
restore efficiency in the utilization of the resources of the company (Doell, et al.2014, p.5701).
This method will help the organization to have a sustainable way of conserving the available
resources as vehicles that are manufactured by following models and systems will help BMW to
minimize wastage of scarce resources.
Fuel consumption.
BMW manufacture vehicles which consume a lot of fuel because of the powerful engines. This
increases the maintenance costs of the vehicles. The cost of energy in most countries where
BMW sells its products have gone higher due to various factors which cannot be avoided
(Wackernagel, and Rees, 2014, p.503). Without opting to practice sustainability practices which
could help reduce energy consumption, BMW could have lost large market share to its
competitors. This forced BMW to start producing solar-powered vehicles that can help to
recharge the vehicles. The company also saw the need to start producing electric cars which use
renewable sources of energy and minimize the use of fuels which increases pollution.

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 11
Climate change.
Climate has changed all over the world due to various aspects such as global warming. The
climatic change affected BMW Company because it had to modify the materials for
manufacturing the vehicles to be used in different nations which have different climatic
conditions. BMW had to come up with the sustainable way of manufacturing the vehicles that
will endure the climate. The effects of the climate change include fading color of the vehicles
due to sunny and rainy weather in some countries (Tilman, and Clark, 2014, p.520). This
affected the sales of the company as people started to have perceptions that the firm was
producing low-quality products that did not satisfy the needs of the customers.
Potential impacts of sustainability issues on the
organization.
The sustainability issues facing the organization can affect its performance to a larger extent if
they are not addressed effectively. The impacts of the sustainable issues include;
Increased costs.
Environmental pollution will cause harm to the environment, and the government has a
responsibility of ensuring that people live in safe conditions. The introduced methods and safety
measures to secure the citizens require a lot of resources (Chava, 2014, p.2230). This will imply
that the taxation rate for companies contributing to the pollution will be increased to ensure that
government has the needed resources to take good care of its citizens. This will lead to reduced
profits because the company will spend a lot of resources fixing the problems that have been
caused by harmful emissions from the vehicles.
BMW will also be forced to contribute funds towards projects that minimize the effects of global
warming caused by the increased emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The projects
include foundations committed to enabling forests to thrive to minimize the effects of global

SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING 12
warming. The increased costs will force the firm to increase the selling price, and this will result
in reduced sales and loss of market share.
Poor quality products.
Due to depletion of resources, the company may BMW may find itself producing poor quality
goods that do not satisfy the target market and the customers. This is because the organization
may lack the needed material to produce vehicles. Continued depletion of resources will also
force the company to be eliminated from the industry by the competitors and this will have a lot
negative impact on the organization (Lanaj, et al.2014, p.15). Depletion of resources will make
the materials for manufacturing vehicles such as copper and iron to become scarce. Due to forces
of supply and demand, the cost of the materials will be very high and this may force the
company to use the minimal material to save the cost of production. This will result in the
production of poor quality goods that may fail to attract the needed market. This will force the
customers to shift to other manufacturers of vehicles who can avail quality automobiles, and the
company will lose its customers to competitors.
Poor community relations.
Companies which produce automobiles or other products that contribute to the pollution of the
environment has a poor relationship with the community. This will have adverse effects on the
operations of the company because the firm depends on the community for the provision of some
services which are very important in enabling the organization to function efficiently
(Anguelovski, and Alier, 2014, p.170). Due to poor relations, BMW may not be able to enough
supply of labor from the community. This will force the company to experience high labor costs
because of labor importation. Poor relations will prevent the company from having the goodwill
that can enable it to sell its vehicles.