The phrase “what gets measured gets done” is perfectly suited to the licensing industry as the clamour for sustainable products and services grows ever louder.
We are moving into an era where sustainability is part of every decision we make, so it is essential to be able to measure the impact of changes against sustainability criteria. From carbon footprint and the use of water and materials to the amount of waste created, there is a range of issues to consider when evaluating how ‘green’ a product is.
As a result, all companies – and their connected licensing teams – have different views on what to include and how important each part is. More on that later.
Products of Change
First, let’s look at a leading light in the drive to be more environmentally friendly and consume fewer resources: Products of Change. This global educational hub supports and encourages companies on their sustainability journey. It does this by bringing together brand owners, retailers, content creators, innovators, manufacturing partners and marketing experts to learn and share ideas about how to incorporate sustainable change withing their respective businesses.
Although it has its origins in the licensing industry, and those connected to licensing make up a large part of the membership, Products of Change is open to all. Its website contains educational resources, and it produces a regular newsletter covering the latest on sustainability issues. There’s also an in-hub secure service to enable members to network.
However, one of its biggest contributions is undoubtedly owning and organising the Sustainability in Licensing Conference (SILC) which this year will be held at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Wednesday November 8.
Opportunity at the heart
The conference website points to the “dawning of a new age for licensing” as it is faced with new legislation that will lead to a dramatic shift in business landscape. As the only event dedicated to collective sustainable development, the SILC’s rallying call is for the licensing industry to grasp the opportunity to take the lead on sustainable transition.
This opportunity is at the heart of this year’s conference which promises an agenda designed for sharing insight and to give those in the licensing sector the tools they need to take the next steps towards sustainability.
Dependable Solutions, Inc. has supported Products of Change and SILC from day one and is itself a proponent of sustainability.
Sales and Marketing Director Rhys Fleming says: “We are always looking at ways to reduce our impact. For example, by working with Microsoft’s Azure data centers, we reduced the carbon footprint of our hosting environments. By 2025 these will be powered 100% by renewable energy. Crucially, we support our clients in their efforts to build sustainable practices into their licensing programmes.”
Sustainability tracking
Going back to the theme of “what gets measured gets done,” Dependable Solutions has the tools that can perform all that important measuring.
Says Rhys: “Our strength is in providing flexibility to what can be recorded and reports that can then be run on the data.”
One of these tools is Sustainability Tracking in DRM. By creating a sustainability tab in the DRM (digital rights management, sustainability can be tracked at an SKU (stock keeping unit) level. Data can be added with an associated date range and can be updated over the lifecycle of the SKU.
If you are interested in learning more about our tools to support licensing professionals, please contact us. Or visit us in person at the SILC.