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Paper info: Digital Printing Networks: a case of Best Practice in Sustainable Marketing Communications

Title


Digital Printing Networks: a case of Best Practice in Sustainable Marketing Communications

Authors


Adam Crowe, Anna Chelidze-Wain and
Maurizio Catulli
University of Hertfordshire
United Kingdom
Maurizio Catulli

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 24th IMP-conference in Uppsala, Sweden in 2008.

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Abstract


Purpose of the paper and literature addressed - This paper reports on the findings of a collaborative project involving a UK University and a UK marketing agency. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the importance of the issue of sustainability of marketing communication activities and the need to adopt best practices to limit the environmental impact of corporate communications. We review a variety of literature on Sustainable Marketing.Research method - The paper uses a case study approach to investigate the issues identified. The firm that will provide the case study is a UK SME specializing in marketing communications and digital printing. The research project is partly funded by the UK government.Research findings - We suggest that best practice in marketing needs to address the impact of corporate marketing communications. Because of the nature of the project we concentrate on the technological aspects of communication, while we acknowledge that the type of communications selected is also important. We propose a sustainable marketing communications model, SustComPro, which can be used as a checklist to audit all components of a communications plan. The achievement of sustainable marketing communications requires a skilful management of interactions and relationships within an integrated network.Main contribution - The contribution of the research is to propose management tools that can enable companies to limit and monitor the impact of their communication activities. We also make a point that marketing communications do have an impact on the environment and corporations have a duty to limit this impact.