Why Value Creation is an Absolute Must for Your Company

In contrast to the other dynamic speakers at the BAM! Marketing Congress, Pierre-Olivier Beckers liked to keep his presentation sober.

Nonetheless, he had chosen an interesting topic: the reason for being of companies. Instead of focusing on profit creation, companies should create shared, meaningful value.

And as marketers, we should be ambassadors of this value change and “leave the world a better place”.

BUSINESS VS. SPORTS

First of all, why is it that many companies lack trust and credibility from their customers? Beckers’ experience in both the business world (more specifically retail, as former President and CEO of Delhaize Group) and the sports world (as former President of the Belgian Olympic Committee), has led him to some interesting insights.

Although both worlds have to cope with several difficulties (financial problems and technological change vs. abuse of drugs, betting and fraud), they are based on a fundamentally different value system.

Whereas the world of sports relies on strong and shared values, such as “making the world a better place through sports”, the business world has only rested on technical fundamentals like productivity and growth.

In contrast to the sports world, the business world still needs to define its higher challenge to create trust and credibility. It should find a reason for being and determine its added value.

This idea is shared by the renowned business strategist Michael Porter, who argues that it is about time for the business world to reconnect its financial success to social success.

TO SERVE, OR SERVE OURSELVES?

“So what is our role as leaders?” Beckers wondered. “To serve, or to serve ourselves?” He wants us to put the ‘why’ and the ‘who’ at the center of our preoccupations, instead of focusing on serving ourselves.

Let’s put it in other words: we should be good for society first, and then good for business. Sustainable companies, for example, typically identify themselves with a profound need first. Like access to fresh food or a decent pair of shoes.

Only then comes the focus on money. In this way, ‘doing good’ should serve as our primary objective, and profit creation only as a crucial consequence of our act.

MORE ETHICAL, MORE TRANSPARENT, MORE RESPONSIBLE

The message of Beckers is clear: the world should become more ethical, more transparent, and more responsible. As marketers, our mission is to support sustainable ideas and bring the right message to the right people.