How effectively business deals with the challenges of sustainability will define its success for decades to come. Current sustainability strategies have three major deficiencies: they do not directly focus on the customer, they do not recognize the looming threats from rising global over-consumption, and they do not take a holistic approach. We present a framework for a customer-centric approach to sustainability. This approach recasts the sustainability metric to emphasize the outcomes of business actions measured holistically in term of environmental, personal and economic well-being of the consumer. We introduce the concept of mindful consumption (MC) as the guiding principle in this approach. MC is premised on a consumer mindset of caring for self, for community, and for nature, that translates behaviorally into tempering the selfdefeating excesses associated with acquisitive, repetitive and aspirational consumption. We also make the business case for fostering mindful consumption, and illustrate how the marketing function can be harnessed to successfully implement the customer-centric approach to sustainability.

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Thoughtfully responding to the needs and aspirations of the four billion poor living at the margins of the global economy is both wise strategy and pressing obligation for businesses, argues Nirmal Sethia. In this context, he identifies key stakeholders and posits knowledge, empathy, networking, and a value‐frame as central to a new mindset that can make designers valued partners in this challenging endeavor.

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IN DEVELOPING A STRONG corporate voice, companies can start by probing the personalities and values within their own organizations. Executives should keep in mind, however, that this task also requires a keen awareness of customer priorities. Building on principles derived from Total Quality Management, Nirmal Sethia examines three important external/customer criteria that should influence the design of a corporate voice—functional needs, subjective preferences, and social imperatives.