Market access
Access before advantage
Sometimes sustainability protects permission to compete before it creates differentiation.
Read perspectivePerspectives
Commercial perspectives on sustainability and changing markets.
Sustainable Edge examines how sustainability affects buying decisions, offers, investment priorities and access to markets. Each perspective focuses on the commercial consequence, what is easy to misread and the decision leaders may need to make.
All perspectives
Demand
When sustainability changes the buying decision
Sustainability matters commercially when it changes what buyers value, require, trust or approve.
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Offer and innovation
Before sustainability becomes part of the offer
Not every sustainability angle makes an offer stronger. The offer still needs a clear buyer problem, credible proof and a reason to act.
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Investment case
Is sustainability creating growth, or simply creating work?
A credible growth case starts with the commercial mechanism, not the sustainability activity.
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Futures and foresight
When the market direction is still unclear
Foresight does not remove uncertainty. It helps leaders decide what to do now, what to keep open and what would justify changing course.
Read perspectiveFrom perspective to decision
What this means for a business.
Two examples of how sustainability-related change can shape an offer, its economics and the work needed to bring it to market.
Appliances · Regulatory change
Repair requirements.
A commercial response.
A washing-machine manufacturer faces repair requirements under EU Right to Repair. Parts and service costs affect what it earns after the sale.
How can it protect margins and give customers a stronger reason to choose its machines?
Compare adapting current operations, using a service partner and competing on repair support.
Proposed output: a costed commercial response and a focused pilot.
Consumer goods · Ingredient pressures
Cocoa pressures.
A stronger product range.
A biscuit business faces rising cocoa costs and vulnerable supply. Shoppers still want affordable treats; responsible sourcing remains important.
How could a different product range protect margins, shopper value and responsible sourcing?
Explore product and sourcing choices against shopper preferences and the economics of the whole range.
Proposed output: a product proposition, range recommendation and market-test plan.
Consulting develops the commercial response with your teams. Futures work explores the longer-term changes that could shape it.
Books by Nic Kaftan
From market access to competitive advantage.
Two connected books examine how sustainability changes the terms of competition and how businesses decide where they need to respond, where they can create value and what it takes to build a position that lasts.
Current book
Competing on New Ground
How Companies Build Competitive Advantage as Sustainability Changes the Economics
A strategy book for leaders deciding which sustainability-linked opportunities are genuinely theirs to pursue, and what it takes to turn changing market conditions into an advantage the business can sustain.
The foundation
The Access Advantage
How Firms Compete When Sustainability Shapes Market Access
A practical examination of how buyer requirements, credible evidence and operating capabilities increasingly shape the ability to sell, finance, supply and grow.