TRENDSETTERS: HP's CMO, Michael Mendenhall Sees the Potential for Building Sustainable Societies

Michael Mendenhall, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of global tech giant Hewlett Packard recently offered his view of a better future at the IAA World Congress by discussing how both sustainable brands and sustainable companies can become the building blocks for sustainable societies.

Using the Congress theme of "Change: Consequences" Mendenhall suggested that over the past 16 months the world economic recession "cast a harsh light on those structures that were not sustainable." He added that "brands today must always lead accountably and be part of a changing world."

"Cities are expanding at alarming rates. The urbanization of the world means that there is another Beijing every other month. The global middle class will expand from 440 million to 1.2 billion within the next decade, and with it, expectations and demands will rise. Population growth is occurring fastest among young people and aging adults."

According to Mendenhall, "the world's physical infrastructure will not map to the next 100 years. However, there is one exception that is renewable and growing: the human capacity to innovate."

He believes that information leads to innovative thought and action. "Today there is a revolution in the way that information is created, captured, sorted, processed and shared. Much is due to a democratization of information through open standards, which gives more people more access to more information than ever before."

However, how do we insure that all of this data is not simply background noise, but turns to knowledge? "Today 25 % of world's population is going online. By 2013, there will be 4 billion wireless handheld devices. Information is doubling every 4 years, while digital content is doubling every 18 months. Yet all of this is useless unless managed. Just as water uncontrolled is a flood, but water controlled is irrigation."

Michael Mendenhall believes that this situation offers new opportunities for marketers. "Technology will bridge the gap by enabling information to be customized and delivered as a service to engage these massive audiences."