Kristin W Naragon: 0:03

10 years ago the listing companies on the S&P 500 that had corporate social responsibility reports were like, 20%. 10 years later, fast forward to now, it is something like 90%, that are putting corporate social responsibility reporting front and center on their company reporting metrics.

Tom Raftery: 0:25

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever you are in the world. This is the Sustainable Supply Chain Podcast, the number one podcast focusing on sustainability and supply chains, and I'm your host, Tom Raftery. Hi everyone. And welcome to episode 50 of the sustainable supply chain podcast. My name is Tom Raftery. And I'm excited to be here today, sharing the latest insights in sustainable supply chains with you. A big, thanks to this podcast's amazing supporters. You're the reason we're here each week. And I really appreciate each and every one of you. If you'd like to join this community and help keep the podcast going. It's easy. Support starts at just a few euros or dollars a month, which is less than the cost of a cup of coffee. And you can find the support link in the show notes of this or any episode or at tinyurl.com slash S S C pod. In today's episode, I'm talking to kristin Naragon, Chief Strategy Officer from Akeneo, and in the coming weeks, I'll be talking to George Wade, CEO of Zevero. Bailey Robin CEO of Matium, Seth Weisberg, CEO of ABCO systems and Paul Magel, president application solutions division of CGS, but back to today's show. And as I said, my special guest today is Kristen. Kristen welcome to the podcast. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Kristin W Naragon: 1:46

Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Really excited to be here. My name is Kristen Naragon and I am the Chief Strategy Officer at a company called Akeneo. Akeneo is a Product Information Management software company. Basically what we do is help businesses of any flavor, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers to essentially get all of the products that you have into one space, enrich them with all the compelling product information, the details about them and then syndicate them out to either an e commerce site, to your on field Salesforce team. Anywhere that product information needs to go in the customer and buyer journey. So I spent about, Oh, the last 15 years in enterprise software companies. And the last almost five years here at Akeneo.

Tom Raftery: 2:41

And why would companies want to do that? Can't they just send out that stuff in an email or an Excel spreadsheet or something?

Kristin W Naragon: 2:51

I suppose it's possible. Yes. But think about the delays there is the one thing if you're trying to launch products, get them out to market. And the, you're relying on old school things, like a spreadsheet or a PDF and email. A, it's a little slow and time consuming. B, it doesn't really represent your products really well. I mean, an Excel spreadsheet doesn't convey a lot of context or compelling use cases or other customer feedback about those products. it's pretty simplified often incomplete and often inaccurate. So sure, it might be easy and comfortable in the way we've been doing it for a while, but it certainly is not the best way to conduct business in today's world.

Tom Raftery: 3:47

Okay, but let's let's be a little less facetious. How about having product pages on my website?

Kristin W Naragon: 3:55

Yeah, sure. And you know what? We look at it, we have tons of B2B prospects and companies that come over to us asking, Hey, I need to go digital, right? Like I need to move my process, my sales process to be a much more digital first motion, and it's a hard thing to do. And one of the reasons why it's so hard is because they are living in the reality that you just described. They have their product information in spreadsheets, in physical printed PDFs. It's in different people's heads depending on the size of the company and the process that they deploy. Sales people if they're part of the motion, they have other information that never hits you know, a product description page and it's super valuable very valuable information. So absolutely you want to make sure that your Product pages on your website or in your B2B portal for your sales teams or your buyers is there, but not just there. You want to make sure that you have all of the attributes about that product really richly built in. Everyone talks about putting like the consumer spin on B2B. It actually works when you put more context around your product information, the purpose of the part, how it's being used, the reliability based on, you know, buyer sentiment and buyer feedback. All the technical information. If PDFs are still important. Making them rich and actually really pretty, right? Like making them fun to, to look at, but also with all the complete information that's needed in order to take a decision on buying your product. That's what makes a really engaging buying experience for, for complex B2B products.

Tom Raftery: 6:00

Okay. And we're obviously on the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast. So that's all well and good. The reason we were having this conversation though, is because you carried out your global B2B survey, which showed that apparently sustainability is becoming more important in B2B. Can you tell me what's driving this shift? Is it consumers? Is it regulators? Is it internal pressure? Do you know, where's all that coming from?

Kristin W Naragon: 6:31

Yes. Yes, indeed. Well, we're sort of at that moment in our world where it's all of the things converging at once. You have customers, people, right? We are both consumers, as well as business buyers. Many of us hold both hats. And we live in this world where we know that, making a better environmental decision is the right thing to do. We also see that there's pressure externally. If you're publicly traded company. Corporate social responsibility guidelines and reports are becoming more the norm. I think I saw a stat somewhere that said 10 years ago the listing companies on the S&P 500 that had corporate social responsibility reports were like, 20%. 10 years later, fast forward to now, it is something like 90%, that are putting corporate social responsibility reporting front and center on their company reporting metrics. So there's a clear corporate movement there. And then the final sort of icing on the cake that puts us in this moment is governments. So we've got governments around the world who are putting restrictions in place that are accelerating businesses, which is where the big change is going to happen, right? You and I can recycle, but if the businesses give us better decisions, better ways to buy and products to buy, that's where you see the big impact. So it's almost thankfully government is coming in and imposing restrictions on business. And that's where actually you have no choice anymore, or pretty soon you won't have a choice but to comply.

Tom Raftery: 8:26

And as product data complexity grows, what's your advice for companies who are trying to manage the complexity without getting overwhelmed?

Kristin W Naragon: 8:38

It does seem like a lot of new things to sort of track. And when your first mandate is, gosh, I need to move into the digital landscape, right? I need to break the email and spreadsheets and balance the digital space with my field sales teams. It feels like adding complexity through sustainability compliance is just another thing to add that'll drag you down. But, actually I think there's tons of opportunity to combine those two motions and start with that product information. So, as an example one of the government compliance and regulations that's gosh, coming out in 2026 comes from Europe. It's the digital product passports. If you haven't heard of it, start Googling away. It's coming to an industry near you. They're starting this, this regulatory compliance as it relates to batteries. Which almost every complex product these days has some flavor of a battery in it, moving into the automotive space. And there's a long list of industries to follow. And really what this looks at is any company that is selling inside of the European union has to have a trademark, a mark on every individual product. And what that mark has is usually they're going to be deploying it in, in the form of a QR code on a specific product. That QR code has a ton of information in it. It has to have things like all the materials that went into producing the product. It has to have where those materials were sourced from what was the compliance on the manufacturing facility where those materials were manufactured. It has to show the carbon footprint of the entire production of that one product or part. This is a ton of information that needs to be put into every single individual product that is sold in the EU. So even if you're an American company, if you're one of your routes to market is the EU, you have to comply. So you can see how gathering all of that actually really rich, interesting information. And then putting that in a digital space for your buyers, getting that prepared now, regardless of having to comply with that is pretty important. Helps us as buyers to make better buying decisions. You look like a pretty progressive company if you have it. And you win points on complying potentially ahead of these regulations coming to specific industry. So I think there's a lot of wins in really structuring this as an opportunity to enrich the information about your product so that you can get it on those digital channels, help your buyers to find that information, it's really about being able to sift through complex products in an efficient way, and you get all the context of the environmental footprint and impact that this product has. Whether or not that's part of your buying decision, it could start influencing the buying process. And it gets you into a more digital footprint and go to market motion.

Tom Raftery: 12:27

Okay. And that digital product passport, obviously for the EU and for batteries, is that kind of regulation going to extend to other regions outside the EU, do you think? And other product categories?

Kristin W Naragon: 12:45

Oh yeah. The product categories are endless. So they're chopping off I think some of the more, harder on the environment categories first. So automotive, electronics, fashion, Fashion is high on the list and we all know that, you know, especially fast fashion has a pretty terrible impact on the environment. So the list is actually pretty extensive on the industries, at least that the DPP regulatory compliance body is, is rolling out. Is it going to move to other parts of the world? I think inevitably in different flavors yes. And it already is actually in different countries around the world. So in the US you've got several. You have the California Transparency Act. You've got the Transparency and Supply Chain Act in Canada. There's Right to Repair, which, if you think about it, Right to Repair acts are really all about encouraging a circular economy that when you manufacture, a washer and dryer, and you lock it up so tight that you have to call the manufacturer in order to like solve the problem, repair the, equipment you find yourself in a way, in a, inability to repair it yourself, if you could right, like if you wanted to. And more often than not, you're throwing it into it's, it's one time use short time use products now, anyway. Built to trash. What these right to repair laws are saying is that actually, no, you can't have a closed product. You have to be able to show how to repair it. That's product information, how to repair it, the parts, the instructions on how to repair all the different ways that your product could actually break down. That's product information. That's also helping with a circular economy and making sure that products last longer. That is coming to any product that comes to wheelchairs, to mobile phones, to agricultural equipment. It's every industry every product in the United States. Now there are only six states with active right to repair acts live, but over half the states have pending legislation on it as well. So it's just a couple of examples in the Americas of regulations coming to an industry near you.

Tom Raftery: 15:14

Okay, now with this increasing amount of regulation that are constantly coming, how do companies stay compliant and, you know, without losing agility and without having to massively staff up for all the newer regulations that are coming, year after year?

Kristin W Naragon: 15:35

Yeah. I mean, this is absolutely where technology helps with not having to staff up. I think it's really just digitising what processes are probably already in place. And you just have to find those ways to capture the data, organise the data, and display the data. Sounds super simplified. I'm not trying to you know, oversimplify it, but if you zoom out and you're in an executive board room and you're talking about how do we comply, it's boiled down to capture the data, structure and organise the data, display the data. And if you, take that approach, the information is all about your products, the information you have in lots of different places. And it's figuring out what technology can help us to streamline that sort of three step process. I mean, we went out and we surveyed buyers and we found that there is this overwhelming sense of, gosh, there's a lot to do here. I think we saw that 44% of B2B leaders feel that staying compliant, like being compliant with these regulations is one of their biggest product information challenges. So, Validation. There are lots of leaders. feeling the same way. They also know that they have to comply. And that there are tools out there to help them do that.

Tom Raftery: 17:12

Okay, and do you have any success stories that you can share of maybe customers who've gone down this path and seen the benefits of it with a particular lens on sustainability, obviously.

Kristin W Naragon: 17:28

Yeah. I mean, I think we can back up the process, with sustainability as the goal. So first step is think of how I'm going to turn my manual catalog that I send out and produce every, I don't know, quarter, every year, depending on the business, and make that a digital experience. So companies first facing that, then facing on top of that, how do I wrap in sustainability compliance and sustainability brand values, company values into that product catalog. So we have a customer of ours that I think everybody should know about. they're BIC pens. So you can buy their pens in basically any, you know, Staples or Office Depot or wherever you shop for pens. So sure there's a consumer product, but actually their biggest business is b2B and selling to businesses that need pens for their workers. And they had a pretty old school catalog that was a lot like what you were talking about, you know, it was a spreadsheet and maybe a little black and white image of the latest pen that they were putting out and description of maybe what the ink was and the color and basic stuff. And it was. PDF. That's how they went digital first. But still not rich and interesting. Right? Like a pen can be a really personal experience, actually. And they figured that out. And so they truly went digital. They put a more consumer like experience around their business buyers in front of their business buyers. They put beautiful images of their products along with, context around what those particular styles of pens were used for. So that was one sort of step one, build this more consumer like buying experience for their business buyers. Step two, they took it to the next level with regards to sustainability. So approximately 10% of their entire catalog was comprised of a very small collection of sustainable pens. These are pens made from recycled plastic bottles. And they encouraged a refill. So the actual pen itself was made of recycled materials and they encouraged ink refills for the pens. So really environmentally friendly when they know that the thing they produce just generally is pretty bad for the environment, right? They're plastic pens, but they have this, small amount of their product catalog that actually does go the extra mile to still sell a pen, that's environmentally friendly. And what they did was they featured that in their digital product catalog higher up. They put campaigns around this pen. They had really fun slogans around refilling your pen and they made sure that those product descriptions were pretty darn rich, right? Like they, they were compelling for that business buyer. Well, in just a short year, that 10% of their product catalog yielded 60% of their revenue. So it's a huge success story that illustrates, I think for me putting that more contextualized consumer, like human buying experience around a business purchase and highlighting maybe a set of products that you didn't think was important, but actually can be really important both to your buyer and to your business.

Tom Raftery: 21:23

And what, practical steps would you suggest for a company starting its digital sustainability journey?

Kristin W Naragon: 22:05

Yeah. I tend to try to simplify things because there's just a lot going on. I would get the right stakeholders in a room, ideally pretty senior people. And it's on both sides. It's on the sort of backend you know, IT, so your CTO, your CIO in a room with. The sort of digital team, the team that wants to, or is at least appointed to move in this more digital path. Those are pretty critical stakeholders. Adding a flavor to a conversation of, Hey, we need, we are compelled as a business to move digital. How do we do that with actually what's also really good for our business is if we showcase those more environmental, social, responsible, friendly parts of our business, the CMO, that person really wants us to put brand values alongside of our products. How do we combine the, that motion? How do we not make them separate things, but put them in one full transformation project? I think you'll have fewer projects as a business, which is always nice. You'll have basically a singular priority, which is also always nice. And then you have the step by step, which is the first thing we need to do is build that what's the best way to represent our products. What are our buyers looking for? How do they talk about what our products, how do they, what do they use them for? Is it what we intended it to be? Or is it something else? And that could be an interesting thing to showcase. Ensuring, you know, what would be the best compelling information to convert a customer, a buyer. That's step one. And then step two is, okay, how do I get that information? Who has it in the company? Does it exist somewhere? And in what flavor does it exist? And then you go and you find the technology that says helps with automating, taking the information from where it is. Enriching the information and filling in the gaps that you don't have. That's where AI can come in pretty handy. And then getting it out into all of those different destinations, being at your marketing channels, your sales channels, your sales teams. And don't forget the customer support and customer care teams. Boy, if they had access to that same amount of rich information that now your buyers have access to helping them with repairs and replacement parts and associated products for upsell and cross sell makes their life much easier and better to make your customers stay longer. And, increase your, customer lifetime value through upsell and cross sell.

Tom Raftery: 25:15

And on your website, you've got this purple fire, which apparently emphasizes responsibility and inclusivity. How do these values guide your sustainability efforts?

Kristin W Naragon: 25:32

Yeah, as a company, we've also taken a look at what's important and put that front and center. Yes, purple is our color. The purple fire is really the representation of the totality of our company values. And one of which is that inclusivity piece. For us that means a lot of things, but it mostly means that we want to make sure that we represent as a team, as a company, the people who are producing our product represent the flavors that are in the world. And that's different socioeconomic status. That's different race, different gender different geographic representation and cultures. So it's one thing we strive for, because we know, that sort of diversity and inclusivity helps us to build a better product, helps us to be more competitive and sustain ourselves for longer to help our customers. We also have an entire corporate social responsibility team. Because one it's, We got ahead of regulation actually, two regulation is imposed on us. So we have our customers coming to us asking and doing inventories on what does our workforce look like? What is our impact on the environment? Where are we hosting our product, right? Like how much are we flying our teams around the world and what is the carbon impact on that? We're getting audited. We're getting audited by states and governments, but we're also getting audited by customers. So we are going through that process of making that data readily available, easy to consume, and report on.

Tom Raftery: 27:18

Okay, very good. And what metrics or KPIs should companies focus on to measure the success of their initiatives and, ensure they're having continuous improvement?

Kristin W Naragon: 27:32

Yeah, it's a good question, and I think it might be a different flavor for different businesses, but I think actually the beauty of all of this regulatory focus on sustainability is that it's actually good for business. Think of the BIC pen example. It was 10% of their product catalog. They made all these other products, tons of other products. But the focus on that changed their revenue profile, right? Changed the demands for their products in the most beautiful way. And so I think one of the KPIs is clearly just like, is revenue growth. Period. I think people sometimes find it challenging to quantify being a good corporate citizen. And I think actually now, revenue growth, because you're showcasing those things and not just putting a PDF somewhere on your website of your corporate social responsibility initiatives. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about like putting it in the buying process, front and center. That's what's going to have the impact on revenue. I actually think it's pretty simple. I think it's revenue growth. Right now, if you're not doing it, you risk revenue growth.

Tom Raftery: 29:00

Okay. And left field question. If you could have any person or character alive or dead real or fictional as a spokesperson for supply chain sustainability, who would it be and why?

Kristin W Naragon: 29:19

Wow. That really is a left field question. You know what I would have, I would have to say it's Akeneo's purple Hydra. So if you go to our website, you would see Akeneo's purple Hydra. Some people call her a dinosaur with three heads. It's not true. Her name is Ziggy. Her pronouns are she and her, and she's a Hydra and she's a lot of fun. Actually, if you come to any of the B2B trade shows that we're at, you have to stop by our booth. Pick up a Ziggy and make sure that you give her a good life. She'd be a good mascot.

Tom Raftery: 30:00

Great. We're coming towards the end of the podcast now, Kristen. Is there any question I haven't asked that you wish I had or any aspect of this we haven't touched on that you think it's important for people to be aware of?

Kristin W Naragon: 30:16

Yeah, I think the key message here from me is that there's a real opportunity to not look at this as a burden to really look at these new regulations and this new push towards this new, but this push towards sustainability, as an opportunity to do two things, one, accelerate the thing you wanted to do anyway, which is to become more digital first to accelerate your time to market with new product lines to make it easier for your buyers to discover your products and also purchase the intended product. So there's no returns in the system and maybe even to buy more of the associated products that go along with it that they hadn't considered. So that business goal alongside with complying with sustainable and socially responsible business practices in one motion is a massive opportunity. And when you do combine them you actually have efficiency of scale in that project. So I think don't overcomplicate it, get started today, get ahead of the compliance, and I think you'll see that you're the hero in the company who pulled it off and really drove positive growth for the business.

Tom Raftery: 31:42

Kristen, that's been really interesting. If people would like to know more about yourself or any of the things we discussed in the podcast today, where would you have me direct them?

Kristin W Naragon: 31:52

Definitely go to akeneo. com. You can learn all about how we help that problem that we were just discussing and really accelerate that path for businesses like yours. And if you want to find me, I'm on LinkedIn. Please connect. Kristen Naragon, I'm the chief strategy officer at Akeneo.

Tom Raftery: 32:12

Kristen, that's been really interesting. Thanks a million for coming on the podcast today.

Kristin W Naragon: 32:16

Thanks for having me. It's been a lot of fun.

Tom Raftery: 32:18

Okay. Thank you all for tuning into this episode of the Sustainable Supply Chain Podcast with me, Tom Raftery. Each week, thousands of supply chain professionals listen to this show. If you or your organization want to connect with this dedicated audience, consider becoming a sponsor. You can opt for exclusive episode branding where you choose the guests or a personalized 30 second ad roll. It's a unique opportunity to reach industry experts and influencers. For more details, hit me up on Twitter or LinkedIn, or drop me an email to tomraftery at outlook. com. Together, let's shape the future of sustainable supply chains. Thanks. Catch you all next time.