Brands need to place action and honesty ahead of big corporate promises when it comes to making meaningful change on the climate crisis.
If I had a plastic bottle top for every brand that has pledged to be net zero by 2030, I’d have almost as much plastic as there is in the sea. But promises are not enough. Tangible action needs to be taken and communicated. Why? Because words are empty without actions. The more good you actually do, the more you will inspire in others. So, it’s time to really use your platform.
I’ve just spent an hour and a half in conversation with top marketers from some of the biggest brands out there (adidas, HP, P&G to name a few) to discuss sustainability, virtue signalling and what we as marketers can actually do to help get the world out of this mess. (My words, not theirs.) It's a vast topic, but it’s incredible how much ground you can cover with a diverse set of voices all sharing their views on how brands should approach sustainability going forward. Clearly, there is still hope.
Yet much of that hope lies in the far-flung and distant future. For none of the big companies are talking about tomorrow, or what they’re doing now. Everybody is talking about 2030 or 2050. But none of the environmental indicators are levelling out; they’re all rising steeply, year on year.
These are frustrating times, but the needle will just keep moving in the wrong direction if we don’t change our behaviour fast enough. With promises in place of action, and offsetting helping us mask the underlying issues, consumers are flooded with half truths about what to do. One thing for sure is that we need to do more than change our messaging to create the right ‘brand story’. It’s time to really give a damn.
In order to truly innovate and transform into sustainable brands, we need to enter an age of collaboration, and, by definition, collaboration requires openness, humility and a willingness to learn.
Brilliant Noise sustainability panel
The panel discussed the ways in which sustainable projects need long term businesses investment, rather than just being a bolt-on or an afterthought. Sustainability is a journey and many brands have come to realise is that they haven’t got all the answers, they have made mistakes along the way, but they continue to try and test.
Sustainability is a right, not a privilege. We all need access to affordable products and services that don’t pollute the planet or exploit others to exist. We don’t need another brand promise that’s only there to make us feel good about ourselves and our individual consumer choices.
Brands just need to do good. End of story. Because when all brands are doing good, we won’t need to spin ‘sustainable stories’ or greenwashed virtue signals. As Syndrome says in the Incredibles - “When everyone's super, no one will be.” But it’s a long and complex road ahead.
Apart from the brands that are hiding from the problem (who will be brutally disrupted and won’t exist for long, so let’s waste no time on them), those that are actively trying to change are faced with a hugely complex puzzle — a balancing act where customer experience, costs, business models are all shifting like tectonic plates.
Wasn’t it innovation that got us into this mess? Our never-ending quest for new-ness, for labour saving gadgets that fill up our landfills? Wasn’t it our desire for bigger, faster cars, instagram bragging from all corners of the world, and Invisible currencies that consume more than small countries?
Marketers exacerbate global pollution by telling us to have more, to do more, to want more, to fill the growing void with bigger and better stuff. Brands literally pumped oil out of the ground and made things for us to dump into the sea or burn in developing countries (otherwise known as recycling). Surely innovation can’t save us —it caused this.
However, emerging from the conversation around the virtual table, we hit upon a simple yet novel mind-shift. We are talking about system change —a complex, interconnected challenge that can’t be solved by singular actions or organisations alone.
As one of our panel eloquently explained: “We want to be more sustainable, but there is no way for a company to do this alone. It’s important that the overall community is sustainable. The real question is not about whether we’re already sustainable or not. The question is are we creating conditions for being more sustainable?”
In order to truly innovate and transform into sustainable brands, we need to enter an age of collaboration, and, by definition, collaboration requires openness, humility and a willingness to learn. It’s just not possible to expect every brand to solve the same problems in isolation. It’s inefficient and actually pretty crazy when you think about it. We need brands to open-up,admit their faults and weaknesses, and ask for help; all the while sharing their progress and successes to help others get there quicker.
This isn’t natural behaviour for the ultra-competitive world of corporate brands, but, paradoxically, it will allow those brands to future-proof themselves. The risks of high investment, increased costs passed on to consumers, PR mistakes and disruption should be enough to convince brands to work with communities and each other. How else are we going to create the environment to save our environment?
Don’t boast big, long-term targets. They’re just pumping hot air into your messaging and into the atmosphere.
Brilliant Noise sustainability panel
So what did we learn about the future for sustainable marketing? Top of the list; don’t boast big, long-term targets. They’re just pumping hot air into your messaging and into the atmosphere.
Instead, admit your vulnerabilities, show you actually care and are doing what needs to be done across the production chain. Bring your community with you on the journey — especially if they are skeptics. Be the guiding voice that educates and helps them understand.
If you’ve made a mess in the past, don’t dwell. Clean up your shit, take responsibility and build systems and processes that ensure it never happens again.
As one of our panel explained:“It starts with not making promises you can’t hold. It’s about creating sustainably, and then talking about it. Then your message has much more meaning than when you just talk about your goals for years ahead. Sure, these are also important, but talking about what you’ve already recently done and the small steps you’re taking matter more to your audience than long-term goals and promises.”
It’s time to weave purpose and sustainability right into the fabric of your company’s culture. Your brand, and the planet, won’t have a future without it.
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