Brand influence is a powerful thing. Throughout this current health crisis, brands have played a key role in filling the gaps in governmental responses, whether that be pivoting product offerings to support essential goods production or producing category-relevant messaging, to support and influence shifts in behaviour in this new normal.

However, this poses an important question: why aren't more brands responding in kind to the immediate crisis at hand?

Whilst lockdown has given us a glimpse of what a world with reduced human activity looks like, with visible evidence of reduced air pollution, there is no respite from the growing global challenges created by climate change. Instead, this should be a reminder to both society and brands of the fragility and interconnected nature of our global economy to system level shocks such as biodiversity loss and climate change.

For many brands, the reality is that not enough is being done. When brands like Boohoo continue to champion low prices and convenience at the expense of positive sustainable behaviours, it makes it challenging for consumers to act more sustainably. But as brands and agencies, we have the remarkable ability to influence how people think, feel and act. It is because of this that brands are essential in the process of making sustainable living easier and more rewarding for all.

So, how can brands encourage the meaningful behaviour shifts that are required?

Create the ‘Good Life’: understand what consumers want

Harking back to the hit 70s TV show, ‘The Good Life’, many are looking to pursue a simpler, more pared back lifestyle to live a more sustainable and balanced life enriched by our community and environment. Pursuing a future that is sustainable is not only the right thing for brands to do, it is also a change consumers want for themselves. This need is only being accelerated by the current crisis as we increasingly imagine a world where communities must be self-sufficient. But for brands to understand what they should communicate, they need to understand how they can enable consumers to pursue this new way of living in an aspirational and achievable way. 

In 2019, Dentsu Aegis Network joined forces with a number of global brands to launch Brands For Good, an initiative that seeks to help businesses engage with consumers through brand marketing to enable them to attain the ‘good life’. Using a wealth of insights and research, including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, our partnership has helped to identify nine sustainable behaviours, including eating more plants, reducing waste and encouraging circular business models, that could significantly reduce climate change and create a more resilient society. We then used consumer research to identify the needs of consumers which had to be addressed by brands to drive these behaviours.

We found that consumers want to see their own progress in their search for the ‘good life’, feel recognised, and enjoy a ‘back to basics’ lifestyle, whilst making the most of what they have as they search for meaning in their lives. These consumer desires can inform brands on how best to tailor their products, marketing, and values to help facilitate moments in the daily lives of consumers that meet these needs.  

Build sustainable behaviours into everything you do

Communications can be a powerful catalyst for the change. Brands have powerful stories to tell that can create empathy and drive change.

Burger King is a great brand where we can see this in action. To meet the need to eat more plants, Burger King launched a partnership with Impossible Foods, through their ‘100% Whopper’ campaign, which reassured consumers that the product remained true to the original burger. By providing consumers with a product that satisfies cravings for beef through a healthier and low carbon alternative, they have made sustainable living aspirational rather than one of compromise. Ultimately, Burger King identified the need to support customers on their journey by developing a new mindset through products and using communications as a way to guide and reassure.

Empower brand teams to become agents of change

To ensure the long-term health of this strategic adaptation, it is also important that brands continue to empower their internal teams to become the agents of change. Upskilling their marketing and communications departments on the sustainable development agenda and helping them understand the opportunities they will create for their brand is essential for promoting sustainable consumption and production. It also drives creativity. When you look at business challenges through the lens of sustainability, you often spot opportunities you would not otherwise have seen. Our own workshops with our global client teams last year sparked incredible examples of innovation across all aspects of the marketing life cycle.

As we emerge from the other side of this current health crisis, we must remember the powerful role we have to play. If we are to mitigate against the worst impacts of climate change and encourage the development of more inclusive and resilient societies, we must continue to collaborate across brands, NGOs, and consumers to move society towards a more sustainable lifestyle. We are already seeing shifts in how people are behaving in response to COVID-19, and so it is now up to brands to understand what that means for their business and the role of marketing and advertising within that.