Sustainability
Marketing Guide
How to make your green claims honest, authentic and effective.
Introduction
A green wave rising
Sustainability is everywhere – or it certainly seems that way. It’s guiding public policy, shaping business strategy, influencing consumer behaviour, and wherever you look there’s some form of green marketing and advertising.
This green wave is a positive shift in the public mindset. Not even a decade ago, sustainability was still a niche topic, seen as impractical and naive – especially in the corporate world. Now, companies are under increased scrutiny for their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies, and sustainability has become a key corporate goal. Not to mention, there’s rising pressure to meet the growing demand for green products and services.
Suddenly, phrases like carbon, net zero, greenhouse gas emissions – are all commonly used in meetings among board members and marketing professionals alike.
But Kermit the frog said it best – “it’s not easy being green”.
The road to sustainability is often long and winding. And some companies are forgoing accountability and jumping straight into marketing – making themselves seem more eco-friendly than they actually are.
It’s a practice called greenwashing, and up until now, it’s been fairly easy to do. So easy, in fact, that plenty of businesses are unintentionally falling into the trap. In part because climate change is a complex topic. It can be hard to know the correct words to use, and where. What’s the difference between ‘net zero’ and ‘carbon neutral’? What does it really mean to be ‘sustainable’? And just how green does a product have to be to get an ‘eco-friendly’ label? Until now, there hasn’t been much definitive guidance when it comes to communicating green claims.
But that’s all changing.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently released the Green Claims Code. It aims to provide businesses with guidance on how to communicate their green credentials as honestly and transparently as possible.
[.block-quote-heading][.display-block]What is greenwashing?[.display-block][.block-quote-heading]Greenwashing or ‘green sheen’ refers to when companies misrepresent their environmental credentials.
What does this mean for the future of sustainability communications?
The Green Claims Code demonstrates the tightening governmental oversight that will keep organisations in check. But it’s also an indication of the public shift in demand for more transparency and accountability from businesses across the board.
This makes honesty not only the safest and most practical approach, but also the most effective one. Moving forward – clear, factual messaging with action to back it up will afford more immediate impact as well as long-term value.
[.infographic-parent][.infographic-text-wrapper][.infographic-title]Why honesty pays[.infographic-title][.infographic-text]88 percent of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support (Stackla, 2021). And according to a survey in the US, 46 percent of consumers say that they would pay more to purchase from brands they can trust (Salsify, 2022). [.infographic-text][.infographic-text-wrapper][.infographic-icon-column][.infograhpic-text-number]88%[.infograhpic-text-number][.infographic-text]of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support (Stackla, 2021). [.infographic-text][.infographic-icon-column][.infographic-icon-column][.infograhpic-text-number]46%[.infograhpic-text-number][.infographic-text]of consumers say that they would pay more to purchase from brands they can trust (Salsify, 2022)[.infographic-text][.infographic-icon-column][.infographic-parent]
This approach will be even more important in B2B marketing. With mounting pressure from customers, employees and other stakeholders, businesses have even more reason to seek out sustainable products and services. But they’ll also be more knowledgeable than the general public when it comes to environmental credentials, and they’ll likely be more wary of greenwashing.