Future-Proof Your Brand: Essentials of Sustainable Marketing
Did you know that 73% of consumers consider a brand’s sustainability efforts when making purchasing decisions? That’s right, in today’s market, going green has become the ethical choice, but also the smart business choice. Whether you’re a small business owner, part of a green e-commerce platform, a nonprofit, a museum, a marketing manager, a local entrepreneur, or a social institution, understanding and implementing sustainable marketing can significantly benefit your organization.
So the purpose of this article is to equip you with the knowledge and tools to cultivate a sustainable marketing strategy that wins over customers and the planet.
What Exactly Is Sustainable Marketing?
In a sentence, it’s looking at how you communicate as well as what you communicate.
Sustainable marketing is a concept of creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers in a way that both respects the environment and promotes social harmony. It goes beyond traditional marketing by considering the long-term impact of marketing strategies on both the planet and society.
A sustainable marketing approach involves designing products and services that meet consumers’ needs while also addressing the broader challenges of sustainability. Think of sustainable marketing as a way of having a planet-friendly profit!
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What Are the 5 Pillars of Sustainable Marketing?
Sustainable marketing has many layers, but it fundamentally rests on five key pillars that guide organizations toward more ethical, responsible, and impactful marketing efforts. Those would be:
1. Consumer-Centric:
Understanding and meeting the needs and values of current and future generations, which increasingly include sustainability considerations. So, you must know what your customers truly value, including sustainability. Think of “quality over quantity” as a guiding principle, not just a catchy slogan.
2. Value-Driven:
Effectively communicating the tangible benefits of sustainable practices and ensuring they resonate with the target audience. You can’t just slap a “green” label on everything without proof to back it up. Showcase the real benefits of your sustainable practices and how they resonate with your target audience. It’s not about saving the planet if your customers don’t see the connection.
3. Innovative Marketing:
Encourages the development of new, sustainable products and marketing practices that reduce environmental impact and promote social good. Ditch the “business as usual” mentality. Get creative! Develop sustainable products/services, partnerships, and marketing campaigns that truly break the mold.
4. Sense-of-Mission Marketing:
Involves a broader mission that aligns with social and environmental goals, guiding the organization’s marketing strategies. Sustainability shouldn’t be just a marketing ploy. Have a genuine mission that aligns with social and environmental goals.
5. Societal Marketing:
Recognizes that the organization’s marketing decisions should also consider society’s well-being, balancing consumer wants, company needs, and society’s long-term interests. We’re all in this together, remember? Your marketing decisions shouldn’t exist in a vacuum and don’t be afraid to pivot if necessary. Consider the broader impact on society and future generations. It’s like that time you held the door open for someone – small actions, big ripples.
What is a Sustainable Marketing Strategy?
A sustainable marketing strategy integrates the principles of sustainability into every aspect of the marketing process—from product development to promotion and distribution. It aims to reduce the environmental footprint of products and services while also addressing societal needs and challenges while achieving business goals. It looks something like this:
A Framework for Sustainable Marketing
Implementing a sustainable marketing framework in your business involves several key steps:
Assessment: Evaluating the environmental and social impact of current marketing practices. Take a hard look at your current marketing practices. What are your business’s CO2 emissions?
Objective Setting: Define and set clear, measurable sustainability goals. Don’t just go for “be a little less bad,” aim for “make a real difference.”
Strategy Development: Crafting strategies that align with sustainability principles while meeting business objectives. Think “holistic” and make sure your strategy integrates sustainability into everything you do, from product development to promotions.
Actual Implementation: Executing the sustainable marketing plan across all channels and touchpoints. Consistency is key (and way more impactful than one-off green campaigns).
Monitoring and Evaluation: Continuously measuring the effectiveness of sustainable marketing efforts and making necessary adjustments. Always track your progress, analyze the results, and tweak your strategy as needed.
Promoting Supply Chain Transparency
Supply chain transparency involves providing visibility into the origins, practices, and impact of materials and products throughout the value chain. It empowers consumers to make informed choices and ensures responsible sourcing and ethical treatment of workers.
Here are some strategies to promote supply chain transparency:
- Partner with certified sustainable suppliers: Collaborate with suppliers who hold certifications for ethical sourcing and environmental practices.
- Implement transparency platforms: Use technology platforms that trace materials and provide consumers with insights into product origins and processes.
- Engage in open communication: Share information about your supply chain through your website, reports, and marketing materials. Encourage consumer questions and dialogue.
- Support initiatives for transparency: Collaborate with industry organizations and NGOs working to advance supply chain transparency standards and practices.
Supply Chain Transparency Example
But, let’s take a look at what promoting chain transparency looks like on a real-life example – e-commerce sustainable merchandise Everlane:
Everlane Strategy: Everlane publishes the cost breakdown of each of its products, including the price paid to its suppliers. They also share information about their factories and working conditions.
Impact: Everlane’s transparency has helped to educate consumers about the true cost of clothing and encouraged other brands to be more transparent about their pricing.
Sustainable Marketing Beyond Green Marketing
Remember the days when “green marketing” was synonymous with slapping a leaf logo on a product and calling it eco-friendly? Well, today’s consumers are savvy and demand true commitment to sustainability from the brands they support.
Sustainable marketing doesn’t focus solely on environmental benefits. While environmental considerations are crucial, true sustainability takes a triple-bottom-line approach, considering the environment, social responsibility, and economic viability. Sustainable or ethical marketing is about creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers in a way that respects the planet and promotes social good:
- Minimizing environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle, from sourcing materials to production, packaging, and disposal.
- Embracing fair labor practices and ensuring ethical treatment of workers across the supply chain.
- Supporting social causes aligned with your brand values and contributing to positive community development.
- Ensuring economic sustainability through responsible resource management and building long-term value for all stakeholders.
Green Marketing vs. Sustainable Marketing:
While green marketing often focuses primarily on highlighting specific environmental benefits, sustainable marketing takes a wider perspective. Here’s the key difference:
- Green Marketing: Often focuses on specific tactics like using recycled materials or reducing carbon emissions. Can sometimes fall into the trap of “greenwashing” with misleading claims.
- Sustainable Marketing: Considers the environment, social responsibility, and economic viability. Strives for transparency and authenticity, showcasing genuine efforts and progress towards a more sustainable future.
Examples of Sustainable Marketing Strategies
Let’s take a look at some real-life examples of sustainable marketing practices:
IKEA: Circular Economy Initiatives (Recycling & Upcycling)
Strategy: IKEA implements various circular economy initiatives, including offering buy-back and resale programs for used furniture, utilizing recycled materials in new products, and providing repair guides for DIY enthusiasts.
Impact: In 2022, IKEA collected and resold over 48 million used furniture items, preventing them from ending up in landfills. Recycled materials now make up 57% of all materials used in IKEA products.
Beyond Meat: Plant-Based Alternatives & Advocacy (Addressing Dietary & Environmental Concerns)
Strategy: Beyond Meat champions plant-based meat alternatives, highlighting their environmental benefits and taste appeal. They partner with environmental organizations and research sustainability tactics.
Impact: Beyond Meat estimates their burgers generate 90% less greenhouse gas emissions and use 48% less land and water than beef burgers. They actively support environmental initiatives like the Plant-Based Foods Association.
Interface: Sustainability Leadership & Closed-Loop System (Leading by Example)
Strategy: Interface, a leading flooring manufacturer, prioritizes sustainability throughout its operations. They use recycled materials extensively, design for disassembly, and offer a take-back program for used carpet tiles.
Impact: Interface has achieved carbon neutrality across its global operations and aims to completely eliminate its environmental footprint by 2040.
The Importance of Collaborative Efforts in Sustainable Marketing
At the core of impactful sustainable marketing lies collaboration that aims to break down barriers between competitors and forge alliances with like-minded organizations. Together, businesses with the same missions can achieve far more than they ever could alone.
By pooling resources, expertise, and networks, companies can address complex sustainability challenges head-on. Why? Because collaboration and sharing ideas will amplify impact and demonstrate a shared dedication to creating positive change for the planet and society at large.
Employee Engagement in Sustainable Marketing
Within every organization, there is a sea of untapped potential: its employees. Harnessing the creativity, passion, and insights of your workforce is key to driving innovation in sustainable marketing.
How come? Because cultivating a culture of sustainability within the workplace fosters a sense of ownership and purpose among employees. When employees feel empowered to contribute meaningfully to sustainability initiatives, they become champions of change, driving progress from within. So, by tapping into the collective power of motivated and engaged employees, businesses can fuel meaningful growth and differentiation in the market.
Safeguarding Sustainability With Regulatory Compliance
As governments and industry bodies introduce new regulations and standards, businesses must remain vigilant and proactive in their compliance efforts.
Complying with relevant laws and certifications isn’t just about staying out of legal trouble, but upholding the integrity of your sustainability commitments. By staying ahead of the regulatory curve and embracing a culture of compliance, your company can safeguard its reputation and earn the trust of stakeholders.
All this sounds great, but what does it actually mean?
We have to acknowledge one painful truth: marketing is the organic cherry on top of the non-organic cake.
Every other layer in our organization (logistics, manufacturing, sales, etc.) will have higher priorities than the environment. They have to. Our metrics focus on engagement, theirs focus on profitability. We can talk about using energy efficient hosting, recycling content, planting trees, etc. until we are green in the face, but it’s 2024. It’s time for some brutal honesty.
We have allowed our environmental messages to become lazy and sterile keywords to be plugged into campaigns as and when we feel like it. We use terms like “carbon offsetting” and “carbon neutral” like they mean something. Everybody knows those are gradually becoming synonyms for box-ticking and green-washing. We’re in danger of “carbon emissions” becoming the new “hole in the ozone”, nobody will care about it in a few years!
Shifting Our Focus From Looking Good to Doing Good
What if CMOs were forced to zoom out and take responsibility for the entire content production process as a factory line that they were responsible for?
What if they acknowledged the transportation of photographers, equipment, sets, stylists, products, etc. to studios or distant locations for visual content also has an impact on the environment?
Would they demand as much ad-hoc or regular content?
Would they spend as much time, money, and CO2 on toxic and outdated methods as their predecessors did in the 1980s before terms like “sustainable marketing” even existed?
Maybe. Maybe not. But until they do, no business has the right to pat itself on the back for being “green” when marketing is the last link in an otherwise toxic chain.
Final Thoughts
It doesn’t have to be like this… What if we offered true transparency into our marketing processes that our customers could see and touch?
What if we created a timeline for every campaign that listed the resources used, calculated the environmental impact, and showed the concrete steps that were taken to undo (not “offset”) the damage that we did (not “created”)?
We need to evolve and be better. It isn’t 2005 and nobody is impressed by green marketing anymore.
The endpoint is this: show, don’t tell. Offer your customers sustainable marketing and go deeper and offer a level of transparency and honesty that would be a breath of fresh air in an industry that loves to create CO2.
Author
Milica Kovacevic is a holistic SEO consultant specializing in aiding purpose-driven entities, green brands, and cultural institutions.
She helped shape the digital presence of various NGOs, green startups, and nonprofits, leveraging SEO to champion purpose and sustainability.
And when she’s not busy optimizing websites, you’ll find her traveling, visiting ancient landmarks, singing to cats, and scouting flea markets for old books.
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