What do you do if your sustainability message isn't getting through?

While we know that senior managmeent championing sustainablity is critical for success. The key to long-term success relies on employees from all level internalising the need for sustainability in the organisaiton and how their economic activities can positively impact their immediate communities (e.g. consumers). Hence the challenge. Sustainablity messaging is multifaceted and impacts a wide spectrum of stakeholders. The correct approach to messaging would require empathy and contextualisation. It might be overused and overstated but when we embrace empathy and seek contextualisation, we can better create messages to impact different audiences to achieve consistent, +ve impact to drive sustainability internally and also impact others.

Understanding your audience is crucial for engaging stakeholders when your sustainability message isn't resonating. By knowing who you're talking to, you can tailor your message to match their interests, values, and concerns. This makes your message more relatable and meaningful to them, increasing the chances of it being heard and understood. Whether it's employees, customers, or community members, knowing your audience helps you speak their language and address issues that matter most to them, fostering a stronger connection and inspiring action toward sustainability goals.

Knowing your audience means keeping "What's in it for me?" front-and-center in your considerations. Sustainability is a massive topic with so many complexities and facets. You don't want to drown your message (and its impact) in information that isn't relevant to this specific person or group. Outline the top three things MAX! that would benefit this audience and don't stray from those. Put them in your messaging house, your top slide, and your executive speaking points, and carry them through your cross-org guidance.

Take a few steps back and try and understand why. Here are a few practical questions to ask yourself: - Are you using technical and complex language and jargon? - have you defined what you mean by sustainability, why it's important and why people should engage? - Are you communicating to a global audience where there are cultural differences and nuances which you haven't factored in? - have you sense checked your messaging with different stakeholders audiences, to explore what resonates and what doesn't? - have you segmented your messaging so you know it'll land better and be more meaningful with different stakeholders? - are you using the right channels to enable people to engage in the right ways?

Es importante poder mostrar al cliente los efectos del continuar trabajando en modelos de Business as Usual, exponer ejemplos claros y contundentes en los cuales los riesgos de que afecte a su empresa son elevados. Muchas veces la prioridad en las cuestiones economicas de corto plazo son las que hacen fracar proyectos en iniciativas sustentables, entonces poder observar mas a mediano o largo plazo y mostrar que inclusive en aspectos económicos se verá afectado, es clave para poder involucrarlos en cambios positivos. Paciencia y datos, con eso puedes comenzar a trabajar!

People remember what they feel and stories can be a vehicle to reach your audience, but make sure your facts are accurate (not just opinions), you have evidence to back up claims, and most importantly- make it relevant to your audience. For employees or management, make sustainability KPIs part of their bonus and you make it part of daily decision-making.

A story may be underpinned by a relevant sustainability model (e.g. doughnut economics, circularity) but most people don't want to know about that. They want to hear a case study that inspires them and then practical advice on how they can do the same. Whilst you may use the model to inform and craft your communication, it can be there in the background. It doesn't need to be explicitly referred to.

Check if the message is not too general Seek to make this message relevant for who needs to hear it Make sure you are talking to people who have interest in it otherwise this will not work Give it time and repeat the message often until it is noticed and understood

Changing to sustainability can be a challenging journey. This involves lots of knowledge, creativity and proper communication in order to change mentalities, individuals and companies way of doing business. An efficient sustainability communication means adapted messages to different audiences that can spread it further in their companies, communities, friends and families.

Utilize storytelling and emotions to communicate your sustainability message effectively. Stories illustrate benefits and consequences, fostering personal connections and inspiring action. Emotions, whether positive or negative, influence audience perception and response. However, exercise caution to avoid overdoing or manipulating emotions, as it may harm credibility. By striking a balance, you can evoke empathy and motivation while maintaining authenticity and trustworthiness in your communication.

Include clear and simple actions in your sustainability message to empower your audience. Break down complex issues into manageable steps, demonstrating how their actions can make a difference. Incorporate incentives, feedback, and social proof to encourage and reinforce behaviour. By providing actionable steps, you facilitate engagement and empower individuals to contribute to sustainability efforts effectively.

Keep it simple, stupid. Whenever you can, start with the basics, let people understand by giving them the base information so you can develop on those thoughts and push them in the action that is needed from them. If you scare people initially with some dooms-day figures/facts/quotes you will alienate and disenfranchise

We’re seeing consumers disconnect from brand’s messages across multiple areas. Sustainability as a standalone is not going to get your message heard. It needs to be a supporting message at this time because we haven’t hit critical peak to ensure all consumers want it. Learn what it is that your consumers actually want, and use sustainability as the reason to buy from you.

Is sustainability a meaningful part of your business identity? Is sustainability deeply embedded into your business model? If sustainability efforts are an add on, an after thought, stakeholder (e.g. consumer) perceptions won't immediately change. Change starts from within.

Listening and engaging is some of the most understated core skills required by an executive driving sustainability within a company. Many a times, a sustainability expert may be too driven by strategies that they like to execute quickly and missed the opportunity of integrating the concept of sustainability into those very companies that they are trying to help! Every operation, every process and every person faces constraints within their framework to changes. And 90% of sustainability work involve one form of change the another. Never forget the constraint!

If your sustainability message isn't resonating, it's vital to listen and engage with your audience. Communication requires a two-way exchange. Show respect for their opinions and concerns, fostering trust and understanding. By actively listening, you can glean insights into their needs and expectations, enabling you to address any objections effectively. Engaging with your audience fosters dialogue and builds rapport, creating a platform for the exchange of ideas. Utilize diverse channels like surveys, social media, and events to facilitate this interaction. Ultimately, listening and engaging are fundamental steps in refining your sustainability message and fostering meaningful connections with your audience.

The first key lesson in speaking/presenting is listening. Understanding what your audience is feeding back to you. Are they dis-interested, are they not engaging, are they engaging negatively, do they have concerns over yourself/over the company. Those are the things that needs to change that need to be addressed and can be improved.

If your sustainability message isn't resonating, ensure consistency and authenticity. Consistency aligns your message with goals and values, reinforcing it across contexts. Authenticity demands honesty, transparency, and accountability in actions, fostering credibility. By embodying these traits, you establish reputation and authority, amplifying influence and impact. Remember, credibility stems from genuine commitment, not just words.

Authenticity, and consistency in reasoning is more important than consistent in methods. With time, the science will change, the facts will change, the problems will change and therefore the priorities will change. As long as you hold at your core the same goals (to improve your impact on the environment, to be honest and transparent), customers will understand that commitment and will think much more positively with yourself as a brand

Consistency and authenticity are key to effective sustainability communication. Align your message with goals, values, and vision, repeating and reinforcing it across various contexts. Be honest, transparent, and accountable for your actions to demonstrate commitment and credibility. Consistency and authenticity establish reputation, authority, and increase influence and impact in sustainability efforts.

Usually sustainability messages don't get through because sustainability is not embedded into every single aspect of marketing from branding and strategy through to tactics, governance and performance metrics. If a marketing team's success was redefined to sit across people, planet and profit pillars then the entire outlook of the function becomes a lot more authentic, genuine and impactful. Communication doesn't then feel like it's coming from an empty, meaningless place. By taking this approach, it also helps prevent companies from greenwashing. In addition to this, focussing on sustainability will never get the cut through for most audiences, marketing must go back to its creative storytelling roots if they want to standout.

Listen. Ask questions. Get curious. Then with the insights you've gathered, look for themes, trends and connect the dots. Run focus groups to dig deeper if you need to clarify and better understand the data. And ideally look for opportunities to collaborate on new ways forward. You cant assume anything and this question assumes a lot.

Sustainability message does not get through the target audience due to following four reasons; 1. Target audience is not able to relate to the message 2. The message is too difficult to understand 3. Message does not end with clear actionable points 4. Actionable points are too tedious or complex to act upon Addressing these concerns would ensure the accomplishment of underlying sustainability goals. Following are some of the suggestions that work; 1. Aligning our sustainability goals with the goals of target audience 2. Give simple and clear actionable points that are easy to implement in life 3. It is important that we ourself adopt those action points so that others can follow

Sustainability messaging must be simple, consistent and have facts tailored to the audience. Say a company's focus is decarbonization and resource efficiency. In that case, while speaking to a design engineer, I would emphasize on the importance of sustainability in design with facts - 80% of a product's environmental footprint originates in its design. This will instantly elevate the audience and get their attention to the topic. While speaking to a supply chain professional, I would speak how 90% of a product's emissions originate in complex supply chains. Both messages stress the importance of decarbonization and resource efficiency but with different facts.

You go and find out why. Maybe they lack some background in the story, maybe your message is not clear, maybe they are not the right target group? You listen, ask questions and do your homework. Again and again.