8 Takeaways from Adweek’s Sustainable Leadership Forum

Last week on April 20th, AdWeek did a Sustainability for Brands online Event, and I wanted to share my 8 top takeaways from this insightful and inspiring event--right in time for the week of Earth Day!

Takeaway 1: Picking a sustainability focus for your brand

There are many sustainability areas that your brand can be involved in. So how do we pick one? One approach is for a company to start by reviewing the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which are tangible goals that our environment desperately needs. By looking at this list, you can identify the one(s) that is the most in line with your brand, category, the nature of the product, and/or how it is used by the consumer. For example, for a liquid detergent brand, the sustainability goal could be SDG 6 "Clean Water and Sanitation", which focuses on ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This SDG can relate back to water usage that is associated with cleaning dishes with the detergent.

“The connection between a brand and an SDG is a powerful North Star”

– Fabrice Beaulieu, Chief Marketing, Sustainability, and Corporate Affairs Officer, Reckitt

Takeaway 2: Consumers want brands to do Good, period.

Since the past few years, there’s been overwhelming research--from Edelman, Porter Novelli, to Wunderman Thompson, etc--showing that customers are vouching for, buying products/services, and are loyal to brands that are contributing positively to society and the environment. There have also been a few studies that challenged this claim, such as a recent article in AdAge last month saying that purpose marketing does not always resonate with consumers. That being said, marketers' essential goal is to deliver on what their customer cares about and wants—that is our cornerstone. Then the proof is in the pudding: time and time again, we are seeing so many brands putting their efforts and investing in sustainability; they are doing so because their research shows that this is what their customers want. So let’s get on this band wagon of Purposeful Brands once and for all.

“For people who participate in the outdoors, 83% actively believe in the mission of sustainability. And 4 out of 5 outdoor active consumers are asking for more sustainable products.”

– Janice Tennant, CMO, Merrell

Takeaway 3: Sustainability is scary…but just START anyways

Once a brand has decided on its sustainability goals, the journey to get there can feel overwhelming and hard. What marketers need to do first is have a long-term vision, and then simply start where they are by taking one small step at a time, and figure out issues at they come up. For example, give yourself the space to imagine on what can be possible, be inventive, don’t be afraid to fail, do a pilot, and follow it with a soft launch. Then assess results to see if you are making progress, learn from it, iterate, and keep redoing this cycle until you have reached your objective. It is also important to establish milestone checkpoints throughout the go-to-market process to ensure that sustainability criteria is being met and that nothing is falling through the cracks or getting lost.

“In 2023, we cannot use the excuse that ‘we need to put our house in order first’— instead we need to quickly catch up and act.”

– Solitaire Townsend, Chief Solutionist and Co-Founder, Futerra

Takeaway 4: Selling sustainability to your team

In order to sell the idea of sustainability to your team, research and data is crucial to illustrate that your customers, and society as a whole, are demanding brands to create positive change. By building a business case from a customer need and loyalty perspective, buy-in from leadership is more probable. Once there is a commitment for sustainability efforts, teams need to be educated and trained on key sustainability topics, such as net carbon economy, UN SDG goals, etc, so that sustainability competencies are developed. It is also key to form a strong partnership between marketing and product teams to synergize sustainability ideas together. In addition, product transformation can be enhanced by collaborating with innovative companies that already focus on novel sustainable materials, products, materials, etc.

“We wanted to reinvent the brand for the next generation”

—Shaun Belongie, CMO, New Belgium Brewery

Takeaway 5: The bread and butter is brand strategy and brief

The brand strategy and brief still remain the core elements to guide a brand--including through its sustainable journey. We need to make sure that product and messaging changes are in line with the brand strategy. The brief is a critical document that can spark visions of what we want to see manifest for a sustainability endeavor, enabling enriching exchanges of what is possible, and developing creative solutions in accordance. It is to be noted that even though sustainability can imply a serious matter and tone, it is recommended to keep the brand essence and brand tone of the core brand for all communications, including for sustainability. So if your brand has a fun, casual tone, then this needs to be infused also in the way the brand talks about sustainability. In other words, brand consistency is key throughout brand content and experiences.

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Takeaway 6: Sustainability is a springboard for creativity and communication

Sustainability efforts can occur through innovation, which relies on creativity. As such, revamping a product to be more sustainable can actually be an opportunity for new and creative ways to build a better, more ingenious, desirable, and differentiating product. Also, in order to reap the full benefits of a sustainable brand, it is imperative to communicate sustainability efforts and accomplishments through a brand's messaging so your customers can become knowledgeable of the shared values with the brand, leading to greater potential for loyalty.

Takeaway 7: Product quality and performance above all

At the end of the day, no matter whether a product/service is sustainable or not, it always needs to first and foremost be a superior product/service that is desirable by the customer. In accordance, product quality can never be compromised with sustainability efforts; instead one should have a mindset that a sustainable initiative has the potential to elevate a product by making it better all around.

Takeaway 8: Beware of Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is the act of making false, misleading, exaggerated claims of environmental, sustainability performance of a product/service/company. Greenwashing usually falls under Consumer Protection Laws at the State level. As marketers, we need to ensure that any sustainable messaging is true and is backed up by proof, such as by capital investment relating to sustainability efforts.

Conclusion

As marketers, we hold the creativity and power to bring positive change—while aligning with the wants of our customers. This can be a win a win undertaking. Admittedly, the journey to get there can be daunting…but also exciting, worthwhile, and fruitful. Thank you ADWEEK for a wonderful event!

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