Spotlight: The Elephant in the Room
Brands and advertising has contributed so much to the world’s climate problems, so how do you then legitimately pivot to talk about sustainability initiatives and eco-friendly solutions? Sophie Lord, Head of Strategy at Elmwood, shares her principles for brands to help them navigate the tightrope and actually use tensions to unlock opportunity and innovation…
‘Sustainability’ is a difficult arena to navigate for business. Brands understand the need to act – their consumers and investors demand it. The need to ‘Be sustainable’. Which of course means do less harm.
You see, everything has an impact. The best one can hope for is that all businesses behave responsibly.
As regulation, financial mechanisms and policy dictates how we might avoid a collapse of earth systems, brands and advertising are so often increasing pressures, not alleviating them.
Yet a response to the 6th mass extinction is not to simply retreat, but to know how to navigate the tension that exists between being part of the problem and simultaneously communicating radical shifts in business practice.
For us at MSQ, there are 8 guiding principles that every marketer, sustainability chief and business lead need to follow:
1. Confront the uncomfortable truth and say the unsayable
We are part of the problem. So how do we fix that? Be prepared to address this question head-on internally.
2. Lean into the sharp end of the problems unique to your business
Every business has their own issues. Think hard as to how they define you, and indeed your solutions may become the next open source and category defining innovation for the next decade.
3. Use your communication to connect with your audiences, not drown them in technical jargon
Easy to say… not so easy to do.
4. You can reassemble your brand for the future, but don’t desert it
Unless you created a brand in the last 3 years, it won’t be built with sustainability at its heart. That’s just the way it is. Don’t dump it for an easy option – a new ‘eco-friendly’ part of your portfolio. Your brand is your North Star – rebuild it and ready it for the demands and opportunities that today’s context offers.
5. No shortcuts allowed
It’s not often that shortcuts are permissible, but when it comes to sustainability – that’s one time they CAN be very useful. Consumers are trained to look for codes, symbols and logos – and they represent trusted marks that – as long as they are genuine – your brand can use. Whether that is B-Corp, Rainforest Alliance, Recyclability, don’t reinvent.
6. Show positive progress
Don’t wait for perfection. We don’t have time for that. Start a movement by showing the way and empowering your customers with the information to educate them and help them make informed choices.
7. Look to the edges and embrace radical creativity
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Let’s bring different minds and skills in to tackle the burning issues.
8. Just do something
Too big to change? Too expensive to evolve? Change has to start somewhere, with someone.
Even in the biggest organisations – those global mega brands – it is so important that someone takes the first step. Change always begins with people – with a group of like-minded renegade pirates within the mothership.
And changing something is the only way to start to build momentum. That could be a pilot project. A limited edition. A lighthouse project. A spin-off. A sub-brand. A special collection….
What you can learn from just doing something is the greatest catalyst we’ve seen to beginning the process of change.
With these 8 principles, you’ll be able to not just navigate the tightrope honestly and authentically, but turn the tightrope into an opportunity for you, your brand, your business.
A moment for optimism
It’s worth acknowledging that nowhere is the ‘elephant in the room’ more tangible than in our industry – brand, marketing, design and packaging.
For 50+ years, we have helped create a consumerist machine that has fuelled the overconsumption, climate and nature problems we have today.
But judging by what we have seen at recent events, through speaking to clients, other agencies and broader sustainability experts, we are full of hope and optimism that the ingenuity, creativity and passion of our industry can be redirected to solving those crises faster and better.