Why sustainability marketing?

Just why… Why do it, why does it exist, why do we need it and why don’t we need it. Operating in the field of sustainability marketing for a while, having seen it from the inside at different companies (and company sizes and stages). We can give you a thorough answer.

Being on Reddit, we’ve seen many different flavours of the discussion of ‘why sustainability marketing’. Debating the use, the necessity, the aim, etc. And there are many takes on it. Because this discussion goes beyond ROI, this is about ethics and philosophy.

Let’s start with going back to the definition of … HOLD UP, no it’s not going to be that type of article. Let’s skip the boring vanilla paragraphs, you have Google, GPT, Wikipedia and your good old thesaurus for that.

Why is sustainability marketing important?

I’ve seen this question being asked online. To properly answer this you’d need to specify ‘important to what end’. Let me answer it in a way that will answer a few elements - but certainly not all - of this multifaceted question.

Let’s start with the obvious; sustainability marketing is somewhat of a trend and greenwashing is considered nearly a synonym with that. Which is a huge problem, for multiple reasons. But it is definitely not a short-lived trend. It is however, evolving tremendously in a direction where greenwashing and what I’d like to call ‘genuine sustainability marketing’ will become more and more two opposites of the same spectrum.

Many buyers are already too smart to go for fake or surface-level green talks. At the same time, there is so much misinformation and bias that even sceptical or educated buyers don't always know what’s genuine. And even then, how do you ascertain if something is sustainable? Where one brand might have a legit claim on the CO2 reduction the other brand in the same industry might have a plastic-free alternative. Which one is more sustainable?

This is where sustainability marketing has a role to play: Educating, informing and inspiring buyers to make the right choice based on genuine and fact based information.

With the new EU regulations coming into force (EmpCo/ECGT) many greenwashing tactics will now be explicitly forbidden. (This is not only for EU based companies, but for any company marketing to EU consumers.) Think about fake eco labels, unsubstantiated claims, misleading imagery. With this the expertise of sustainability marketing will become more important. It’s not only about positioning the brand well and telling the right story, but it’s keeping your messaging within the legal limits.

This added complexity and risk may lead to companies abandoning their sustainability marketing strategy. For those companies that were greenwashing before, I’d say; great, less noise. But for those that have genuine sustainability efforts, I’d say: don’t ‘greenhush’, as this is the moment where we separate the wheat from the chaff. This is where all the fakes drop off and those looking for real change persist.

And this is where we get to another reason why sustainability marketing is (or can be) important. It is also about setting the right example in the industry. Inspiring competitors to change, showing consumers they can choose differently.

Why would your company do sustainability marketing?

This doesn’t have a clear cut answer. As it really depends on what you offer and to some extent to the points made before. Because if you don’t have a genuine sustainable benefit for example, don’t bother pretending.

I can of course take on the hat of a purist and be very idealistic about it and say: Every company should make sustainable products, sell sustainable services and/or run their operations sustainably. Wouldn't that be great, but that’s just not the case (yet).

As said before it might be more of a spectrum than black and white (greenwashing vs genuine sustainability). As there might not be any company at this point that is 100% sustainable, even those who try very hard to. Let’s get to ‘when’ / ‘at what point’ should you do sustainability marketing, a little bit later and focus on the ‘why should you’ for now.

Other than doing it for the betterment of the world (assuming you’re offering something genuinely sustainable), there are reasons to do sustainability marketing. Many trends show that a large part of consumers care - at least to some degree - about sustainability. So fulfilling a market need is one good reason to do so. As mentioned earlier there are many ways of being the more sustainable solution in the market (think about the CO2 vs plastic example), so use this to differentiate yourself from the competition. The interesting thing I found is that the sustainable alternative often has other benefits except for the environmental benefit. Some benefits I’ve come across; being more durable (the product is made to last), being healthier (less microplastics enter your body), or being more comfortable (more attuned to how the body works).

Suffice to say, I also need to address possible negatives or risks. One is that you need the expertise. In your product department, your marketing department, your legal department. This will come with extra costs and effort. It can also be more expensive to produce a more sustainable alternative to what’s in the market. This is not always the case, it can actually also be cheaper, certainly over time, after the initial investments have been made and the solution has scaled. In many cases though we as a society have become used to the cheapest - in many cases more pollution and less healthy - version of a product. So another way to look at it is that the more sustainable option is not more expensive, this is the actual price of it without hurting ourselves and the environment (and with that, our future selves / next generations).

Why even bother with sustainability marketing?

So if I need to put in all the extra effort and the market is asking for it so possibly everyone might be doing sustainability marketing soon and it might become noise. Why should my company even bother?

Valid question, and I get why this can cause friction. As explained previously, it might not be the right time and place for you to bother doing sustainability marketing. But let’s explore the scenarios in the question.

Let’s assume you need to put in a lot of effort. That means others also need to put in a lot of effort to do it right. So many others might not do it, stop doing it or not do it ‘right’. Especially with the new legislation coming into force, businesses without genuine sustainability efforts might not want to take the risk. This then becomes a strategy play and can even display a level of quality that others cannot or won’t pursue.

But, let’s for a moment say that everyone does sustainability marketing. This means it becomes a hygiene factor. In that case it will become a minimum requirement. Like having a company phone number, a website, paying taxes, paying salary. Think about that for a second. Can you differentiate with any of those 4? Yes. Even with paying taxes. Oh certainly, and companies pay handsomely to tax accountants to make sure they pay less tax (fyi there’s a difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion, although I’m not a tax expert by any means). Point being: even hygiene factors can be a source of differentiation. But even it you don’t choose to differentiate, you would still need something that is considered a minimum requirement, and you better know how to facilitate that, else you’ll look like an amateur.

Why should you start doing sustainability marketing?

Or actually, when and at what point. As this came up earlier in this article.

I’ve eluded to this before but I’d recommend you NOT to do it when you don’t have genuine sustainable efforts or benefits. Another reason why you might want to consider not doing it YET, is if you don’t have the funds to pursue it (maybe it takes an additional investment that you can afford in a year or so). Make sure you have the right certifications or can back up the claims you want to make first. I’m not saying ‘be perfect or don’t do it’, but at least be genuine about what you communicate and make sure that is solid.

If you do have genuine sustainability efforts and benefits. Do not fall into the trap of greenhushing. As you’re missing out on a chance to change the market, to educate consumers to show the world a better alternative.

If you were waiting for a clear cut list of ROI examples convincing you that you should do sustainability marketing as it will increase your bottom line, this is not the article for you. There’s data on that for sure. But to be fair, marketing is also an craft, it’s a combination of art and science. If you get the art - creativity - part wrong, you can still lose money. As with any endeavor or investment in a business. That is what being an (impact) entrepreneur is about.

Why do sustainability marketing at all?

This is a different way of looking at it. You’re basically asking why do marketing at all. And that is a very interesting angle. Even though marketing is my craft, a world without marketing might be more ideal, or not. But then we go back to what is marketing. When I say a world without marketing, you were probably thinking of a world without advertising. But marketing is so much more. I was told the word marketing comes from ‘market getting’, so getting the market or getting to the market. Going back thousands of years, people were taking their produce to the market. Having a market stall on such a market can already be considered marketing. So then we get to commerce and finally capitalism. I don’t want to go into that rabbit hole right now.

What I will say is this: when we live in a world where competitors pollute, that doesn't mean we should do the same to stay competitive (don’t fight fire with fire). Let’s not try to greenwash our way to market dominance over those who pollute more (don’t fight fire with smoke).

Instead, let’s seize the opportunity to lead real change and help shift toward a more sustainable and regenerative future. And one lever we have is genuine sustainability marketing, our way to fight fire with water.