Challenge:
Brands surveyed are looking to make a more authentic and long-term impact in order to build trust with consumers. Budgetary issues may pressure brands to pull back on social impact efforts in favor of short-term concerns.
Opportunity:
Marketers should maintain a sense of long-term perspective with regard to internal sustainability efforts to help establish an authenticity to brands’ marketing initiatives and unify the organization around a shared sustainable future.
What to do about it?
- Don’t pull back. Although cutting down on sustainability investments might feel tempting during a time of economic uncertainty, marketers should consider continuing to invest, retaining a sense of long-term perspective about the socioeconomic demands around sustainability on the horizon.
- Look inward. Marketers can infuse sustainability throughout the entire life cycle of the product or service—potentially leading to improved efficiencies, increased brand value through customer alignment, and ongoing impetus for growth.
- Unify your organization. Marketing can and should play a leading role on sustainability issues within their organizations. Marketers excel at telling stories and rallying people behind their efforts. These skills should be leveraged to allow them to lead the charge on internal sustainability efforts.
Quick Overview:
Brands should keep a long-term, integrated perspective of social responsibility efforts, to lead in the space.
Marketers should play a leading role in sustainability - but where to start? Read about how hundreds of CMOs are turning inward first.
Key Findings:
Brands surveyed reported that their top three priorities for sustainability efforts this year include:
- Improving sustainability of internal marketing practices (51%)
- Promoting more sustainable product and service offerings (47%)
- Establishing long-term sustainability commitments (e.g. “by 2030, our organization will”) (45%)
Notably, relatively few are moving the responsibility to consumers as only 25% said they are trying to nudge new consumer actions- indicating brands are trying to lead by example, rather than relying on consumer action.