Are your brand’s purpose and potential stuck in silos?

Smart brands know that citizens (formerly known as consumers) want to choose sustainable products that reflect their values and have a low impact on the planet – and are transforming their operations and supply chains to match this demand. The smartest brands are doing all of that while also making sure citizens know and admire them for it. 

However, all too often sustainability teams (the ones doing the action) and marketing teams (the ones doing the talking) aren’t communicating within their organisations. And by keeping their knowledge, skills and processes siloed, they’re slowing both sides down.

We know that good sustainability storytelling leads to greater commercial value, and increased value gains C-suite support and more resources for impactful initiatives. The bottom line: when sustainability and marketing leaders align their goals, every stakeholder (including the planet) wins.

This topic was front of mind at a series of roundtable discussions that the Flourish team recently hosted. At our ‘For Business to Thrive and the Planet to Survive’ series, we brought together sustainability leaders from some of the world’s leading FMCG and retail brands - including L’Oreal, Danone, Nestlé, Asda and Henkel - to discuss their challenges in implementing sustainability initiatives and communicating those efforts.

We’ve distilled their insights into three top tips for how to bridge this crucial function gap for big commercial wins. Marketers – listen up.

Our world needs progress now, not perfection

To feel confident talking about sustainability initiatives, marketers (with the best intentions) often wait for their sustainability departments to hand them success stories of proven performance that they can wrap neatly in pretty green paper. 

But waiting to tell the perfect, complete story is a form of greenhushing that undermines the good work being done. As one contributor from a global FMCG brand shared: “When people think of our brand, they overlook our ambitious 2030 sustainability strategy. It’s published on our CSR site, linked to from the footer of our brand sites, but no one sees it. There is a disconnect between our genuine sustainability action and its visibility.”

The takeaway? Invisible stories don’t do anything for brand sentiment or sales.

Sustainability strategies and your organisation’s progress towards them are stories worth telling. Marketing teams should stay tuned to the steps being taken by their sustainability team counterparts and start sharing authentic stories of progress and improvement, even if they’re not directly involved in driving the change, and even if that change is not yet perfect. Striking that balance between action and communication is crucial. Waiting for perfection is slowing down the sustainability movement – and that’s the last thing our planet needs.

Make the intricacies inspiring 

Without a proper grasp on the specs and impact of the products they’re presenting, marketers risk putting out vague messages and empty claims. Or they do nothing at all for fear of accusations of greenwashing.

“In the past, our communications used phrases like "built with sustainability in mind," which lacked substance and meaning,” said one of the sustainability directors. “However, by considering upcoming legislation such as the Green Claims Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, we’ve established clear facts and rules for content creators and communicators within the company.” But communicating technical aspects to citizens who don’t understand the intricacies of sustainable certifications and materials is difficult and boring.

That’s where marketing comes in. With better sustainability marketing capability, marketers can translate technicalities into differentiated and inspiring messages that connect with citizens and accelerate sales of sustainable products, without fear of greenwashing.

Connect the scientists to the storytellers

Sustainability communications have to be backed up by cold, hard numbers and proof. “Sustainability communication should go beyond storytelling and focus on traceability and a set of rules to ensure fair competition and deliver real sustainability content”, as stated by one of our roundtable attendees. It’s the law, for good reason, but can be paralysing.

If we’re going to break down the silos responsible for endless greenhushing, paralysis needs to shift to action. For both sides to feel confident that the right, reliable information is going out, marketing teams need channels that connect them with sustainability and legal departments all the way along the campaign process. Sustainability leaders need to work with their counterparts in marketing – braving the complexity together because our planet, and their CFOs and CEOs, will love them for it.

Roles, targets and mindsets might look fundamentally different, but when it comes down to it, purpose-driven marketers and sustainability directors want the same thing. By bringing sustainability and marketing together, brands can create huge commercial value to do great things for the planet and for all of our futures.

Brands doing genuinely good work deserve to be loved for doing the right thing. It’s down to marketers to bring the sustainability action to life.

Flourish is here to help brands bridge the gap between genuine sustainability efforts and truly brilliant sustainability storytelling that reaches the audiences that want to hear it.

Get in touch today to discover how to make sustainability transformation the driver of your brand’s commercial success: hello@flourishingworld.com