The pace of business has never been faster. Attention is scarce, competition is fierce, and the pressure to deliver quarter after quarter is relentless.
But the world around us is changing fast.
Our planet’s resources are dwindling, supply chains are collapsing from extreme weather events, populist movements are rising, and millions of working hours are lost every year due to declining public health.
The cost of doing business as usual is simply too high.
We need to find a new narrative. One that creates resilient, successful companies long into the future. A narrative that celebrates and prioritises companies actively improving our world commercially, environmentally and societally. For these are the brands that will gain a competitive advantage and outlast their competition.
Rewriting the Role of Marketing
Marketing is one of the most powerful forces in business.
It drives behaviour, creates trends, shapes language and tells stories that change the way people see the world.
But traditional marketing that works to maximise profits at any cost is no longer viable. The 4Ps model from the 1960s was never designed to navigate the polycrisis we’re facing today. From climate change to biodiversity loss, social inequality to the public health crisis, how we manufacture and market goods has an impact.
The IPCC highlights that demand-side measures, such as changes in consumer behaviour, lifestyle, and consumption patterns, can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by a massive 40-70% by 2050. Marketing plays a pivotal role in facilitating these shifts by influencing consumer choices and promoting sustainable behaviours.
Marketing is now on the cusp of transforming from a sales enabler to a systems thinker. From short-term tactics to long-term trust. From amplifying problems to accelerating solutions.
This is where Sustainable Marketing begins.
What Sustainable Marketing Really Means
Long-term resilience demands full alignment of the sustainability transition. But right now, marketing is the missing link—and it’s slowing progress down.
It’s time to stop thinking in terms of profit alone. Marketing must become a driver of value across all three pillars: commercial, environmental, and societal. This a strategic imperative. The brands that lead here will be the ones that last.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about adding a sustainability page to your website, promoting your latest eco-friendly product, or communicating your company’s sustainability plans and achievements. That’s ‘sustainability marketing’ — and while it has a role, it’s just one part of the picture.
Sustainable Marketing is when sustainability is embedded into every single aspect of your marketing, from branding, strategy and product/service innovation through to tactics, governance and performance so that it becomes a rapid enabler of the sustainability transition.
It’s a mindset shift.
From profit only to long-term wellbeing for all people and planet
From campaign thinking to systems thinking.
From passive storytelling to active impact.
From Talk to Transformation: The Sustainable Marketing Compass
To help teams make this shift, our Sustainable Marketing Director, Alexis Eyre, and Paul Randle developed the Sustainable Marketing Compass. It’s a practical framework to turn intention into action, now embedded into some of the best marketing courses, including CISL, CIM and IPA.
It equips marketing leaders to:
- Pinpoint where marketing is driving positive or negative impact
- Align marketing with corporate sustainability goals
- Embed sustainability into strategic guidelines with sustainability at the core to shape all future activity
- Define success through environmental, societal and commercial KPIs
- Reduce waste and negative operational impact across the full marketing lifecycle
- Embed inclusivity and contextual care into audience engagement
- Build greater resilience through partnerships and cross-functional collaboration
- Govern with confidence, while avoiding greenwashing, tokenism and reputational risk
- Reinforce a broader brand mission beyond profit – leading to stronger brand value.
- Rethink value creation to align commercial success with positive social and/or environmental impact
Why It’s a Strategic Imperative
Your audience is ready. Concern for the climate, social justice, and well-being is higher than ever. People are actively looking for brands that align with their values and elevate their status, but their trust in marketing is at an all-time low.
Why? Because they’ve seen too many contradictions.
A “low-carbon” product range is promoted while the brand still sponsors fossil-fuel events. Campaigns for equality still use outdated stereotypes. Performative promises are made with no substance behind them.
Greenwashing isn’t just bad press. It’s a strategic risk.
Fines can reach 10% of annual turnover, and reputational damage has cost companies up to £1bn in some cases.
By adopting sustainable marketing principles, you unlock:
- Higher-performing, future-fit campaigns
- Deeper trust with customers, partners and regulators
- Stronger alignment with company-wide goals
- A clearer competitive edge in crowded categories
- Greater resilience in times of disruption
This Is Marketing’s Moment
Marketing is more than a growth lever.
It’s a cultural force, a connector, and a critical contributor to business reputation and longevity. In an era of radical accountability, brands must show up with clarity, creativity and proof, not just promises.
Sustainable Marketing is the next evolution of our discipline and it’s here to stay.
It’s how brands become loved by their audiences.
It’s how businesses build long-term value.
It’s how leaders futureproof their impact.
CMOs: This is your invitation to lead. Not just the brand, the business too.
Author: Alexis Eyre, Flourish
