Not so long ago sustainability was front and centre of almost every brand’s messaging. British Petroleum was Beyond Petroleum, Apple had its sustainability credentials on its homepage, The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, and a host of others saw rapid growth as eco-brands.
Now it doesn’t work. Consumers are immune to overt eco-messaging – according to a global YouGov survey, more than 50% of people are now sceptical of sustainability claims made by brands. Patagonia can do it, and that’s about it.
It’s not to say that sustainability doesn’t matter. It does. But today it’s table stakes. Everyone expects you to be operating sustainably, and your brand messaging needs to address other issues that matter to them.
So, the question for many brands today is how to achieve implicit sustainability messaging. How to say you’re green without saying you’re green. You can achieve this through material choices like IKEA, or process transparency like Apple, but brand identity is also a key way to do it.
It’s not an easy communications riddle to solve, but it can be done. Look at how luxury brands do it. No truly luxurious brand ever describes itself as luxurious, and in fact stating it actually tends to imply the opposite. Luxury brands use design to convey it, and sustainable brands can do the same. Here’s how.
Solving the riddle
Firstly, don’t patronise people. 20 years ago it was necessary to make the case for sustainability. Ten years ago it was necessary to explain why one solution was more sustainable than another. Today people get it and are highly informed so don’t tell them what they already know. Follow the lead of Toyota. The team there are pioneering hydrogen powered vehicles, but they don’t feel the need to brief everyone on why this is a good thing. They’re just doing it.
In terms of the core brand message, focus on benefits to the consumer that imply sustainability but which they genuinely care about. For example, reduced impact on the planet usually goes hand in hand with reduced impact on the consumer’s wallet, and that’s a message people never tire of hearing. Look at Uniqlo’s lifewear promise or Le Creuset’s lifetime guarantee. We recently worked with So Energy helping it stand out in a sector often associated with uninspiring sustainability claims and bland identities. Under the banner “We Do Energy, You Do You,” So Energy offers sustainable and affordable energy solutions, empowering them to live the life they want.
Keep it simple, and don’t be afraid to be playful. Far too much sustainability communication is complex, worthy and dull. It’s why a brand like Oatly stands out with its straightforward, funny on-pack sustainability messaging. When the Rail Delivery Group asked us to create a campaign to promote the environmental benefits of rail travel around COP26, we knew that the facts were all there, impressive and unarguable. Our job was to find a way to present them to the public in an engaging and coherent way. We didn’t overclaim. We simply presented the facts in a simple way, oh and turned the universally recognised logo green.
Prioritise understated actions over exaggerated claims. Media company Positive Internet has created its own Positive Park, a green, sustainable data centre campus in the Cambridge Silicon Fen. It uses 100% renewable energy and adiabatic “free” cooling systems to maintain a carbon-negative footprint. It’s truly impressive. Yet, on its website the primary messaging is about its core work: “We hold your hand through the digital jungle.” It does the sustainability work, is confident in that, and feels no need to shout about it.
Finally, there is much that can be done visually to highlight eco credentials without resorting to the tired cliches. Look at the fresh, clean minimalism of brands like Evian, Muji and Aesop. Or Vitsoe, designed by icon Dieter Rams. One of his ten principles of good design is “Good design is as little design as possible”. It’s an approach that anyone looking to achieve implicit sustainability should remember.
The oxymoron of sustainable brands
On a more philosophical level, no brand can be truly sustainable. Not in the sense that they all use finite resources – the fact that to live is unavoidably to consume renders that point somewhat moot – but in the sense that sustainability is about the relationship between the brand and the consumer. A plastic carrier bag wouldn’t be an obviously sustainable choice, but if looked after and used multiple times, at some point it tips over into being a very sustainable choice. No brand can be sustainable; sustainability is an act with shared responsibility.
It’s clearly time to move on from sustainability as a brand platform. It needs to remain implicit, much as ‘legal’, ‘safe’, and so on already are. Making this shift is a subtle shift, and one that many brands will find challenging. However, it can be done, and it needs to be done. Taking this step not only make them more credible, it also embed sustainability into our economy, and liberates those brands to focus on the many other ways they add value to our lives.
Paul Blackburn is founder of Studio Blackburn, a London-based brand agency.
Not so long ago sustainability was front and centre of almost every brand’s messaging. British Petroleum was Beyond Petroleum, Apple had its sustainability credentials on its homepage, The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, and a host of others saw rapid growth as eco-brands.
Now it doesn’t work. Consumers are immune to overt eco-messaging - according to a global YouGov survey, more than 50% of people are now sceptical of sustainability claims made by brands. Patagonia can do it, and that’s about it.
It’s not to say that sustainability doesn’t matter. It does. But today it’s table stakes. Everyone expects you to be operating sustainably, and your brand messaging needs to address other issues that matter to them.
