How do we ignite our marketing campaigns using ESG?

0:06

Tim McCloud

How do we ignite our marketing campaigns with ESG? Or as Beni said, how do you ignite your ESG with marketing?

0:24

Simon Allison

I would just like to call everyone’s attention to the conversations that have gone on previously in this discussion.

Andrew and the way that he’s structured avoiding greenwashing. Olivia talking about alternative mediums. Beni’s theorising about the application of emotion.

My takeaway, or my offering (building on those great points is) to remember that you’re talking to real, individual people. If you get stuck, consider how you think about these topics and what you want to hear, or what you’re afraid of.

Tap into that. Unite everyone around a common purpose and intention.

Why are we marketing? What are we marketing? Or what element of ESG do we want to amplify, and connect with our audience?

Then I think use lots of different voices. We’ve talked about media. We’ve talked about animations, and anything that can avoid PowerPoints and spreadsheets, I’m certainly signing up for.

Don’t forget the power of hearing a different voice. So not someone in the sustainability team, but somebody else.

Use stuff that’s already out there.

There’s a fantastic documentary, fronted by David Attenborough, which if you watch it, it puts your brain into a completely different gear around climate action.

2:03

Andrew Griffiths

I think it’s that thing about telling stories, right?

Fundamentally, marketing is about telling stories that people choose to share. They choose to amplify and choose to share on because it’s a great story.

It’s a great graphic, it’s a great cartoon, it’s a great video. Whatever the mode is, it’s something that people choose to share. It equips them to be able to share that story as well as possible.

My main thing would be just to encourage everyone to please share those stories of what you’re doing. Don’t be put off by it. It’s not going be perfect. It’s not going be polished.

Actually, I really wish marketing departments would pick up examples of failures a lot more and share them. There’s so much learning in things that didn’t work very well. “It was a really bad investment and everyone else won’t do what we did on that one.”

I think that’s what’s ultimately going to accelerate us all. We can all tell those stories and share them. If marketing can convince people that a diamond ring and a happy marriage are synonymous, which is, when you step back from it, obviously nonsense.

3:19

But if we can convince people to join – if we can convince people that these two things are absolutely correlated, when they’re obviously not – it’s something that’s just obviously not true.

We should be able to convince them of things that are absolutely true. About what will lead to them having happier lives with greater well-being, greater satisfaction; looking after our environment, looking after people and places, and living a sustainable life. Creating a regenerative economy.

3:59

Olivia Whitlam

I’d say it’s about the longevity of the journey. We know we’re actually on the upslope of the ESG mountain, we haven’t reached the pinnacle. I think we’re all learning, not just about the topics, but how to communicate them.

The more consistently you repeat a narrative, the more polished it becomes – the more understandable. You say it three times in three different ways, people will get it.

I think just having that kind of commitment that you are going on a journey together with your marketing team. You’re not going to get a one stop perfect product that you can just keep using, that you never need to look at again. Go on a journey together.

4:47

Alannah Moore

For me, I think there’s a number of words that are being repeated throughout this, the transparency.

We haven’t mentioned authenticity quite so much. So I think around identifying what you can do.

Simon talked about purpose, and identifying purpose so everything can hang off it, and decisions and communication can stand around it. I think that’s really important.

Then coming back to what Andrew had said around not being afraid of talking about what doesn’t work. That’s around trust. That’s how you build your trust and your credibility with your audiences.

I think for marketeers, that’s a key takeaway.

It’s time to close the gap between your Marketing and ESG objectives. There’s never been a better time to #StartNow. Find out more here.

Want to hear more? Listen to our panel discuss further topics below…

Panel:

Simon Allison.

Sustainability and Innovation Manager, Perfectly Fresh! 
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Andrew Griffiths

Director of Policy and Partnerships, Planet Mark.
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Olivia Whitlam

Head of Sustainability, Siemens.
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