As most big box retailers require suppliers (brands) to measure & improve their social and environmental impact (GHG emissions, human rights & labor, etc.), and with sustainability compliance (GHG Emissions, EPR, PFAS) on the rise, companies will need to credibly communicate their sustainability efforts to avoid greenwashing to consumers who are increasingly demanding more sustainable products. If you are not familiar, greenwashing is when companies make broad, vague claims about their environmental practices without providing specifics. Terms like “eco-friendly,” “green,” or “sustainable” are frequently used without clear definitions or evidence to back them up.
At Emerger Strategies we use the FTC Green Guides to advise our clients on what to say, and what not say, when it comes to marketing the sustainable attributes of their operations, products, and packaging. However, just as your brand shouldn’t want to tarnish its reputation by greenwashing, you should also want to communicate your sustainability journey to make your company, products, and packaging more sustainable. But, here’s a little secret: there’s no such thing as a sustainable company, product, or packaging! Only MORE sustainable, because every operation, product, and package requires natural (and synthetic) resources to meet demand, all of which as an impact on environment. However, every company, product, and packaging can do less harm and be improved, hence the sustainability journey.
3 Key Elements of Marketing Sustainability
According to Al Iannuzzi’s latest book, Greener Products: The Making and Marketing of Sustainable Brands, there are three key elements of marketing sustainable products:
- Your product must have a “greener” or “more sustainable” story to tell, based on scientific facts and data, which means your claims must be precise. For example, consider a company that has conducted a lifecycle assessment (LCA) of their product and based off of this information, improved their product’s environmental impact vs a company that says their product is “eco-friendly” without any substantiation.
- Understand the market you are selling into and try to meet your customer’s sustainable product demands. For example, Walmart, Target and other big box retailers are requiring their suppliers (brands) to measure and reduce their scopes 1, 2 & 3 greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint), so it makes sense for brands selling there to explore labels like Climate Neutral Certified, or ENERGY STAR.
- The “more sustainable” benefits must be appropriately communicated, without overstating or misleading. For example, if a company makes the switch to 100% fiber-based, curbside recyclable packaging, they can’t claim they are now “eco-friendly” if the product they are selling is terrible for the environment. In fact, brands and products should avoid terms like “eco-friendly” altogether. However, they could add a Sustainability section to their website that shows their sustainability performance, and add a How to Recycle page on their website to help their customers recycle their packaging and communicate that they are continuously working to improve their sustainability performance, and invite their customers to follow along on their sustainability journey.
I agree with all of Al’s key elements to marketing more sustainable products, and at Emerger Strategies, we believe that sustainability is all about your company becoming the best version of itself, and sustainability provides an opportunity for marketers to tell a never-ending continuous improvement story. The hero’s journey, if you will. And who doesn’t love a turnaround story?
How Emerger Strategies can Help You Market Sustainable Products
At Emerger Strategies, we work with our clients in the product design phase to help better understand the project goals. The first step we take with all of our clients is to complete sustainability assessments for their operations, products, and packaging. This gap analysis helps us better understand where there is room for improvement, and helps in creating sustainability goals that are measurable and achievable. Once we have collected baseline data, we can identify hotspots, or the areas where we should focus our efforts for the greatest impact. If your company guidance on your sustainability journey, check out our Sustainability Consulting Services to see how we can serve you!
