This week’s podcast is inspired by my two days at a vast built environment event in Leeds, UK.
I ran the Beyond Net Zero pavilion for a client of mine UKBCSD (UK Business Council for Sustainable Development)
It was an inspiring two days of 15 talks covering everything from how we create a world for everyone to materials and data in buildings and thinking about building less so we can catch up on our carbon challenges as a sector. Communication was a strong point as well not just in our tent but across the conference and it made me think that we have a job to do to support this epic challenge for businesses and places.
This episode was originally published after COP26 around six months ago last year, where I reflected on the communication challenge and responsibility we have as communicators to help with this topic.
We can’t keep having the same conversations; we need action, and communicators have a role to play in enabling businesses to do that.
Links mentioned in this episode:
First published on LinkedIn live event ‘It’s a B2B comms thing’ watch it here: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6860905845253779456/
https://greenclaims.campaign.gov.uk/
https://www.cpicode.org.uk/news/code-for-construction-product-information-and-guidance-published/
Further listening: Episode 43. 6 steps to manage potential reputation issues
Grab your FREE 6-step guide to reputation issues management (also here: https://bit.ly/6StepGuideIssuesNoTissues)
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Full transcript (unedited)
Hello, and welcome to this episode of communication strategy that works with me, Emma Drake. Hi, everyone, how are we all doing today? I hope you’re doing okay. I want to talk to you today about going green, and how to talk about going green. And this episode is going out as prop 26 comes to a close for 2021. And I’m reflecting today on on what this means for you as communicators what it means for us. And clearly, there’s a big stick as well as a carrot coming down the line, and planning for supporting your reputation issues around greenwashing. having difficult conversations with people and working out who’s culpable for information shared will be high on the list for businesses large and small in the wake of COP and the media frenzy that followed. So along with two other comms pros, recently, I discussed this humongous topic on LinkedIn live. And I shared some of we shared some of our insights into what we think companies need to start doing or what they could do, or what they need to think about. We tackled three big questions, which I’m going to highlight in this podcast episode as well as sharing some further thoughts of my own.
So let’s dive in.
So first of all, I wanted to talk about what is greenwashing because we use that phrase, but does everyone really know what it is?
So for the purposes of being clear, it’s the process of conveying false information, or providing misleading information about how a company’s products or services are more environmentally, it’s also considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive customers or consumers into believing that your company’s products are environmentally friendly. So for example, if your company was involved in greenwashing, the behaviour might be making claims that your products are from recycled material, or have energy saving benefits, when some of the claims might be true or only partly true.
If you’re engaged in greenwashing, it typically means you’re exaggerating those claims, or the benefits of them in an attempt to mislead consumers and is the play on the term white washing, which also means misleading information or glossing over bad behaviour. People shouldn’t be greenwashing. We should be all over this and making sure that we’re not doing it unintentionally or intentionally. But by greenwashing, we can also convey a false impression that, you know, our company or the products that we are selling are environmentally sound, and genuinely green products. The big difference is they backup their claims with facts, details and evidence.
So as I said, this is a humongous topic, I’m not going to be able to cover this in one podcast episode. But there are three things for you today to think about.
Number one is; why do businesses need to communicate their sustainability strategy at all? Why is it important to talk about this? And should you be talking about this?
Well, first of all, I hate the word sustainability. It has so many meanings and is overused. However, as consumers and buyers, we are, in b2b in particular, increasingly looking for connections to sustainable products, or what people are calling sustainable products and services. And by that we really mean green products, things with environmental content of credentials. I know I am. And I’m seeing this more and more. So I think, first of all, the simple answer is if you’re doing something outstanding in this space, then tell people you know. I had a guest on my podcast recently, it was Andrea Cockington. She works with entrepreneurs pitching to investors for money to build their businesses. And even she said that there has been a real increase in investors looking to invest in products and businesses that have green credentials, let’s say and she thinks as well that we will see more of this.
So things are shifting things are changing. On the flip side, consumers and buyers are wary. Unfortunately, we’re wary due to the level of greenwashing that has previously taken place. It’s hard to separate what’s true from what’s what’s not true, especially when you’re talking about technical details unless you’re a very informed audience. So it’s essential that we make sure all the details or facts and evidence of what we’re doing this different is there and also the proof.
The second point is trust and reputation management. I’ve talked about this topic quite a lot on the podcast.
So whether whether it is intentional or unintentional, it can lead to a real lack of trust in consumers and in the supply chain. There’s a there’s going to be a lot more regulation coming down the line for this. And we’re all going to have to be on top of that. I think greenwashing used to be something that just, you know, big oil firms are responsible for, wasn’t it? They were accused of it.
Many, many years ago, I remember maybe 20 years ago, I was doing my postgraduate diploma in public relations strategy and the case studies were all about, you know, shell oil and companies that we’re that we’re greenwashing and sharing misleading information, or, you know, even if people went as far as lying about the environmental credentials, or what they were doing with with waste from their products and services. I think that’s changed. I think greenwashing now is a sort of reputational issue that can affect everyone, and affects your bottom line.
For the reasons I said before, you know, we want to people more now want to engage with products and services to have environmental credentials. So if you’re doing that, you’re going to be ahead of the game, you’re going to be one step ahead of your competitors. But actually, it’s also the sort of issue that can affect all of us. It’s not just about best practice communications. So, you know, I think those sorts of images that I think about in my head of plastics in the ocean and polar bears falling off big chunks of ice are partly to do with this, but but we’re all seeing the thread now between what we do, and the wider impact on the environment. And it’s no different for business to business.
I think that it can be more tricky for business to business examples, such as when you have a sales team, or a wider people lead team to help you sell your products or services or affiliates, for example, or you sell through people. But particularly if you have you know, consultant teams prepare materials for you, and you don’t just rely on digital marketing or direct marketing, for example. I think in person events are a real hotspot for this. I’m sure we’ve all written, you know, briefing notes for for these events, but actually, it’s a real hotspot for for people to accidentally mislead people if they’re not well informed about or have the right words to talk about the product. At an event the margin for error is huge, I think, in my opinion. And it’s a less controlled environment. Because dealing with people, it’s important for that reason to ensure you have a system to spot monitor and mitigate potential reputation issues in your communication and marketing. But they should also now include unintentional greenwashing hotspots in your comms plans, or your marketing plans, such as in person events.
The third big question is around how we can make this topic simpler.
I mean, a big part of our job as communicators is to make things simpler, without dumbing down and keeping the integrity and clarity of those messages. It’s really super hard actually, with this topic. And we need to do more sense checking and means having difficult conversations. And always asking if it doesn’t feel right. I do sometimes, and it’s uncomfortable, and it feels awkward and icky. But I have to be absolutely sure the information I’m passed is correct and unambiguous.
You have to I trust my inner kind of Compass with this, my gut feel, I suppose you would call it but I have many years experience. And I think that is something that comes with experience, you can spot if something isn’t quite right. Not everyone listening will have that level of experience, potentially.
And it is difficult, but you must check we must check. Because we are sharing information. And you know, we manage marketing material, and we put materials out into the public domain. So it’s really super important. It’s not for another team to pick up the slack with this, you know, we have to be responsible as communicators, that the info is correct and unambiguous. So coming down the line, let’s not panic, there are some things that can help with this. I only have today an example within the built environment, which is one of the sectors that I specialise in.
And on the construction product side of things, companies can sign up to something called the code for construction product information. The reason I’m telling you this is it has five acid tests that I think are actually really good, whatever sector you work in, the idea is that all material produced has to meet these five acid tests.
They are;
it has to be clear,
It has to be accurate,
It has to be up to date,
it has to be accessible,
and it has to be unambiguous.
Now I think these are fantastic and There’s a chap called Adam Turk, who in the UK is chair of the marketing integrity group, and he helped develop this code. And I think it’s a really good test. If you’re not sure, a really simple way of checking, if what you’re putting out is right more widely, it’s also getting easier for consumers to complain. The Competition and Markets Authority here in the UK is published something called the Green claims code. And this focus is on the accuracy of environmental claims. So something that everyone needs to get to grips with really, so simplicity and accuracy are going to become increasingly important for us as communicators. And we can expect more cases of misinformation.
Now, there is a also clear process for consumers to complain.
And finally, there’s also you know, there’s your own ethical code to consider. I’m a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. And you know, we have an ethical code of conduct that we abide by. So that’s my ethical compass, really, and my drive for making these decisions, as well as my gut feel on what information feels right, or to need to question. And when I need to make sure I’m acting in a clear and ethical manner when it comes to sharing or re sharing information. So be aware and question what’s happening? You know, we need to, we need to be more journalists, we need to channel our inner journalist and question everything and have those difficult conversations. It’s a mindset as much as anything, so don’t have slopey shoulders, you know, this is the info I was given. Question and challenge, which is hard, but absolutely necessary. It’s a mindset as much as anything.
It’s about personal reputation as well as organisational reputation.
So don’t forget to check the show notes for those links that I mentioned today. And feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions about this topic that I’ve talked about today. So I’ll just say bye for now, and see you next time. So finally, thank you for listening to this episode of communication strategy that works. Don’t forget to check my show notes for those links that I mentioned. And I’d really love it if you would subscribe to my podcast and leave me a review. And also if you think there’s someone that could benefit from listening to this podcast, please share this within your networks. So I’ll just say bye for now, and see you next time.