Telling your sustainability story is an essential part of any business model and a growing area for us communications professionals. By telling this story, we’re helping to create a strong connection with customers on this topic and helping establish that credibility.
As we move into 2023, I think this topic is becoming even more relevant and important as businesses look to even monetise sustainability and see it as an opportunity of jumping on the bandwagon. There are two important reports launched recently. And I think they’re proof of this.
UK Minister Chris Skidmore launched Mission Zero and his report; and the Confederation of Business Industry (CBI), just released a report on mapping the net zero economy.
I think this proves this topic needs to be high on our agenda as communications professionals. We need to be sure we’re communicating this story in an authentic and compelling way focusing on the impact of the initiatives, rather than individual products or services – or waving company flags. So here are some of my thoughts on this topic this week.
Let’s dive in.
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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.
Telling your sustainability story is an essential part of any business model and a growing area for us communications professionals. By telling this story, we’re helping to create a strong connection with customers on this topic and helping establish that credibility. And as we move into 2023, I think this topic is becoming even more relevant and important as businesses look to even monetise sustainability and see it as an opportunity of jumping on the bandwagon. There are two important reports launched recently. And I think they’re proof of this.
UK Minister Chris Skidmore launched Mission Zero, his report “Internet Zero”, and the CBI, the Confederation of business industry, just released a report on mapping the net-zero economy. And I think this proves this topic needs to be high on our agenda as communications professionals. We need to be sure we’re communicating this story in an authentic and compelling way focusing on the impact of the initiatives, rather than individual products or services or waving company flags. So here are some of my thoughts on this topic this week.
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 sound. Greenwashing is 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. Although some of the claims might be true or partly true, if you’re engaged in greenwashing, it typically means you’re exaggerating those claims, or their benefits in an attempt to mislead consumers. It’s a play on the term whitewashing, 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. Genuinely green products back up their claims with facts, details and evidence.
So as I said, this is a humongous topic, and 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.
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However, as consumers and buyers in B2B in particular, we are 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 this 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. And 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 weary. Unfortunately, we’re weary, aren’t we, due to the level of greenwashing that has previously taken place? It’s hard to separate what’s true from 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, is 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. As I said before, you know, sometimes greenwashing is unintentional.
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So whether it is intentional or unintentional, it can lead to a real lack of trust in consumers and in the supply chain.
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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 were 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 were 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 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.
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And affect your bottom line. For the reasons I said before, you know, people 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 partly to do with this, 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.
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I think that it can be more tricky for business-to-business examples, such as, when you have a sales team,
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or a wider people-led 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 these events, but it’s a real hotspot 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.
07:38
And it’s a less controlled environment, cuz you’re 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 keep the integrity and clarity of those messages. It’s super hard actually, with this topic. And we need to do more sense checking and that 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 sure the information I’m passed is correct and unambiguous. I trust my inner compass or gut feeling, I suppose you would call it but I have many years of 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 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 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.
09:34
And on the construction product side of things, companies can sign up for 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 good for whatever sector you work in, the idea is that all material produced has to meet these five acid tests. They have to be clear. It has to be accurate. It has to be up to date. It has
10:00
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 has 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 clear process for consumers to complain.
And finally, there’s also 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 think/say “this is the info I was given.” Question and challenge, which is hard, but absolutely necessary. It’s a mindset as much as anything.
So my final advice would be to not say “this is the info I was given by my supplier by my affiliate by my team.” And whilst the person giving the info the expert is culpable. Technically, it’s about personal reputation as much as anything as well as organisational reputation.
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.
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.