Huddle 2021: From Greenwashing to greenspace

Our annual Huddle event arrived once again to bring forward valuable insights from across the advertising world, and this year was more relevant than ever. The first day of Huddle, titled “The Era of Good Growth” was filled to the brim with information, spanning 18 sessions of panels, Q&A and keynote speaker sessions. 

Following this was Day Two, focused around creating a sustainable world. With our new brand positioning around ‘Good Growth’, we secured some advertising communications experts to chat about what role the advertising industry must play in our sustainable future. 

On Day Two, we had a particularly interesting session titled From Greenwashing to Greenspace – which can be found here (alongside all other Huddle sessions from this year). In this session, our very own Nikki Gunning, Mark Baschnonga and Alexandria Oliver (Client Lead, Joint Head of Strategy and Strategy Director respectively) joined by ITV’s Cultural Insight and Strategy Lead, Lucy Crotty and Golin PR’s Executive Director, Victoria Brophy speak on how the advertising industry can make a real impact on sustainability. 

Unintentional greenwashing 

Most brands and marketers are very used to hearing about sustainable goals and aims. Consumers are continuing to demand more access to sustainable products, and they expect more from brands as the issue of climate change digs itself deeper into the collective conscience.  

Mark noted that around 70% of consumers now believe that if a brand isn’t talking about sustainability, then they aren’t acting. Brands are encouraged to speak out as much as possible about their sustainable aims – but how can they do this without falling into the greenwashing trap? 

The first thing to understand is that greenwashing isn’t always intentional, many brands have the right beliefs and intentions but fail to consider external factors that might influence the sustainable qualities of a product. For example, a more sustainable recipe sounds great, but if it requires triple the amount of product to do the same job, the net carbon figures might rise.  

Therefore, it’s important to accept that a brand or product will never be perfect, but clear channels of communications explaining the direction a company is facing, and true and open investigations into your own sustainability failings are the only ways to be true to your messaging. 

Lego serves as a great case study to how a brand has accepted its unsustainable nature and made commitments towards a more sustainable future. In the aim of being open, honest and transparent, Lego have provided easy to understand infographics, a clear roadmap and frank explanations of shortcomings to communicate their sustainability message with real meaning rather than just a load of hot air. 

Consistently challenge your audience perception

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of making assumptions based on a media bubble, existing trends with advertising or by only listening to a loud minority. As our Reality Check 2022 report demonstrated, it’s absolutely essential to keep an ear to the ground on hot-topic issues and what consumers really care about. We found that its actually older generations who are making the bigger changes in their personal behaviour to help climate change, and the younger generations find themselves more concerned with the uncertain economy and money issues. 

While climate change is certainly a unifying concern, our research has really shown us it does not create unified action. 

We see those in affluent areas taking more steps towards climate change, but that’s not due to the fact lower/middle income backgrounds don’t care about climate change, it’s because it’s highly expensive to make dramatic lifestyle changes, and with monetary issues being a primary concern for working class families instead of climate change, disadvantaged families are more likely to prioritise price over a product’s ethical ramifications. 

Using this audience data, we can see that rather than preaching certain messages, or disregarding those who aren’t actively changing lifestyles – brands need to give consumers accessible entry points into a more sustainable life. Using data and information, we can also detect local factors that might result in a campaign being inauthentic and badly received, such as advertising the recycling of certain goods to districts or towns whose council does not provide such a service. 

Understanding your audience and the context in which they live is a fundamental step in moving a brand, and the industry as a whole, towards more sustainable goals. An initiative may fail not due to public dismissal or inaction, but due to unforeseen circumstances stemming from a lack of brand-side information. 

Cutting through white noise to create a green space 

It’s all well and good to budget and execute an environmental message, but all initiatives must have specific product benefits, and be in line with brand personality – you’ve got to have a clear right to play in the arena of sustainability. If messaging is out-of-sync with normal brand comms and without any real meaning, messages become convoluted and confusing for the consumer. 

Brands should look to sustainability as a way to build in memorable brand actions, and to build out brand personality – not as a bolt-on PR strategy to create a sustainable message. Small tactical campaigns can seem very inauthentic when not consistent to a brand image and your future aims as a business. 

Instead, to cut through the white noise and swell of micro campaigns speaking on sustainable projects, lean into the general trends (transport, diet, energy etc.) and find imaginative ways to capture engagement.