“We need to get back to classic marketing – what matters to our audience is a must. Even those people who don’t ‘buy into’ sustainability – up to 70% of them are actually engaged in sustainable behaviours – they just don’t label it as sustainable….”

In this episode were joined by Denise Hicks, Global Climate Lead at strategy and insights consultancy, C-Space. We were particularly interested in a very soon to be published piece of research titled, ‘The S Word’.

Denise shares insights from the research findings, highlighting the ‘dysfunctional love triangle’ that exists between brands, their stakeholders and regulations and the tensions and frictions which are causing trust issues.

We explore some of the key highlights from the research (due out January 2025), Denise reveals, “consumers are frustrated, the problem is stuff – there is too much stuff and brands / manufacturers need to start taking responsibility”. She also talks about, “the increasing amount of skepticism at all level at the ways the S word is used for commercial gain”.

Denise shares some brilliant examples of brands who are showing up in this space and engaging with their customers however, whilst they have sustainability high up on their agendas, they aren’t leading with it – rather they are leading with good old fashion marketing tactics around what benefits their customers. The fact they are also sustainability focused is an added benefit.

Denise explains, “the need to get back to classic marketing – what matters to our audience is a must. Even those people who don’t ‘buy into’ sustainability – up to 70% of them are actually engaged in sustainable behaviours – they just don’t label it as sustainable.” Sustainability paralysis is very real, the need for strong listening, insights and learning about what truly matters to audiences has never been greater. This episode is a MUST LISTEN TO for all Marketers….packed with plenty of food for thought!

Tune in and listen as we talk to Denise about:

The importance of research.

Sustainability paralysis and why it is very real.

Why it is so important to understand the views of everybody and where they are at.

The need to drive mutual benefit and work together collectively.

How regulation plays an important part - but we can’t just wait for it, all stakeholders need to keep moving forwards.

Why brands / Marketers need to be asking - is sustainability a big part of our identity as a brand?

The need to meet your audiences where they are at and focus on what matter to them – elements which aren’t necessarily sustainability related.

What it means to behave more responsibly and asking what’s the role of responsible products and services in achieving a ‘better life’.

This really is a fantastic episode to wrap up all our 2024 conversations. Tune in, enjoy it, share it - and of course, share your comments.

Find out more information about C-Space and the work they do. Connect with Denise Hicks - and you can register to receive The S Word research once published.

We’ve got plenty more terrific conversations coming in 2025. Stay tuned… and here’s to more.

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About us…

We help Marketers save the planet. 🌍

Join the Marketers and organisations who have signed our manifesto, engage with our newsletter and training and, work with us to communicate sustainability more effectively. Sign our Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, work with us, and join us on our mission. Get in touch to chat.

You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

Businesses need to be asking themselves – “What could this business be, redesigning it from the ground up?” Start with the opportunity as opposed to the challenges.

We know communication and engagement is critical to driving change, a su bject we have explored many times on the podcast, but there’s always something new to learn. Hence why we really enjoyed meeting Laurence and Graeme from Litmus Sustainability to talk more deeply about a subject which is very close to our hearts.

Setting up their business with the aim of helping creative and ambitious organisations integrate sustainability into the core of what they do, Laurence and Graeme are working across a wide range of areas with communication playing a vital role. The need to focus on the long term vision, understand the short term wins and, navigate the challenges and confusion when you’re told one thing is good (e.g. offsetting) - and then finding out it’s bad, are all part of the complex learning curve when it comes to sustainability.

Graeme talks about the need to level up your game, he explains, “businesses need to do something really exciting that capture people’s imaginations, so thinking what could this business be, redesigning it from the ground up.” An approach and way of thinking which drives long term vision and opportunity to do something unique, as opposed to starting with the challenges.

We discuss the need for climate skills and how mobilising an army of climate champions can drive hope and motivate people who then often go on to become experts in the field (of sustainability). Laurence, talks about the fact that technical expertise isn’t always the most impactful thing. He explains, “the greatest climate skill I think is communication, one piece of research into what makes a great sustainable leader revealed it’s skills like collaboration, negotiation, influence and effective communication, once engaged this is what brings great ideas which can be uses on the ground”. And of course these are all key traits of Marketers.

We delve deep into communication with both Laurence and Graeme sharing many insights and examples...a great conversation and source of knowledge for Marketers everywhere.

 Tune in and listen as we talk to Laurence and Graeme about:

The barriers to sustainability – ‘it’s not easy being green’.

How businesses are integrating sustainability into the core of what they do and as a result taking their organisations forward.

The 9 principles of effective climate communication - taken from their work and evidence of what works for different people and psychologies.

The need for Marketers to start and change the conversations.

The difference between communication and engagement.

How communicating and influencing other people has a much greater impact than acting alone.

How we need to level up our knowledge about good communication and link it back to the core values of what drives a person’s behaviour.

What your unique superpower is in bringing ‘good’ to the world.

For more information you can contact the team via : https://litmussustainability.com/

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/litmus-sustainability/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvMk_MGGoooRGnfn3uzcb9A

Dr Graeme Heyes was also involved in a piece of work with a local community group looking to embed Doughnut Economics across Greater Manchester through engagement with communities. You can find out more here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/transform-gm

________________________________________________________________________________

About us…

We help Marketers save the planet. 🌍

Join the Marketers and organisations who have signed our manifesto, engage with our newsletter and training and, work with us to communicate sustainability more effectively. Sign our Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, work with us, and join us on our mission. Get in touch to chat.

You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

“We don’t ’speak for young people, we let them be the voice and share their perspective.”

We keep coming back to the S – ‘social and societal impact’ in many of our conversations with clients, leaders and marketers, we’re discussing the role of business, both in how they operate and what they are doing for society.

In this episode of the podcast we have a chat with the brilliant Kian Bakhtiari, Founder of The People, a Gen-Z consultancy. We were keen to know more about the work Kian does both with the youth generation and businesses, how he brings those worlds together (which is very much needed). Kian explains, “We’ve applied such a narrow lens to how business can be done, how marketing can be done that we’ve lost track of the opportunities and all the ways that we can create a more flourishing society and more sustainable future.” Kian tells us about how the younger generation feel and think about the world they are growing up in, making the point, “Wealth inequalities are a bigger determinant of your future than your education and how hard you work.” Kian and his teams bring Gen Z insights into the boardroom, they want to close the gap between as he says, “those who make the decisions and those whose lives are impacted by the decisions”, opening up opportunities to share knowledge and insights both ways and, and create a space to explore how we can change business.

A new author, Kian has recently published his book, ‘Marketing for Social Change – How to Turn Purpose into Business and Social Impact’ , a book which explores and asks the question – What is the role of marketing in the 21st century? Like us, Kian firmly believes that marketing has a significant role to play and if harnessed in the right way can accelerate social change. “We need to find ways to bring business and communities together.” When asked how he would measure social impact, Kian shares, “There are lots of different lenses on social impact- start by being neutral, then bring in meaningful connection and impact.” “Start small – it can be really overwhelming at a system level. What is something you can do today which might have an impact and go from there.”

Tune in and listen as we talk to Kian about:

The importance of the role of marketing in driving positive impact on society.

Why he wrote his new book ‘Marketing for Social Change’ and what he learnt.

Thinking about the way things are done, outside the ways things are currently done.

The work he does with the youth community and, diverse communities.

Understanding what businesses want from the future.

What unifying factors young people are finding challenging.

Social impact and how we can approach it and measure it.

For more, follow and connect with Kian here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kianbakhtiari/

And to find out more about The People and the work they do - here https://www.thepeople.work/

Kian talks about Earth Watch -and more can be found here: https://earthwatch.org.uk/

And check out his new book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marketing-Social-Change-Purpose-Business/dp/1398616842

________________________________________________________________________________

About us…

We help Marketers save the planet. 🌍

Join the Marketers and organisations who have signed our manifesto, engage with our newsletter and training and, work with us to communicate sustainability more effectively. Sign our Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, work with us, and join us on our mission. Get in touch to chat.

You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

“When it comes to food systems, Marketers can be the most valuable in providing extraordinary consumer insights so that assumptions are not made in what people want.”

To maintain food security, food systems need to change. They need to be more sustainable, less impactful on the planet, healthier and way less wasteful. But, there is still a huge amount of education and awareness that needs to happen if people are to truly understand why food systems are at risk and, how we choose what we eat really does matter.

In this super informative episode, we were joined by Ali Cox, CEO and Founder of Noble West, an agriculture and food ingredient marketing agency taking on a big challenge. Ali believes that, “the biggest challenge is that consumers (in the USA) are confused. Research shows that people make their food choices based on price, taste and availability – climate is a very distant fourth.”

Socioeconomic factors are definitely a challenge, however how we market food also needs to change. Ali shares with us her experiences both as a fifth generation farmer herself and the experiences of the farmers and organisations she works with. Truly passionate about ingredients and telling great stories, Ali wants the food industry to play the role it should be playing in educating and being part of the solution when it comes to tackling the enormous challenges around food security.  

Ali shares so many examples of projects she has worked on and the brands she believes are getting their marketing right. We explore the need for shared value and the importance of meeting people where they are at.

Tune in and listen as we talk to Ali about:

Imperfect food and the difference between food loss and food waste.

The significant business opportunity being missed when it comes to waste.

Why upcycling is the future.

Whether we really need so many options when it comes to food?

The need to tell the origin stories and why we should absolutely want to know where our food comes from.

How Marketers need to understand what people really want so that they can bring those insights back into their organisations.

For more, follow and connect with Ali here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicox/

And to find out more about Noble West and the work they do - here https://wearenoblewest.com/

It’s the final episode in our mini-series on sustainable leadership and in this episode we’re joined by Professor Chris Marquis. Chris talks to us about his experience studying, writing about and working with organisations on sustainability. Author of, “Better Business: How the B Corp Movement Is Remaking Capitalism,” we explore Chris’ first experience of B-Corp, a movement setting new standards for how business should operate. Chris believes we can learn a lot from B-Corps, “we should be studying B corporations, companies that are putting the social at their core.”

We discussed the critical component of the internal pieces which need to happen to “align with the idea of mindset and leadership,” but aren’t necessarily “the remit of just the leaders around ability and driving the impact.” As has been a consistent theme throughout this mini-series, “leadership can happen anywhere.”

So, if you are looking to find out more about the B-Corp movement, are curious about what steps you should consider or, want to explore internal engagement and sustainable leadership a bit more, then tune in and have a listen!

Join us on this episode as we talk to Chris about:

The B-Corp process

The B-Impact Assessment (link below)

The challenges of being a leader today

Key skills of a sustainable leader

The importance of internal communication and engagement

The need to be accountable to a broader set of stakeholders

For more, follow and connect with Chris on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-marquis/

B Impact Assessment - can be accessed here: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/programs-and-tools/b-impact-assessment/

Thanks to Chris for a great episode to conclude our Sustainable Leadership mini-series. Stay tuned for more episodes and mini-series, we’ve got a packed schedule. And if you love the podcast, do share with colleagues, peers and friends.

As we continue to discuss and explore the role of leadership in our ‘Sustainable Leadership’ mini-series, what better than to gain the viewpoint from someone with sustainability at the core of everything they do. This led us to Kevin Dunckley, Chief Sustainability Officer at HH Global.

Kevin’s passion for what he does is crystal clear and we loved our conversation with him talking about the practicalities of being a hands-on CSO - what’s involved, where the challenges lie and more importantly, unearthing the opportunities.

Kevin shares, “the sustainability strategy for our organisation is my responsibility - along with my team, what that looks like and also how it comes to life with our clients.” We further explore the stakeholder chain and how important it is that everyone is aware and knows the role they play in driving the agenda, from supply chain partners to clients, customers and colleagues.

There’s a critical role internal engagement plays, an area Kevin has been placing a lot of focus on, driving collaboration and enabling invaluable different perspectives. Kevin explained, “everything’s interconnected in terms of sustainability. Something goes wrong over there and the ripple effect can be huge. Likewise, if something goes right the ripple effect can be really positive. You have to kind of de-compartmentalise it and put it in buckets in your head, so it doesn’t feel as daunting. But, you don’t have to do it alone.”

Driving internal engagement and ensuring everyone understands the objectives and direction of the sustainability agenda should be a priority for every organisation. From driving progress through to shaping a culture that’s inclusive and makes people want to work for you has got to be at the top of the list.

And as we discuss, this is an area we see missing so often - organisations focus on outward facing agendas, yet missing the critical internal piece.

We take a deep dive into this and so much more, so headphones on.

Join us on this episode as we talk to Kevin about:

What you can achieve if you mobilise all your employees and stakeholders.

How enormous capacity and capability is unlocked when everyone is armed effectively and engaged through shared knowledge and bringing people together.

The role of marketing as creative problem solvers.

The need for a common language between sustainability and marketing to minimse the risk of greenwashing and maximise understanding.

How every function has sustainability in their role.

What you need to be a sustainable leader.

Tune in and have a notepad and pen ready!

For more, follow and connect with Kevin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevindunckley/

Another great episode in our Sustainable Leadership mini-series. One more to come. Stay tuned. And if you love the podcast, do share with colleagues, peers and friends.

Continuing with our Sustainable Leadership mini-series, in this second episode we’re joined by the brilliant Jon Miller, author and Partner at Brunswick Group, leading their Sustainable Business Practice. We wanted to catch up with Jon to talk about a subject which led him to co-author the book, The Activist Leader.

Join us as we dive into the activist mindset and how anyone can becoman activist leader, something business and the world needs right now.

Jon shares five key archetype activist leaders, what they are and how they show up – something all our listeners can explore and find out which Activist Leader archetype you are.

Jon states that “there is more than one leader in an organisation and having the spirit of activism is what creates you as a leader, and that is the animating force of leadership – the definition of leadership.” Leadership isn’t just for the c-suite, when it comes to people and planet, we can all (and should) be leaders.

The need for more than one activist leader and connecting them is fundamental to progress and change, Jon talks about “pockets of activism” which can be found all around organisations, and how input from these activist leaders is critical to commercial imperatives and enabling the long-term sustainability of a business. Every organisation needs to be asking, “what are the consequences of not doing this?”

We could have talked to Jon for hours, he shares so much of his experience as well as giving great examples of brands, leaders and action.

Tune in and have a notepad and pen ready!

Join us on this episode as we talk to Jon about:

How organisations are inextricably part of the big issues, and how they can be part of the solutions too.

The five key archetype activist leaders – which one are you?

How to find your activist leaders.

The role of marketing and the need for strategic rigour and creative courage.

·How Marketers are bad at marketing themselves.

Learning how to think ‘systems’ in order to drive progress.

How Marketers can change the conversation.

For more, follow and connect with Jon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmillerxx/

Visit The Activist Leader website for more info on finding out about his book and the 5 archetypes.

Open for Business - The initiative supporing LGBTQ rights

Another great episode in our Sustainable Leadership mini-series. More to come. Stay tuned. And if you love the podcast, do share with colleagues, peers and friends.

________________________________________________________________________________

About us…

We help Marketers save the planet. 🌍

Join the Marketers and organisations who have signed our manifesto, engage with our newsletter and training and, work with us to communicate sustainability more effectively. Sign our Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, work with us, and join us on our mission. Get in touch to chat.

You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

It’s another mini-series and this one is all about leadership, something which is incredibly important as we come together and take on the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced (and nope, we’re not being overly dramatic).

Sustainable leadership is about making a positive impact, contributing to society and the environment and, driving long-term performance for business. Sustainable leadership is a big role and a role which is open to everyone, something you’ll discover as we go through this 4-part series.

To kick things off, we’re joined by Karen Hamilton, former Global VP for Sustainability at Unilever. Karen spent over 30 years at Unilever and worked alongside Paul Polman who believed, “sustainability can be part of the way that we fix the business”. Karen played a key part in driving the organisation to ‘make sustainable living commonplace’, deliver the the Unilever “Sustainable Living Plan” – a 10 year plan with 50 time-bound targets. Karen shares how this was the start of the journey to change the organisation.

Throughout this episode, Karen generously shares her wealth of knowledge and experience, talks about the different approaches she took, how sustainability was cascaded through such an enormous network of people and gives some great practical examples.

Join us on this episode as we talk to Karen about:

Karen’s role and journey at Unilever

How to mobilise and engage a global network of employees and suppliers

Why transparency is so important when it comes to communicating your sustainability agenda

The role of ambition when it comes to sustainability

Why we all need a leadership mindset

The role of marketing in driving sustainability

For more, follow and connect with Karen on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-hamilton-a1393a27/

A great first episode in our Sustainable Leadership mini-series. More to come. Stay tuned. And if you love the podcast, do share with colleagues, peers and friends.

________________________________________________________________________________

About us…

We help Marketers save the planet. 🌍

Join the Marketers and organisations who have signed our manifesto, engage with our newsletter and training and, work with us to communicate sustainability more effectively. Sign our Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, work with us, and join us on our mission. Get in touch to chat.

You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

In the final episode of our ‘greening your marketing activity’ mini-series, we caught up with some of our original guests to the podcast, Ollie Deane and Guy Jones from The GoodNet, the ethical intelligence company, focusing on helping ethical brands and products grow. The Goodnet firmly believe that advertising can do good in the world and, we agree with and support their mission!

Ollie and Guy shared their journey since last coming on the podcast a couple of years ago, sharing what is happening in the media space. They introduced us to GoodIQ, their intelligence tool which measures sustainability metrics. They share their advice on what brands, agencies and Marketers need to be considering when it comes to making ethical media choices which not only support their organisations sustainable agendas, but help their audiences lead better, more sustainable lives.

Join us on this episode as we talk to Ollie and Guy about:

Ethical media, sustainability and advertising

GoodIQ, their media planning and measurement tool

Being more sustainable with your marketing spend and how to measure the results

Upcoming regulations and how they are driving focus and conversations

Whether ads are driving more awareness and sustainable behaviour in line with changing market needs?

For more information about The Goodnet and GoodIQ - visit https://wearethegoodnet.com/

And to connect with them on LinkedIn - Ollie Deane and Guy Jones

A great final episode in our greening your marketing channels mini-series. We did cover a few more areas in our latest book too - so you can always pick up a copy for more practical solutions.

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You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

“When it comes to including sustainability in events - we’re finding the focus on sustainability is increasingly part of the client brief.”

As we continue with our greening your marketing activity mini-series, we wanted to turn our attention to events. Events can be fun, they allow us to learn and connect, but they also come with a considerable footprint and impact, mainly from travel, food and that infamous swag. However, the events landscape is evolving and sustainability is an increasingly growing focal point. We met up with Matilda Riley, an expert in sustainable events. Matilda talks openly and frankly about all the different areas that events impact and how there are sustainable alternatives and choices for pretty much every element when it comes to planning and running an event. Matilda tells us that she now sees sustainability on the majority (approx. 90%) of all briefs coming in from clients, which is a big and positive step change.

Sharing so many ideas, solutions and ways you can make your event not only more sustainable but, more creative, engaging and successful, you won’t want to miss out.

Join us on this episode as we talk to Matilda about:

What you need to consider when planning and running an event

How sustainability is now included on the majority of briefs

How events are part of your scope 3 emissions so need to be part of your standards

How to be proactive and not reactive

Getting creative and doing things differently in a way that brings new life to your events for your organisation and, your audience.

For more information about ECO3 and From Now - visit https://from-now.com/

And to connect with Matilde via LinkedIn - she’s here

Another great episode… and still more to follow in this greening your marketing channels mini-series - so stay tuned.

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You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.