Our guest today is Nicole Aysan. She's a Brand Strategist at Cisco, with a background in environmental science, marketing, and design. A supporter and advocate for climate justice and mental health, in her free time, Nicole designs and organizes environmental activism events and experiences. She also provides thought leadership on the value of creativity in the marketing industry as a member of the Canadian Marketing Association's Creativity Counsel.

Episode Highlights:

• Bringing the topic of sustainability to work (2:46): Nicole infuses sustainability in all areas of her life. "I am definitely an activist. I support a lot of climate justice initiatives across Canada, especially the ones that build community and resilience, as well as teach media literacy and how it impacts the climate movement. I also volunteer with the David Suzuki Foundation's Butterflway Project, which is this amazing national grassroots initiative to educate on the importance of pollinators like bees and monarch butterflies, and establish community-led native plant gardens all over the country."
• Understanding ESG from a marketing perspective (4:20): Environmental, social, and governance topics have become a major focus for business over the last decade. "I think it's probably one of the hottest topics in marketing right now. At Cisco. I'm working primarily on ESG topics, including sustainability, social justice, and then from a governance perspective, diversity, equity, and inclusion and hybrid work are areas we producing a lot of content marketing around."
• The role of brands and agencies in ESG communication (6:35): "A lot of what we do as a marketing industry doesn't really promote sustainability. It's actually the opposite. We're in the business of driving people to buy and consume more. We also need to avoid misleading messaging in marketing and communications. Greenwashing is rampant right now. That's the practice of making a brand appear more sustainable than they really are. A very big example is BP's (British Petroleum) award winning carbon footprint calculator from the early 2000s that puts the responsibility of climate change on the individual, not the 100 oil and gas companies responsible for 70% of the emissions."
• If you are considering a career in marketing as it relates to ESG, what should you think about? (15:07) "Having an understanding of business functions outside of marketing is critical, especially if you want to move into a leadership position. The more skills you can build and add to your toolbox, the more likely it is you're going to find a position that really aligns because ESG is such a multidisciplinary area. And there's a broad variety of knowledge and skill sets you will need in order to apply to roles within the space. If you're interested in this topic, there's no shortage of work to be done!"

For more insight into an exciting and growing area of marketing, in which we can hope to make some real, measurable impact 🎧 listen to Nicole Aysan's conversation with CMA's own John Wiltshire.