The Four C's of Survival

How Sustainable Communications Can Help You Get Through the Recession

Posted by Diana Verde Nieto on 05.21.09 @ 09:08 AM

Diana Verde Nieto

Sustainable communication is key to getting through today's recession. Diana Verde Nieto, CEO of Clownfish, a sustainability and communications consultancy, offers the four Cs of survival.

Consumers are increasingly demanding that the brands they interact with are environmentally and socially responsible. According to Havas Media, globally, 79% would prefer to buy products from environmentally responsible companies. This burgeoning movement of conscious consumers isn't found only in wealthy Western economies; consumers in emerging markets such as Brazil, China and India are even more engaged than their peers in Europe and the U.S.

Responding to the sustainability agenda creates a competitive advantage for brands that actively communicate with consumers on the issues that matter to them. Moving from passive, one-dimensional communications to active engagement adds real value because it enables a brand to deliver a service in addition to a product, helping consumers reduce their environmental impact. But this can be a credible strategy only if the brand can demonstrate a real commitment to responsible business and sustainability. Environmental and social messages are simply not enough.

In a global market that's being hit hard by an economic downturn, it's no surprise that the focus for most marketing is value. In a crowded market, where every brand is pushing a value message, competitive advantage will come from differentiation. And in this context, sustainable communication offers real opportunities for enhancing brand equity. The brands that master it will be better placed to ride out the recession and poised to capture sizable market share when it ends.

So what is sustainable communication? It's about dematerialization, increasing the emotional value of a brand while decreasing the physical resources used in creating its communications. Enhancing the emotional value of your brand engenders loyalty and trust -- both highly valuable assets.

Sustainable communication is not about turning brands green overnight or using natural or typically "green" iconography in your communications. In fact, this approach can lead to accusations of "greenwashing," especially if you're in the automobile or petrochemical sector. Instead, it's about creating compelling communications, underpinned by fact, with a clear call to action for consumers.

There is a tangible opportunity for brands that create effective sustainable communications to stand out in a crowded market. Communications companies need to help build trust between business and consumers, especially when it comes to communicating sustainability. Consumers are skeptical and confused. Recent research from Forrester Research shows that as many as 77% of them don't believe the environmental claims made by brands. GfK-Roper reports that 64% want third-party verification of green claims. Confusion and lack of trust are among the main reasons consumers do not buy sustainable products.

At the same time, the market context is changing, because digital is transforming business dynamics. The power of search is incredible. Consumers can find anything, anytime, anywhere -- and they are actively seeking information about the brands with which they interact. There is simply no longer anywhere to hide.

But companies are missing opportunities to tap the interactive potential of the web, provide transparency and engage with a wider consumer base. That said, it is estimated that in the next 12 to 18 months, 60% of companies will move to digital-marketing activities in order to communicate more sustainably. And it will save them money, too, because digital offers real-time, measurable data on the effectiveness of campaigns, thereby improving efficiency and marketing ROI.

So what does it take to create sustainable communications? At Clownfish, we believe there are four principles, which conveniently fit into four C's: credibility, clarity, consistency and conversation. Putting them together in a creative solution will help to regain the trust of consumers.

Credibility: This means no more fluff. Communications have to be underpinned by robust, verifiable technical data. This may not sound exciting, but it's important, because sustainability communications without substance are being singled out by nongovernmental organizations and are even being banned. In the U.K. in 2007, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that 19 ads should be withdrawn for making misleading green claims, a rise from the 10 banned in 2006.

Clarity: Clear, genuine, authentic messages promote transparency, and research shows there is a positive correlation between transparency and trust. This means that instead of making vague statements about being "eco-friendly," touch points need to be tangible. According to Shelton Group, 88% of consumers have a positive association with the concept of energy efficiency, while only 62% feel the same way about "green." Eco-labeling, while sometimes helpful, does not always provide clarity. When Boots, a British retailer, surveyed its consumers after labeling a line of shampoos with its carbon footprint, they found that 28% didn't know that a product's carbon footprint was related to climate change.

Consistency: Sustainability is not a trend. In fact, at Clownfish, we believe it's the business model for the 21st century. Sustainability is systemic and not about tackling single issues. As such, it should be applied consistently across business processes. Companies need to develop long-term sustainability strategies that are matched by rigorous business discipline and create a movement, not a campaign. Consistency is also important in the sense that messages must resonate with the company's existing voice in the marketplace.

Conversation: In the old world of the Mad Men, the brands that won were those that told the best stories. But digital is changing that. In the new world, the brands that win will be those whose consumers and other stakeholders tell the best stories. It used to be a one-way narrative, and now it's a two-way conversation. Tap the interactive potential of the internet to engage your critics as well as allow your fans to get penetration into the blogosphere and create a clear call to action for your consumers.

But remember that ultimately (and this is coming from a sustainability-communications consultancy), what you do is more important that what you say.

6 Comments

  By sixstringsnc | Raleigh, NC May 22, 2009 09:59:43 am:

Very interesting post, Diana, and I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, I wrote about a similar perspective last year on my blog, A Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious": http://blindingglimpse.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/sustainable-public-relations-a-proposed-philosophy-practice/

I'd be interested in your thoughts. Thanks!

Roger Friedensen, APR
Senior Vice President
The Catevo Group
@sixstringsnc

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  By stevekunkel | Galesburg, MI May 22, 2009 10:01:51 am:

Diana,
Excellent post. Too many companies and brands think of "green" as a marketing campaign. Consumers are too smart for that and will hold you accountable. The brands that get this, will be rewarded.

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  By bgrossmangmg | SOMERVILLE, MA May 22, 2009 11:56:11 am:

Hi Diana - great post. Thanks for writing.

I've often written and counseled my clients on the importance of transparency. It's critical for companies to understand that sustainability isn't something they can just say they do. Customers are smart and they are conversant with the issues. Therefore, they can discern a real commitment to sustainability. Successful messages are ones that are transparent. You should give people a way to dig down and investigate your claims and statements. If you work at it and you are sincere, you can use sustainability as a competitive advantage. I've covered these issues more on my blog at http://www.sustainableink.org.

Many thanks,
Ben Grossman
Director, Green Marketing & Sustainability Practice
Grossman Marketing Group
@bigrossman

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  By azmm | freeport May 22, 2009 01:11:05 pm:

Hi Diana - Thanks for your post.

Its difficult to diasgaree in the substance of your post. I would however place transparency and trust in the "credibility" C, rather than the "clarity" C.

There is a proliferation in the "trust marketing" not just in the greeen fraternity but in the wider marketing perpspective. I have found that financial services are more engaging more and more marketing spend into trust marketing and understandably so.

I agree that you in that green marketing cannot just be a good talking point for organizations. They must substantiate the rhetoric with action via an engagement plan

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  By jamesfarrar | San Fran, CA May 23, 2009 10:10:45 am:

Hello Diana

Nice post. I do believe effective communication can be make or break for the efficacy of a corporate sustainability programme. If the firm fails to win the trust of essential stakeholders then the strategy has to be questioned.

At SAP we recognise we have a dual responsibility to be a technology solution provider for sustainability BUT to be credible in such a market we believe that it is also essential for all market participants to walk the talk. Not only that but its essential to provide third party assurance to significant sustainability stakeholder communications such as the corporate sustainability report.

This means an essential opening up of the firm to embrace stakeholder conversation about their expectations of our sustainability performance. In our recently launched sustainability report we allow the reader not only to interrogate the data but also to interrogate the executives in an open, on line forum also.

Here is a link to SAP's sustainability report and to our on line forum. We'd love to have your critique of these efforts in loight of your insightful post here.

www.sapsustainabilityreport.com
https://cw.sdn.sap.com/community/sustainabilityatsap

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  By rgeoffreystevens | Santa Barbara, CA May 28, 2009 12:33:58 am:

Good article, Diana. Folks often assume interactive marketing is "green" because it doesn't use up reams of paper sending junk mail to audiences who motly just throw it out. But a popular web site or a large email campaign can still use a significant amount of energy, thereby increasing the carbon footprint. Working with partners who run on green or renewable energy can help decrease this (our web site is solar powered, for example).

But socially responsible marketing is really more than how much carbon you produce, it's about the impact you have on the people around you. The traditional paradigm was about broadly distributing one-way minimally-targeted messaging in an attempt to tell audiences what they should think or how they should feel. But as consumers become increasingly savvy with interactive media, they are not surprisingly developing the expectation that we actually interact with them. And like any other member of a community that interacts with each other, advertisers are rewarded more and more for being authentic and adding value.

The new paradigm, which is being driven by consumer behaviors in media use and consumption pushing the industry to a tipping point, is to view advertising as a service. This is really just a re-emergence of original principles: select your audience carefully, listen to what they tell you, and make your message pertinent. And of course, be consistent across all the different interactive channels you operate.

Further thoughts on green and socially responsible marketing are avaialble at http://www.intersynthesis.com/About/SocialResponsibility.html

R. Geoffrey Stevens
President & CEO
Intersynthesis, Inc.

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