💚 Sustainability as a competitive advantage
How can companies communicate about sustainability in an authentic, trustworthy, powerful and future-oriented way? By having a sustainability strategy - created in 5 steps.
Hi 👋 I’m Florian Schleicher. This is the FutureStrategies newsletter of FUTURES. Thank you so much for reading along 💚
Do you think sustainability is important?
Probably yes.
And do you think you contribute a lot to it yourself?
I and many others would tend to say no.
That's the problem. Sustainability has an image problem!
One of the biggest mistakes we made was to talk about statistics and figures - all of which are correct - in relation to the green future and the climate crisis.
However, this does not inspire the masses because, as I have already written in recent posts, they are one thing above all: overloaded.
And that unfortunately leads us to a clear result:
The last decade has been a massive failure for climate policies worldwide. Instead of meaningfully reducing emissions, we mostly did: nothing. A lost decade with one negative record after another causes many people to feel helpless and hopeless.
And while this story is true, it is not the whole picture. The situation is serious but not hopeless. Many things have started to change for the better in recent years, and scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs everywhere are working on solutions. There are things we can do, and it is not too late.
If we want to change this, we need to inspire people.
We need an overarching story. We need to make sustainability sexy.
But if we simply implement random campaigns or launch a big sustainability campaign once every few years, that won't get us anywhere.
We need a sustainability strategy.
In the strategy, we define our approach to sustainability and what, how and why we communicate about it.
Today I describe how I develop these fundamental ideas and solutions together with my clients.
At the heart of this are a few key points. We need
a potential for why we want to promote sustainability.
a definition of what sustainability means for us as a brand.
a commitment from the very top - no strategy without a CEO.
actions that we take to improve our impact.
marketing activities to make our contribution visible.
The most important thing is: first the sustainability strategy. Then the appropriate marketing.
The basic principle of good communication is not without reason:
“Do good and talk about it.”
And not
“Talk a lot and then do some things”
So here's how I work this out together with my clients:
1️⃣ Why sustainability?
In hundreds of conversations with CEOs, CMOs, founders and marketing managers, I always hear the same message:
“I care deeply about sustainability.”
And yet we still see little progress. According to the latest UN 2024 report, we will only achieve 16% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And that means even more extreme weather events in the coming years.
Why do we have little progress?
Because sustainability is an investment.
Sustainability is a business thing, not a marketing thing, first and foremost. In other words, it’s something you should do at a wider business level, not something that is a quarterly spike of activity or anything like that.
Rob Estreitinho
A strong sustainability strategy will not directly bring us better results next quarter or year.
But it will ensure the continued existence of our company (and pleasant temperatures) over the next 5-10 years. So what are good reasons for a brand and company to invest in and focus on sustainability right now?
We can gain a competitive advantage over our competitors. Companies that have sustainability strategies achieve on average 11% higher profits than their unsustainable competitors. This is because their customers are more loyal and satisfied.
We can already create a framework for future legislation. Because when it comes to legislative amendments, pioneers such as the EU or California will always look to the market for inspiration.
We can be more attractive suppliers for big companies that have to integrate their sustainability impact into their reporting. 73% of all B2B buyers are already planning to delist partners if their sustainability efforts are insufficient.
And the most important thing from my point of view: we will find it easier to attract young talent as employees. This is because they increasingly no longer want to work for non-sustainable brands:
The most important thing in this first step is to determine together:
Why do we as a company or brand want to dedicate ourselves to the topic of sustainability? What do we expect from our investment and commitment?
Of course it is good if we are motivated by a future worth living, but because this is simply not tangible for many people, we need more “economic” motives.
➡️ Does your company need a sustainability strategy? ⬅️
If you want to develop a sustainability strategy for your company and a green marketing strategy that will give you a real competitive advantage, then let's talk.
I have been creating inspiring strategies for corporates, political decision-makers and start-ups since 2008. With my marketing studio FUTURES, I currently work with clients from 11 countries.
Once we have a clear picture of this, we can move on to the next step.
2️⃣ What does sustainability mean for your company?
90% of managers consider sustainability to be important. But only 60% of companies include sustainability in their strategy. And only 25% have integrated sustainability into their business model.
These are the findings of a BCG/MIT study, which calls it the “Knowing-Doing-Gap”.
One of the biggest problems and the reason for this discrepancy is that we don't have a clear definition of sustainability.
I bet I understand sustainability differently than you do.
And if we ask all of the now over 1,600 readers of my newsletter (thank you 🙏), we get hundreds of different definitions.
Other social movements had it easier: the introduction of voting rights for women or the abolition of slavery were also long journeys, but it was always clear to everyone what it was really about.
At the beginning of a sustainability strategy, we must therefore define what we as a company and brand understand by sustainability:
Sometimes sustainability means reducing CO₂ emissions.
Other times it means balancing positive impacts on profit, planet and people.
Some companies focus on social issues and gender equality.
And that's exactly why every strong sustainability communications strategy starts not with a message, but with clarification:
So what do we - as a company, as a brand, as people - actually mean by sustainability?
Only when we make this tangible can communication become credible and strategic. And all the definitions mentioned above are good and important. But they are so different that we need to sharpen them up.
This step is also about analyzing what your current impact is, because without the status quo, you can't define goals.
Sustainability is a game with no losers. The world gets a little bit better - a little healthier, a little more beautiful, a little more just and free - and you get to enjoy what it feels like to have made that difference.
Solitaire Townsend
3️⃣ Commitment from the very top
A communication strategy for sustainability is not a marketing or PR measure. It is a strategic positioning.
And it needs more than just an “okay” from the board - it has to be supported and shaped from the very top.
That's why I have a basic rule in my projects:
No sustainability strategy without the presence of the CEO or CFO in the workshop and at the target definition stage.
Otherwise, sustainability remains a marketing issue.
A nice topic. But also a weak one.
Because real sustainability touches on key questions:
How do we do business?
What conflicting goals do we accept?
How do we define success in the future?
If the top level does not develop a position on this - or does not communicate it openly - uncertainty arises. Both internally and externally. Employees don't know how serious we really are. And externally, every message comes across as a maneuver, not as conviction.
Plus: there will definitely be conflicts of interest. And when the going gets tough, teams need a clear guideline on how much sustainability can take center stage.
That's why I always get top management on board when developing a strategy. Not as a controlling body, but as co-creators.
It is very important to me that we get everyone on board with clear facts as described in point 1, but also with emotions. A good current example of this is this commercial, which manages to create a connection with the future:
Together with all decision-makers, we then define goals - how much, by when and in which area do we want to improve our sustainable impact?
Once we have commitment and goals, we move on to the next step:
4️⃣ Strong actions
Fortunately, there are already some very successful implementations by companies to strategically anchor and promote sustainability.
Depending on the definition of your own contribution to sustainability and the goals, there is a wide range of actions - today I want to present three particularly exciting ones here:
👷 Case 1: Everyone is a sustainability officer - Unilever
Unilever has set a strong example with an unusual campaign: For one day, all employees in the company were declared sustainability managers. On arrival at the office, everyone received a business card with the title “Head of Sustainability” as well as a handbook with their tasks.
Especially in large organizations, it is important that employees not only hear but also feel the relevance and urgency of sustainable action.
As Solitaire Townsend writes in this Forbes article:
“It’s about everyone considering sustainability a part of their responsibilities so they can help drive their organisation towards faster and smarter action.”
Such campaigns have the potential to change perspectives and anchor sustainable thinking. At the same time, the question remains as to whether Unilever will consistently live up to this claim in everyday life - or whether it will remain symbolic actions. After all, true sustainability begins not only in the calendar, but also in the supply chains, management objectives and product strategies.
💰 Case 2: Internal carbon tax - Microsoft
Anyone who works in a large company knows that it's not always easy to get the other departments excited about sustainability. Everyone is focused on their own goals, and these rarely have anything to do with sustainability.
Microsoft has developed an exciting idea for this: The internal Microsoft Carbon Tax is a pricing system that has been in place since 2012. Microsoft levies a “CO₂ tax” on all business units in the company based on their CO₂ emissions.
This means that every team, every department - from product development to marketing - pays a certain amount internally per tonne of CO₂ generated by their activities. This includes electricity consumption, business travel, advertising emissions and emissions in the supply chain, for example. The effect: all departments are suddenly much more aware of their CO₂ emissions - because nobody likes paying taxes.
The money does not simply flow into a budget pot, but is used specifically for CO₂ compensation and removal, investments in sustainable innovations or climate-neutral infrastructure.
Microsoft has continued to increase this internal CO₂ price over the years in order to strengthen incentives and enable new measures.
An internal pricing system is not “greenwashing”, but a strategic lever. It makes emissions not only visible, but tangible - and creates a binding bridge between ecological and economic management.
In other words:
A good sustainability strategy doesn't just need stories. It also needs structures. If you really want to anchor sustainability strategically, you have to create incentives - and place responsibility where decisions are made.
⭐️ Case 3: Linking bonus systems with sustainability - Gerresheimer
Truly involving employees to bring the strategy to life is crucial. An exciting step that many companies, including Oatly, are already taking is linking bonus systems to sustainability goals.
A concrete example of this is Gerresheimer, a manufacturer of packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.
The company has implemented a bonus system in which 60% of the bonus is allocated to quantitative (profit-oriented) targets and 40% to qualitative targets, with 10% of the qualitative targets relating to ecological aspects.
This means that the management promotes sustainable innovations through targeted impetus and freedom, such as the development of a cleaning process that reduces water consumption by up to 45%.
The full financial bonus can only be achieved once this 10% has also been achieved.
Fortunately, there are already a large number of exciting strategies relating to sustainability. In my workshops, I therefore always bring the company and suitable actions with me as inspiration.
5️⃣ Bridging to marketing
Marketing comes into play as the last step of a strategy.
If we have a real strategy, then we can think about how to communicate it to reap the rewards of our efforts.
And also to inspire consumers for a more sustainable future.
“Being a good marketer is like having super powers: you can change people’s behaviour, you can shape the way they see the world. But with great power, of course, comes great responsibility.”
Arwa Mahdawi, Brand Strategist
But here, too, we have to recognize that 99% of all consumers do not want to buy sustainably, as Frédéric Dalsace and Goutam Challagalla describe:
With any purchase, consumers are first trying to get a specific job done. Only after they find something that will help them do that job—and only if sustainability is important to them—will they look for a product that in addition confers a social or environmental advantage. No one decides to buy a chocolate bar to, say, improve the working conditions of farmers on the Ivory Coast. People buy chocolate, first and foremost, because they want to indulge in a small pleasure. No one decides to buy an electric car to prevent climate change. People buy cars because they need transportation; reducing their carbon footprint is an ancillary benefit.
Successful brands have recognized this and adapted their communication accordingly: Sustainability is not the top 1 topic but plays second or third fiddle:
Green Toys, for example, who put the safety of their 100% recycled toys - number 1 according to their website - above their environmental friendliness.
Or the shoe brand Allbirds, which describes its alternative materials in terms of both comfort and sustainability: 'Our shoes are light and airy', made from 'cushioning' sugar cane.
So it's about benefits for customers that are not just about sustainability.
Sustainability pioneer Solitaire Townsend describes this aspect in her book “Not To Late”:
Go beyond guilt-busting feel-good offerings and tell your customer how sustainability has upgraded your product in more ways than one. This banishes the sustainability marketer's enemy: worthiness. And above all, it makes sure you've answered any consumer's biggest question: What's in it for me?'
Marketing can do much more than we often think.
It knows the challenge of getting an entire organization excited about a topic - without telling people what to do.
Marketing experts know how to change behavior without creating resistance. How to tell stories without putting themselves at the center. And that's exactly why marketing can play a key role in sustainability - if it's done well.
Because to be honest, sustainability teams today are often where marketing used to be when it came to digitalization - with a clear vision but little backing. Between idealism and reality. Between PowerPoint and practice.
But it doesn't have to stay that way.
🎬 My conclusion
Sustainability needs more than a good gut feeling or a nice campaign.
It needs clarity, courage and a strong foundation. As an investment for the long-term survival of companies. Because acting strategically now gives you a real advantage: more loyal customers, more credible communication, more motivated employees and a place in the future.
In my workshops, I work with companies to develop exactly that: a sustainability strategy that fits the brand, the environment, works in everyday life - and makes a difference. No buzzword bingo, but a clear process with tangible results.
The outcomes of this are:
A clear diagnosis of the status quo
An inspiring vision around sustainability
Strong and marketable actions.
If you now have the feeling “I want that too” - get in touch with me and together we will discover how sustainability can give your company a strategic competitive advantage.
Thanks for reading along,