We’ve all been there: mesmerized by sleek, eye-catching products adorned with enticing labels such as “eco-friendly” and “all-natural,” promising a guilt-free purchase. But despite these claims, you still have that lingering feeling: are these companies really practicing what they preach? With the rising demand from Gen Z and millennial consumers for sustainable options, it’s absolutely vital for marketers to grasp the nuances of sustainability marketing in order to authentically promote their brand.

What is Sustainability Marketing?

Sustainability marketing extends beyond merely promoting an eco-friendly product. It’s an all encompassing effort that involves holding businesses accountable to legitimate green initiatives. This is important for a multitude of reasons. For one, stakeholders, particularly consumers and activists groups, are quick to call out companies that use greenwashing marketing techniques. Greenwashing refers to a tactic made by companies to create misinformed or false statements about the environmental impacts of a product. An infamous example of greenwashing is Volkswagen, where the car company deliberately cheated on their vehicle emission tests while creating advertisement campaigns boasting of their low emissions rates. As the future health of our planet becomes more uncertain, consumers don’t want vague or false placations when it comes to sustainability: they want the real deal.

Government Policies

Beyond consumers and activists groups, governments are also beginning to prioritize transparency in sustainability marketing. The EU parliament recently passed a law that will prevent businesses from making insufficient or inaccurate green claims such as “biodegradable” or “environmentally friendly” in their products or advertisements. European countries including France, Amsterdam, and Sweden recently banned the advertisement of fossil fuel companies altogether. Sustainability advertisement policy is clearly here to stay and is likely to rapidly increase as governments face mounting pressure from the public to curb global warming impacts by corporations.

Call To Action

In the midst of these pressures and regulations, it is crucial for marketers to stay informed on ongoing policy changes and regulations, both at home and abroad. It is also important to shift sustainability marketing from a “claim focused” approach towards a consumer focused approach. This means centering advertisements around the positive environmental impact consumers will impart from buying a product as opposed to boasting about a company’s sustainability claims. 

As consumers, it’s important that we voice the importance of legitimate sustainability initiatives that will lead to concrete changes to support the well-being of our planet. In the end, we hold the ultimate power to pressure businesses to create industry shifts, which will allow proper sustainability marketing to occur in the first place.