Sustainable communication requires transparency and credibility

Mr. Hübner, you yourself say that brands should understand sustainability as a principle and not as short-term hype. When do you consider a brand to be truly sustainable?

Ingo Hübner: For me, successful brands integrate sustainability into their corporate strategy, live it in all areas and remain transparent. They have a holistic understanding of sustainability and define values that go beyond individual product features. Integrity in the topic of sustainability must be demonstrated and credibly communicated through honest efforts and coherent actions. The most important step toward a sustainable future is to move from having to do something to wanting to do it.

According to the Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey 2021, for which PwC surveyed more than 500 consumers in Germany, many consumers used the time to review their lifestyle in terms of sustainability. Many have changed their buying behavior as a result. How can or even should brands respond to this now?

Hübner: I think that brands should recognize the opportunity of the perception shift and embrace sustainability as a matter of the heart and not just as another component of the business model. Thus, sustainability must be consciously integrated into the corporate strategy as an innovation driver and value compass. People today increasingly want to consume brands that reflect their own values. And they want to take responsibility and show attitude with their purchase.

Your study in collaboration with the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde (HNEE) also showed that consumers want more sustainability, especially from established brands. Nevertheless, many large companies have not yet tackled the issue of sustainability. Is the topic still being neglected or is it simply being approached in the wrong way?

Katrin Huber: Established brands are in a perceived sustainability dilemma. On the one hand, they still earn most of their money with products from conventional production processes and supply chains, which cannot be changed quickly to include sustainable aspects. On the other hand, they want to gradually integrate sustainability into the company. This leads to a rather passive attitude and slowing down of efforts towards sustainable corporate and brand management. Established brands must make a clear commitment and, as already mentioned, demonstrate integrity in the topic of sustainability through their activities and actions.

Hübner: What's more, SMEs in particular still lack the know-how to tackle the issue strategically and implement it. According to the Commerzbank study "Mittelstand", only one third of companies have a sustainability strategy, although 80 percent of companies see sustainability as crucial for their own future viability and the long-term preservation of their economic performance.

When it comes to trust and sustainability, the participants in your sample primarily rely on brands from sustainable startups when it comes to consumption. Established companies have a harder time gaining the trust of the consumers surveyed. Why is that and were you surprised by the results?

Huber: For me, established companies are still acting too cautiously in terms of sustainability and rather partially in terms of consideration and execution. They usually only commit to sustainable corporate governance in segments, with so-called sustainable startups pursuing the principle as a corporate purpose.

Hübner: And in most cases, there is a lack of concrete, relevant and innovative offers from established companies where consumers can actually experience sustainability in a tangible way and accept it as an attractive solution.

In a recent survey by McKinsey, as many as 75 percent of Germans say they would change the brand they trusted in the past if expectations were no longer met. A clear sign of social change?

Hübner: Absolutely. One could even speak of a paradigm shift here. According to the Zukunftsinstitut, we are in the midst of a fundamental shift in values toward meaningfulness and sustainability, in which conventional brand awareness is declining sharply. Brands today have to be more in tune with the convictions and values of the generation.

Huber: In fact, brand trust only arises when people recognize the meaning of the commitment and believe it. This is the gateway, so to speak, the necessary condition for being included at all in the future generation's horizon of meaning or relevant set.

The old formula for success - good product, identification and the right approach - is now being expanded to include sustainability and social responsibility. What will brands have to emphasize in their communications in the future?

Hübner: Successful communication is clearly based on transparency, credibility and sound facts. In any case, the investment in sustainability communication has a positive impact on corporate and brand image and is rewarded by higher customer loyalty. Sustainable brands even break away from conventional objectives, such as short-term customer acquisition, and become active drivers of change processes, even beyond economic considerations. They become supporters of social change by strengthening communities and setting new sustainability standards.

Are there companies or brands that have already recognized this and are moving forward as a positive example?

Hübner: Patagonia is certainly worth mentioning here, as a so-called impact brand, which claims to change society and the world with its actions. Patagonia's communication is also unconventional and often counterproductive and damaging to business at first glance. However, the Californians not only sell outdoor clothing very successfully, but also an image: eco-coolness for politically correct hipsters.

In which industries is there the greatest need to catch up or improve on the topic of sustainable brand communication?

Huber: Ultimately, the issue of sustainable brand communication is about giving the topic charisma and relevance. Bringing the topic onto the stage in an authentic and credible way. Brands that have already anchored the topic in their DNA and live it holistically can express the topic coherently and seamlessly in brand communication. However, brands that are on the journey towards sustainable corporate management usually still behave in a covert or diffuse manner in terms of communication.

Hübner: Yes, then brand communication takes place without a clear commitment to sustainability. The sectors with the greatest need to catch up or improve on the topic of sustainable brand communication are largely in line with the results of our survey regarding the relevance of sustainability in the purchasing behavior of consumers. Here, finance and insurance, electronic devices, media and culture, and tourism tend to bring up the rear. In the fintech segment, however, new green players such as robo-advisors, investment apps and banking providers are creating attractive and sustainable offerings.

What mistakes should be avoided at all costs within the communication of sustainable products?

Huber: When it comes to aesthetics, many still think of eco-green and brown eco-paper. But sustainable design differs from conventional design in that it knows what it's doing - and why it's doing it. Sustainable design doesn't just pretty things up for better saleability, but turns to the challenges we face on a finite planet. How much nature, how much finite resources are we using? This requires a multi-layered approach to consider all aspects of sustainability: Environmental, social and economic criteria. Eco design without sacrificing aesthetics, feel or use is establishing itself as a core theme of modern design.

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important topic, especially for young people. How can companies best address this target group in the future?

Hübner: By becoming more human and more approachable. Young people in particular have a need for direct experience, self-efficacy and participation in larger concerns. Whereas the old brand world was strongly focused on the individual, collective identities are becoming increasingly relevant. Successful brands will be those that know how to bind people into brand collectives and build communities around shared values and interests.

What sounds simple in theory requires a clear strategy. How can companies succeed in making this complex topic of sustainability easy for end consumers to grasp and present it in an exciting way?

Hübner: First, companies should determine for themselves what significance sustainability has for their brand today and what it should have in the future. The following aspects should be looked at: Are brand positioning and sustainability measures credibly linked? Do we go one step further and also want to position the brand on sustainability with a clear and sustainable value proposition? Or, in a further step, do we want to position the brand on sustainability with a clear mission for the world? These aspects help companies to gain awareness and orientation on which stage of sustainability strategy implementation they are at and, most importantly, where they still want to go.

Is it enough if only brands or companies think and go in this new direction of sustainability or social responsibility?

Huber: I think brands can act as role models, as the guiding star of a movement for sustainable action, so to speak. But in order to really achieve something fundamental, to implement a change in mindset, all institutions and acting organizations from politics, business and the media have to pull on the same thread and push the issue of sustainability at all levels with heart and commitment.

What is your forecast for the future on this topic? What will change in the next 5 years? What will brands have a particularly hard time nibbling away at, or what will they even succeed at quickly?

Hübner: We are on the right track. Society and companies are increasingly focusing on the urgency of this issue. In particular, the opportunities to improve the world with new innovations and a sustainable way of life and to enable future generations to live a life worth living are being recognized. In five years' time, I expect to see greater implementation of the individual sustainability topics. In the area of mobility, for example, we will have access to a better charging infrastructure with regard to e-mobility, cities will have advanced car-free concepts, and public transportation should be further expanded in rural regions. Sustainability is also widely accepted and appreciated by consumers thanks to sustainable products for everyday use. Basically, companies will have understood sustainability ecologically, socially and economically as a holistic asset and established it in their corporate and brand management. Many people will have become aware of the issue.

Source: macheete, agency for pr+digital, Berlin

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