sustainable brands

Jun

2021

10 Mantras for CEOs Working Toward a Sustainable Future

With big shifts happening in the world, we can all cling to some words of wisdom, some rockets of intentions, some guidance to stay on the right path. It’s especially important for leaders in the new economy to be supported with guiding principles or mantras, navigating through this transitional period in time.

We’ve curated our top mantras for CEOs delivering sustainability to the world. Because we know the labor of love is one that requires strong mental drive and flexibility to push agendas in the right direction for a better world. But first…

What is a mantra?

Derived from the Sanskrit words “manas” meaning mind, and “tra” meaning tool, a mantra can be translated to be “a tool for the mind.” So for those of you ready to tap into your higher-level leader self, try these mantras on for size and adopt one that you can relate to.

Protecting the environment is part of Dharma or “duty”

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

Failure is not an option. There is no Planet B.

“The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” —Ernest Hemingway

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.

The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

Discipline is doing what needs to be done, even if you don’t want to.

Just because you are struggling does NOT mean you are failing. Every great success requires some kind of struggle to get there.

He that plants trees loves others besides himself. | A.R. Marketing House

He that plants trees loves others besides himself.” —Thomas Fuller

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead

We usually see the world as we are, not as the world is. Change your thoughts and you will change your world.

Life has two rules never quit | A.R. Marketing House

Life has two rules: 1) Never quit. 2) Always remember Rule #1.

What’s your favorite Mantra for the planet? Share your favorite words of wisdom and get featured.

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Jan

2021

Content ROI — Calculating Success for Sustainable Brands

In this post, you will learn:

What Content ROI is for sustainable brands
The importance of calculating content ROI for sustainable brands
Why the new consumer environment requires content
10 specific areas where content shows success & positive ROIs
What to measure when calculating Sustainable Brand Content ROI
When to measure Environmental Content ROI
When Content ROI calculations fail

When leading people to more sustainable solutions, we’re quickly met with trust and credibility hurdles caused by decades of greenwashing and misleading advertising. The way our predecessors approached marketing efforts has now, thankfully, started to change, especially for companies higher on the “sustainability spectrum.”

The “No Content” approach of the past where relying solely on print and digital ads, mailers, telemarketing, PR, trade events, and in-person sales now means leaving money on the table. Especially post COVID-19, not having a pro-content marketing plan means missing the leadership boat for your brand.

The solution? High quality, reliable, well-researched, written and shared content that informs and engages your entire community — now that’s effective marketing. Here’s why. We know first hand that Sustainable Brand CMOs have their hands full. Between managing the production of quality content and getting the buy-in they need for larger content budgets, there’s just so much to juggle. Often, the big struggle is demonstrating the hard numbers and ROI to get the budget necessary to launch successful environmental content marketing efforts. Mainstream ROI calculations are measured with ads, campaigns, and punctuated efforts, yet measuring Environmental Content Marketing’s ROI is a bit different. It’s a wider net of variables that are often affected and is thus much more valuable than appears at first glance. When appropriately measured, we know that environmental content is not only effective but a highly efficient addition for long-term business and industry-leading growth. So, here are some proof-in-the-pudding ways that your team can demonstrate the benefits of and garner more effective budgets for environmental content marketing.

First stop. A better world is possible if…

Let’s take a step back for a moment and observe the opportunities around us. We all know that there is an equal and opposite reaction for every action, which is to say that silver linings can and do emerge from major crises. We often see major innovations due to punctuated events, and human viewpoints begin to advance, shift, and see personal pivots on health, politics, careers, and marketing tactics. Like when the U.K.’s National Health Service built a 4,000-bed hospital in just four days. This new pandemic is no different when it comes to rapid shifts in solutions, lifestyles, and how we choose to communicate with each other.

Post COVID, climate change, systematic racism, gender inequality, basic human and environmental rights are now on the table for transformation. Times are changing, and people are participating in that change, even if that looks a little curious and varied. What is clear is the urgency for implementing mass education and reeducation on environmental topics to make way for solutions.

Circumstances continue to change for environmental companies. People are seeking healthier, more sustainable options, and investors are looking to green their investment portfolios and put their dollars into positive action.

Times are changing swiftly, and how we communicate with our community is too. Digital courses and webinars are up, and online expos are on the rise; everything is moving to a core of online content that is supportive, educational, and mostly transformational. That includes transformation toward better solutions like renewable energy, zero waste, reforestation, sustainable food and farming, sustainable products and services that are higher on the Sustainability Spectrum. With new norms for communication also comes the rise in Environmental Content Marketing. However, organizational communication shifts require proof of concept and ROI.

So what does content marketing ROI look like for a sustainable brand? Let’s take a look.

What is content ROI for sustainable brands?

For average brands, Content Marketing ROI is a percentage that shows how much revenue you gained from content marketing in comparison to what you spent. For environmental companies, there’s a bit more to include in this equation. Your sustainable company has a bigger goal of improving the quality of life and cleaning up the planet. Usually, this means disrupting the status quo on solar energy, solar battery storage, eliminating single-use plastic, sustainable construction, and so on. Improving lives and cleaning up the planet means looking beyond single bottom line sales analytics. Quantifying your impact with content involves understanding how you minimize other assumed costs like public relations, lead generation, and yes, even lobbying, to name a few. For example, authority content helps elevate your brand as a leader, educational content can support political change, innovative webinars can spark even bigger innovations, inspirational content can catch the eye of the media, and all of these various types of content can open unexpected doors that level up your sustainable business. If that wasn’t enough, do you think you can’t create an additional revenue stream from your content? Think again. Once developed, funded, and nurtured appropriately, your content plan can not only be calculated for effective ROI but be the asset driving it.

Adding to the litany of content tracking metrics, below is a basic recipe of items to track for environmental content marketing ROI:

Engagement is key. How is your content engaging? Are you making a case for people to take action and make moves toward the goals you’ve set?
Making the Switch. How does your content guide more people to “make the switch” and adopt your solution?
Measurable Impacts. How does your content increase your measurable impact?
Partnerships. How has your content impacted the quality and outcomes of your strategic partnerships?
PR Opportunities. How often has your content attracted and improved the quality of your PR opportunities? Whether journalists reached out as a direct result of your content, used your content as a reference source, or as a source of help in telling your story, measuring your content’s impact is key for understanding the ROI or value this is bringing back to your company.

Why is it important to track content ROI for sustainable brands?

What we can measure, we can surely improve. Keeping track of profits while delivering critical education will help make careful, thoughtful measurements of your ROI. When more people adopt green brands and sustainable initiatives, it leads to bigger environmental impacts, a greater ROI for all. It’s a proportional relationship; the better your solution, the more you share and educate on it, the more people “make the switch,” and the better your impact on the planet. For this equation to play out to the best of its ability, people need the education to lead them to the answer, to lead them to your solution.

It’s essential to calculate content ROI because it’s a core driver of long-term sales conversions for sustainable brands. Therefore, tracking content ROI for the C-suite means showing proof that your marketing efforts are paying off. It’s also vital for learning where to pivot when necessary. It informs and validates the content topics, and it keeps teams in tune with the goals. Tracking content efforts will help you know if consumers, investors, vendors, supply chains, media contacts, advocates, and influencers are becoming more informed and sharing your content. It’s important to track content ROI as content is a force that strengthens many efforts in an organization.

Investing in content for the new consumer environment

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, people were beginning to take the environment and their health into consideration much more when making buying decisions. This interest in sustainability has since increased after COVID-19. Looking at a Deloitte Global Marketing Trends study of consumers and executives on how to understand better how consumers and executives are responding to these new consumer environments:

more than 25% of those who noticed brands acting in their own self-interest walked away from those brands
more than 70% agreed they valued digital solutions that deepened their connection with other people, and 63% believe they will rely on digital technologies more than they did before the pandemic, even well after it subsides
58% of respondents could recall at least one brand that quickly pivoted to better respond to their needs, and 82% said this led to them doing more business with the brand

We’re all seeking more sustainable products and services. C-suite executives are seeing significant declines in consumer confidence. People know what greenwashing is and are hesitant to trust brands claiming to be eco-friendly, eco-conscious, green, or sustainable. Environmentally-focused companies have double, maybe triple the work to prove they are viable environmental solutions worthy of trust.

If you are new to leveraging content for your environmental brand, knowing how to measure your content’s success means examining the myriad of ways content is valuable and brings successful outcomes. Here are the areas to look for content ROI success.

environmental content marketing

10 areas where environmental content marketing can yield a positive ROI

#1 Improved leads

It’s all about the quality. Quality content produces quality leads and buy-in. If you’re a B2B company, analyzing the people who are buying your products or services will mean finding out what your prospects’ pain points are and what environmental processes they need to understand better. Then your job is to create content that supports them in their buying process.

Here are some questions to ask for ensuring that you’re on the right track when developing content that improves quality lead generation.

For B2B clients, what content/education will help them get buy-in from their C-suite executives and decision-makers?
What do your solutions look like during a crisis, like a pandemic? Where can you demonstrate support in your content? How will your sustainable company be an asset to clients during this time?
What pain points are your sales team experiencing?
How does your team feel about your company? What does your staff already know, and what do they need to learn more about? What are they excited about most?
How much time do your sales leads have to consume information (minimal or do they have time to make digest longer content forms)?
What formats and platforms do your leads prefer getting information?

Every piece of content you create and disseminate will be more valuable with clear call-to-actions and engaging components. You can make your lead-generating content strategic when you know enough about your leads to educate and qualify them.

#2 Improved sales – measuring sales ROI from content can increase content budgets

Every piece of content will have a specific goal in order to measure the ROI from each content. The importance of not separating your marketing and sales team is paramount. The reason environmental content marketing is so powerful is that it is doing everything in its power to achieve your company’s goals through strategic communication efforts. A big part of those goals is sales. “There is no reason why sustainability cannot be profitable — as it is inherently valuable. Health, clean water, clean air are all quality of life necessities; therefore, sustainability must be recognized as profitable for it to be the norm and sustain its essential place in a functioning society.” Denise Anderson-Rivas Director of Environmental Education & Content at A.R. Environmental Content Marketing House.

Creating content that supports the sales process and team will involve tracking the content. Drawing out specific strategies in a diagram for each piece of content is a way to keep track of results. If a sales email is sent out, it will be beneficial to track the clicks and its many deals. Paying close attention to each page created will not only show how many leads were turned into sales, but it will also give you inside knowledge on what other types of helpful content to create to keep people engaged and repeat customers.

#3 Increased web traffic

Your website is the hub of your content. Every page has a goal and strategy to take people on the important educational journey to engage with and commit to your brand’s solution. The more helpful you are here, the bigger your ROI, the more traffic and conversions you get, the bigger content budgets you can garner. Your site is a place to keep updated with valuable content, lead people to sign-up, engage, and join the cause. Tracking how many visitors, how long people stay on your page, where they end up, where they’re clicking, where they’re signing up, where they’re commenting, where they’re referred from, and so on will allow you to know how well each piece of content on your website is performing. Your team will know what information you may want to add or alter and if you need to be more or less assertive with your call-to-action. Great website content will attract more people via stellar SEO, shared content, affiliate shares, and all of the channels your content is shared to.

#4 Improved onsite engagement

The goal is to continue building relationships and engagement leveraging your company’s website content. Measuring your customer relationship building’s success and how often people return and find value is critical to ensuring your content is keeping visitors increasingly engaged.

#5 Accelerated social media conversion

Look to your social media microcontent to see if your content is driving sales conversions. How are people engaging with your social content? Are they sharing it, commenting on it, going to your campaign pages, checking out, and converting? Getting creative with engagement on social media while delivering high-value content will create a feedback loop. The information you receive from engagement will also help develop even more valuable content that your community wants. Something as simple as creating content that answers people’s questions can add immense value and make your audience smarter.

#6 Stellar search engine optimization (SEO)

The more helpful your content, the higher you will rank on Google; it’s as simple as this fact. Yes, that means you can pay less for google ads or opt-out of paid google ads altogether and rank organically. Yes, quality content doesn’t need ads behind it; however, depending on your goals putting ad spend behind quality content will take it that much further. Making sure your content ranks well for your target keywords, appearing in answer boxes for relevant terms, making sure you have high domain authority, and getting inbound links are measures always to track. Everywhere content is housed will need SEO tracking and updating. The only way to focus on your SEO strategy, now and into the future, is always to create valuable, beneficial content.

#7 Next level exposure and topic authority

Stellar content helps build authority on a topic, making sure people view your company as a leader to source reliable information. Most often, this type of leadership content is educational. Educational content is often easily and quickly shared with friends and family, driving traffic to your website. This increase in reach provides the potential to generate leads and sales. Leadership content also paves the way to getting media coverage from respected outlets. You will quickly find that your content is adopted and mentioned in relevant radio and television shows. When tracking media mentions, note the important role your educational content played in building relationships with journalists and other media contacts. In turn, these efforts will get your brand in front of a wider audience. It’s very important not to skimp on quality content for this reason because these relationships and opportunities take time to build. Content is 20% of the battle; 80% will be the action of marketing your business and developing the relationships that come with the territory of leveraging quality content. Leveraging content for increased brand recognition and topic authority in your industry sparks countless possibilities to open.

#8 Better PR & journalist engagement

When journalists have interesting, helpful information on your brand, they more often than not write about it because, hey, you gave them a reason to! With environmental companies, you probably want more than a forced write up. You want to become eligible for awards, highlighted on new innovation lists, create new opportunities, collaborate with people in your industry. This creates new sections in publications, and new journalists need to understand what’s new, what’s the big deal, and how to talk about it.

#9 More quality partnerships for environmental companies

For environmental companies, partnerships often mean collaboration to raise awareness on a particular topic and often to highlight the breakthrough in your industry. Content plays into partnerships by acting as a magnet. The more compelling and educational the content you produce is, the more other brands will want to be a part of what your company is doing. Opening opportunities for co-branded content, co-branded products, event partnerships, partnerships for education, partnerships for environmental staff training, cost-sharing for advertising, and a host of other benefits – these partnerships for the planet are something we like to call the “supernova effect.”

People are all coming to terms with the fact that we cannot achieve sustainability or success in general without more people and companies collaborating. Brands coming together and educating on their zone of genius in a collaborative fashion pays off with:

More awareness for your respective companies
Wider distributive network
Overall cost savings
More opportunities for innovative ideas when everyone is a player at the table
Bigger opportunity to make a measurable impact on the planet and society

#10 Demonstrating your impact on the planet

Suppose you’re offering a sustainable solution for the planet. In that case, most likely, your ROI is directly tied to your impact on the planet. We live in a time of exasperated natural disasters, environmental pollution; we see the direct effects of climate change play out. While all of this is going on, it is being documented with smartphones – the people are now the environmental news beat. And they are (we are) rightfully concerned with our health and the environment and learning that the two are inextricably connected. We want to know which corporations are greenwashing and which are daring to do really great things for the planet and are acting as guardians of our health. That differentiation is usually accomplished with transparency. People want to see those receipts for your positive, measurable impact because talk is cheap. All eyes are on the sustainably innovative businesses and how they are contributing to a better future. The better information you provide, the more shareable your content will be, and the more people will engage with your organization. Hey, they may even take your educational info and make better decisions based on it. Now that’s what disrupts a stagnant market. Measuring your impact and sharing relevant content on it is one of the best plays you can make right now.

Every piece of content across various platforms will be measured differently, depending on your goals, metrics like increase in followers, conversions, how many people reacted, commented and shared your post. Whatever your goal is, you will benefit from measuring how well that content performed, then adjust and keep improving. Then you measure your impact and correlate this back to measuring the impact of your content. How many people did you help, minds did you sway, habits did you change for the better? Think of your content as an ecosystem, and measure the results by its impact on people, the planet, and profits.

What to measure when reporting ROI for sustainable brand content?

Each piece of content will have specific goals. The content will not only be helpful but create an action for the leads to take. This will all depend on your business goals. Although there are challenges to measuring content ROI, tracking all the places your content will end up, and the journey you want people to take will be where and what to report. With that, you can measure the impact actions and adapting your company’s solution will have on the planet. You will not only want to track leads and sales but all of your goals.

When do you measure environmental content ROI?

The short answer is constantly. However, the goal and the content format will be critical in knowing when to measure your environmental content ROI. If your goal is to attract leads starting with a blog article post, you will want to track after you start disseminating. Then the microcontent you create for social media, you will want to check weekly or monthly depending on your goal. As a point of comparison, ads are different to measure because they have a start date, but most importantly, they have an end date. On the other hand, content takes time to catch, be shared, and get ranked; it also does not have an end date.

Depending on your content and goals, there will be times you measure your content daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, and per decade. The older your content gets, the better metrics you will likely have. Of course, this is all dependent on the content quality, dissemination efforts, and strategy that went into it in the first place. Applying the 80/20 rule will be an essential part of your efforts, spending 80% of your time disseminating your quality content.

Where ROI for environmental content goes wrong

Measuring the ROI of content marketing takes a lot more creativity especially for sustainable companies. There are traditional tools to use like Google Analytics, email marketing metrics, social media analytics, CRMs, and full orchestra software reporting. Starting with some concrete goals and measuring your content results is a collaborative effort bringing everyone in your company to the table. How is every department seeing results from the content? What new content will support efforts for various roles in your company? Measuring your content will always result in a myriad of returns. It will keep your sales and marketing departments laser-focused on achieving your business goals, create ideas for business ideas and opportunities. Without measuring your content success, it will be hard to explain why content is important and to gain buy-in from decision-makers. It’s very exciting to measure all the opportunities from quality content; it’s encouraging and invokes creativity throughout the company.

However, there are pain points that prevent teams from measuring ROI accurately, and thus undervaluing it. Those factors include:

Lack of tools
Lake of time
Lake of training
Having vague goals/objectives

Where calculating ROI for Environmental Content goes wrong is not investing in the goal-setting, set-up, training, tracking, and evaluation of it. Each piece of content performs a duty for your business, and the outcome can be seen in many areas. It’s important not to miss the boat on analyzing these results to keep up the content momentum.

A new world means a time to teach, reach, and measure what you preach

With the acceleration of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) and sustainable initiatives, sustainable and purpose-driven solutions are gaining more attention. Now is the time for sustainable companies, organizations solving some of our biggest environmental problems to participate and take action for the world you wish to exist in. Create the content and deliver the message that will uplift your customers, partners, vendors, and staff out of crises and into the future where we can all thrive. Environmental, education-based content marketing will be worth it, and you can count on that. Still, it’s important to measure and deliver a well-rounded view of the ROI it will bring.

ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING

Resources:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1050651919874105

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-a-crisis-teaches-us-about-innovation/

https://www.semrush.com/blog/measure-content-marketing-success/

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/6963_global-marketing-trends/DI_2021-Global-Marketing-Trends_US.pdf

Jul

2020

6 Lessons for Marketing Teams of Sustainable Brands

Stop Calling it Environmentalism

Environmentalism: The natural world is being destroyed and it is a moral imperative to preserve and reconstitute as much of it as possible as soon as possible. If only the environmental movement were framed so simply in the public’s eye (or traces of neural circuitry, rather). – George Lakoff

The human brain thinks in terms of frames, according to Cognitive Linguistics Expert George Lakoff. Our brains’ ability to make rapid assumptions based on a few words makes our brains open up or shut down. When we hear a frame we agree with, we listen; when we hear a frame we don’t agree with, our brain quite literally shuts out information. When we hear frames that we’ve never heard before and that don’t fit into another frame we already have, we LISTEN!

As we embark on many new ways of life, it’s time for us to start building new frames for discussing vital topics, that impact our health and everyday life. The advantage of discussing these deeply bi-partisan topics in new ways is that we all profit in terms of health and financial gains. If we can all agree that we’d like to live a long life and build wealth while doing so, it’s high time to make new frames. Here are six lessons we can take from communications expert George Lakoff as we develop communication strategies for sustainable movements, brands, and policies.

Lesson #1 – What exactly are frames?

All thinking and talking involve framing. Frames are more than words; they are building blocks of understanding a particular topic, which we use as quick reference points for understanding. As a subconscious force, frames dictate how we think and talk. They act as concepts and metaphors working with our emotions to create narratives that our brains cannot avoid.

“Moreover, many frame-circuits have direct connections to the emotional regions of the brain. Emotions are an inescapable part of normal thought. Indeed, you cannot be rational without emotions. Without emotion, you would not know what to want, since like and not-like would be meaningless to you. When there is neither like nor not-like nor any judgment of the emotional reactions of others, you cannot make rational decisions.

Since political ideologies are, of course, characterized by systems of frames, ideological language will activate that ideological system. Since the synapses in neural circuits are made stronger the more they are activated, the repetition of ideological language will strengthen the circuits for that ideology in a hearer’s brain. And since language that is repeated very often becomes “normally used” language, ideological language repeated often enough can become “normal language” but still activate that ideology unconsciously in the brains of citizens—and journalists.” – George Lakoff

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpIa16Bynzg&feature=youtu.be” width=”600″ height=”400″ responsive=”yes” autoplay=”no” mute=”no” title=”” class=””]

Lesson #2 What activates frames?

While frames are not words, frames are activated by words. One word can act as a frame or a metaphor, and once activated, bring up an entire system that the frame is in. Over time, as frames are built within the brain’s network of understanding, words quickly fire up the relationship from one neuron to another.

Frames act on a hierarchy, according to Lakoff, whereby moral frames are at the top. Any frame below that can activate everything up to the top. Yes, one word or phrase can communicate entire ideologies, and the person hearing will only allow through what matches their current “frame” of reference.

The frames working in the human brain challenge sustainable communicators and marketers. It is the battle of discussing highly essential topics in a polarized political landscape. For sustainability communicators, this piece of knowledge is vital. What we do with this information is create new frames or new pathways of understanding. We omit old frames that, while yes, some people might align with, they leave out the massive amounts of people that also must be brought to the table.

In his book “Don’t Think of an Elephant,” Lakoff explains the two models of morality working in a highly polarized U.S. One he calls the “strict father” and the other the “nurturant parent.” The strict father mindset is associated with conservative moral thinking and the nurturant parent with more liberal ethical thinking. There are a host of words and phrases that evoke each. Navigating these modes of morality with new sustainability communications means knowing who you want to talk to, and speaking to them in that language. It also indicates where new frames must exist; you must create them to surpass the current mindset.

Lesson #3 The dangers of environmental framing

The framing of health, economy, food, security, and trade as “environmental” has removed a large swath of people from the conversations that must be had. Everyone is affected by environmental issues; however, the word itself shuts down brain synopsis in many people who see the word as merely a liberal topic. Nothing could be further from the truth when cancer has no party lines. Everyone needs to take part in conversations and policies that affect health outcomes. Some established conservative frames have removed people’s ability to learn new concepts and apply new discussions, new ideas, and innovations to collaboratively solve some of the issues around health, economy, food, security, and trade.

Exceptional framing offers people new modes of learning that directly impact their quality of life and help tackle topics like contaminated drinking water or carcinogenic plastic consumption. The dangers of framing topics as “environmental” remove a person’s ability to participate in their own health and wellbeing. Environmental frames keep conservatives detached from problems that are quite literally killing them. The solution is to go around those barriers and create new frames they haven’t worked with that fit into a conservative mode of communications.

Lesson #4 Successful vs. failed frames

Framing is all about creating worldview building blocks that go beyond language, but that triggers those ideas through careful word selection. In the U.S., conservatives have been incredibly successful with a long-term strategy of framing thanks in part to 30-years of wordsmithing from strategist Frank Lutz. Lutz is responsible for the reframing of the following concepts for the purpose of owning the topic.

The purpose of reframing these topics was that conservatives knew that they should own the language of hot-button issues. When anyone with another viewpoint comes to speak on these issues and uses the vocabulary and thus framing of the other side, it brings to point the title of George Lakoff’s book “Don’t think of an elephant.” That’s because the first impressions you have on the topic now are associated with the other side. Instead, when discussing hot topic issues, never use the language of the other side. Stick to the values and higher-level features of the issues.

You would think protecting resources that we all use would be equally important to everyone. That assumption has largely been the downfall of environmental communication. Those who wish to communicate about the environment assume it is important to everyone and use the same tired frames that many ignore. While conservatives have had decades to build successful frames, topics that have been driven by a more progressive wing have only recently started to create some of these frames.

Lesson #5 Emerging environmental frames

In the last five years, there has been an acceleration of elevating environmental communications beyond old frames and into a place that supports Environmental Literacy for more people than just “environmentalists.”

Significant numbers of sustainability leaders are exploring new ways to discuss and design sustainable supply chains and the business proof for the existence of sustainability in all areas of life. Below are some promising frames that have emerged in recent years that we should look to promote, create content around, and use in our everyday interactions on environmental topics.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The Regulated Commons
Sun-Based Food vs. Industrialized Oil-based Food
Overall Wellbeing Indicator

And moving from frames like these that shutdown communication:

Climate change
Environmental
Propaganda
Manipulation
Capitalism

Take a moment and feel the difference in each set of words above. What does your framing system do to evaluate each of those framed topics? In the newer framed versions, you might notice that your mind begins to ask more questions and be more open to new pathways of understanding. The older frames you have a predetermined understanding of, maybe even some judgments of your own. So how do you create these new, more effective frames? Let’s learn what Lakoff says about creating new frames.

Lesson # 6 Rules of engagement

Creating new frames is vital but must be done with extreme care. More than just using new words, creating frames can be detrimental when not considering all aspects and outcomes of the new frame. According to George Lakoff, here are some considerations to make before engaging in creating new frames.

Talk at the level of values and frame issues in terms of moral values. Distinguish values from policies. Always go on offense, never a defense. Never accept the right’s frames: don’t negate them, or repeat them, or structure your arguments to counter them. That just activates their frames in the brain and helps them.
Provide a structured understanding of what you are saying. Don’t give laundry lists. Tell stories that exemplify your values and rouse emotions. Don’t just give numbers and material facts without framing them so their overall significance can be understood. Instead, find general themes of narratives that incorporate the points you need to make.
Context matters: be aware of what’s going on. Address everyday concerns. Avoid Technical jargon; use words people can understand. The messenger matters. Visuals Matter. Body language matters.

Sustainable brand marketers and communicators are tasked with the high-level objective of going beyond preaching to the choir. Sustainability efforts are weak when we don’t have all hands on deck. For sustainable brands, communicating the need for your product, service, or policy, must go beyond corporate “green teams,” if you’re looking for making a considerable impact. Environmental Literacy for adults is no small task; however when understanding some basics about how frames and linguistics work, you can begin to build a communications roadmap to broad audiences.

When it comes to dismantling old environmental frames, it takes creativity for replacing them with new, more inclusive ones. These lessons from George Lakoff demonstrate why Environmental Marketing is vital and must be handled with precision and care.

Resources

https://www.thoroldnews.com/local-news/beyond-local-the-power-of-talking-about-energy-change-2285491

https://theieca.org/resources/environmental-communication-what-it-and-why-it-matters

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524030903529749

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2018/10/15/measuring-well-being-its-more-than-gdp/#1196149c4eaa

https://www.businessinsider.com/political-language-rhetoric-framing-messaging-lakoff-luntz-2017-8

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/george-lakoff-green-marketing

https://armarketinghouse.com/what-is-environmental-literacy-and-is-it-missing-in-the-workplace/

Oct

2019

Do Consumers REALLY Care about the Environment?

These 3 survey results tell us consumers genuinely care about sustainability

In 2018, we started an ongoing study to look at the sustainable purchasing habits and beliefs of average consumers. We wanted to understand if people care about their purchases in an environmental and health context, and if so, what percentage. The survey addresses the ways in which people prefer to be educated on environmental issues by the products that claim to solve them.

The survey is online and available for anyone to take. We will be releasing an extended version exploring all 30+ survey questions in the coming year.

First, however, we wanted to give a sneak peek of three questions in our survey that provide some insight into the power that people feel about their sustainable purchases. Here are three survey results that answer the question, Do consumers REALLY care about the environment?

Survey question #1 – How important is it for you to minimize your impact on the environment?

10 – Extremely Important (55.2%)
9 – Highly Important (17.2%)
8 – Very Important (13.8%)
7 – Important (6.9%)
6 – Slightly Important (6.9%)
0-5 – neutral or unimportant (0%)

Why do consumers care about their impact on the environment?

The results show that people ultimately value products and services that are safe for the environment. More than half of survey respondents shared that they care about minimizing their impact on air, land, water, food, and the overall planet.

While people care significantly about their impact on the planet, they are often unsure what to believe when a brand vaguely says they are “environmentally-friendly.” These very same people want truth and facts that are measurable, not greenwashed, because they actually care about the impact being made, not just about feeling good. The sentiment of “actually caring” means people want to see proof and participate with environmentally-focused brands who are influencing environmental policy, and not just promoting the same old greenwashed products with unsubstantiated sustainability claims. The quality of education, the amount of information, and transparency also impacts the level of involvement people will or won’t have in a brand’s mission. For businesses to actually reach and connect with this consumer group who values their environmental impact, education and transparency are required.

PATHWATER: the power of education equals motivated consumers

As a mini case study, let’s look at PATHWATER. PATHWATER created the first bottled water designed for reusability that is as affordable as plastic bottled water and made from aluminum, a highly recyclable material. PATHWATER’s mission is to disrupt the Bottled Water Industry by replacing all plastic packaging with aluminum, reusable bottled water. The company has positioned itself to continue along on the sustainability spectrum by committing to locally sourced water in every location PATHWATER expands to. Another part of their mission is to ensure clean drinking water for everyone, as they believe water is a human right.

To spread their mission, PATHWATER educates on all of the environmental issues their product addresses like plastic pollution, single-use packaging, and access to safe, clean drinking water. The PATHWATER Student Ambassador (PSA) Program was created with this mission in mind, to help students address plastic waste and clean water access issues. By providing information and transparency, students have a great desire to get involved to help push the PATHWATER mission on their campuses. Why? Because many students have the same agenda as PATHWATER – to ban single-use plastic. Students are provided with helpful instructions and support to ban single-use plastic bottled water on campus, and with these collaborative efforts, the planet, people, and PATHWATER’s business model are all succeeding. This type of environmental education creates a level of involvement most companies can only dream of, and that money can never buy. Education on a deep and genuine level, can’t happen with greenwashed companies, it’s a key indicator of an environmental company’s intentions. People, and in this case, students, find it easy to get involved in PATHWATER’s mission and voluntarily participate in taking action.

Survey question #2 – How important is it for you to minimize your exposure to chemicals deemed toxic or suspected toxic?

10 – Extremely Important (67.7.2%)
9 – Highly Important (16.7%)
8 – Very Important (10%)
7 – Important (3.3%)
6 – Slightly Important (3.3%)
0-5 – neutral or unimportant (0%)

These survey results show that people believe it’s essential to minimize their exposure to harmful chemicals

Minimizing exposure to toxic chemicals is directly linked to a concern for environmental pollution because of how pesticides, air pollution, and water pollution directly affect the quality of our health. When people care about environmental health issues, it’s essential to educate them on these topics and help them solve problems around chemical exposure as well as other environmental issues that align with your green brand’s mission and unique set of solutions.

For instance, people are concerned about health issues related to plastic and plastic waste. Plastic concerns are incredibly daunting right now, and people are keeping a close watch on matters related to plastic with genuine worry. Unfortunately, regurgitated information is being spread on every media channel and social platform; leaving people with half information and half-truths that are more damaging in the long run. Meanwhile, in-depth studies are being conducted, updated, expanded on, and some journalists are missing the basic environmental science around these studies. They seem to be cherry-picking the statistics that seem to be the most newsworthy or shocking and missing vital details that would actually inform people and give them new information. This aiming low and delivering the same news as competing media sources is diminishing the efficacy of education and missing the green solutions available to solve these environmental problems. A resurgence in intellectualism in research and writing is imperative, as this is the only way to provide meaningful, transparent information to consumers. Here’s an example of an article which busts myths around plastic being framed as truly recyclable, a solution, and a part of a circular economy – Plastic Vs. Aluminum: People Are Debating Whether Plastic Can Be Part of a Circular Economy.

Here’s another article Is it Safe to Drink from Aluminum Bottles? This article answers some of the mythical concerns around aluminum, the unfounded health scares, and the origins of widespread aluminum myths. All environmental issues are health issues at the end of the day, and when businesses deliver ecological education to people looking to buy in their market, trust is naturally built, competitors are dealt with in a fact-based manner, and profits become an automatic tertiary outcome.

Survey question #3 – Have you ever changed a purchasing habit based on an environmental or health reason?

Yes – 76.8%

Not sure – 19.2%

No – 3.9%

This survey question is significant proof that there’s a wide-open market for green businesses to help consumers who are ready to make better purchases. People care about environmental and health issues; however, they lack the knowledge to make informed decisions. So most people stand on the sidelines waiting for clear education which has created the $1 trillion missed market opportunity.

Our research is proving that people are willing to make a shift to better choices, given the right information. 61% of Millennials are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, according to GlobalWebindex. This is additional confirmation that a growing group of consumers are open to being highly involved in green solutions; however, this requires proper education. This market is too large to miss. People are here and ready to make better choices once they are provided with the proof they need.

Conveying truth to people who demand genuine environmental solutions

There’s a need for green companies to focus on full-scope environmental efforts which include fulfilling the educational gap and lack of trust consumers are feeling. Consumers are now in the driver’s seat; therefore, brands that wish to succeed in this new market opportunity must adhere to the truth in the ways they choose to address environmental issues and environmental justice. While 30% of consumers actively seek out sustainable brands, there’s another 30% waiting on the sidelines to connect with brands transparently inform on the claims made beyond branding and messaging. It’s time for all great brands executing impactful environmental solutions to take consumers by the hand and elevate the world, together.

Conclusion

At A.R. Marketing House, we are always researching and collecting data to create focused educational content that aims to illuminate humanity on environmental issues and fuel movements. We’ve realized this education-based approach to marketing takes a perfect balance of intellect, critical thinking, creativity, and knowledge of topics like business, environmental marketing, journalism, politics, environmental science, and design. The bottom line is that people want to feel good about the products they’re putting their money behind. But feeling good isn’t enough, not for people, not for the planet. What everyone needs on this sustainable journey is help over the steep learning curve of environmental science.

Our survey proves that people care, now it’s our job to teach consumers how to sniff out feel-good greenwashing vs. real solutions so we can make some headway. We can’t just promise consumers they’re making the best choices, we ourselves have to actively create, promote, and educate on genuine environmental and health solutions that elevate how we operate.

We are an agency far ahead of the curve because we understand that the gap which needs to be bridged is an all around WIN solution. Genuine environmental solutions require mass adoption. Mass adoption requires environmental education. Environmental education must be presented in the context of marketing. Education bridges the gap between our crusade for cleaning up the planet and a massive wealth transfer. Wealth meaning health, money, clean food, clean air, clean water and a good quality of life. Wealth transfer meaning, from the planet polluting companies whom we subsidize with our money only to get in return pollution and hospital bills, TO environmentally-focused companies who help clean up the planet and thus improve our overall health and quality of life in the process. And of course, this wealth transfer requires a solid, steadfast commitment to take our fellow human by the hand and educate. Ferociously, without apology, without hesitation and with the most empathetic action-oriented plan, we all must tackle the mission to educate.

Where does this education start? It starts where people are looking for it online. Environmental education may begin with your website or any place your community finds you. This is where you have the ability to genuinely answer questions, cover all of the myths, educate, and often, reeducate. You’ve created a business that solves an environmental problem in the world, and consumers want ecological and health problems solved. The only thing keeping 80% of them from adopting your solution is education.

Unilever says there is a 1 trillion dollar market share for sustainable brands that educate, but when all factors are calculated, we presume the value for everyone is monumentally greater.

Resources

https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2017/report-shows-a-third-of-consumers-prefer-sustainable-brands.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/01/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popproj/data/datasets.html

https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-week/green-consumerism/