How established brands can navigate the sustainability journey

Businesses are at a sustainability crossroads, juggling how to navigate the consumer say-do gap when it comes to buying more sustainable products; and simultaneously keeping finance happy by driving value from any investments.

Many of our clients hope that sustainability will be the next big growth opportunity for their brands, and are hungry for the numbers cited in the purpose-led growth narrative, made popular by Larry Fink's letter to investors and CEOs in 2019. They are excited by what they see from start-ups, but acknowledge that turning a corporate ship around is tricky. They feel wary of the compliance headache around claims and navigating consumers' cynicism of green-washing. They feel disillusioned by apathy towards changing behaviour, despite robust research stating people will buy more sustainably. They are disappointed to discover that initiatives that they hope to monetise (such as more sustainable packaging) are considered table stakes.

Put bluntly, navigating sustainability may feel like wading through treacle. So what are the positive steps that businesses and brands can take?

1. Benefits before worthiness
Your brand must deliver tangible benefits. This is at the root of the say/do or intention gap: consumers claiming to want to buy sustainable products but not following through in their actions. Consumers tell researchers that they want to be more sustainable and are interested in buying sustainable products. BUT price, quality, and fit with their needs will always come first. It’s only the sustainability minded niche who would will change their behaviours for a more sustainable option that is more expensive or doesn’t offer an incremental benefit or requires a behaviour change.

2. Speak consumers' language
You need to be really consistent with your storytelling, and it needs to be tangible. People do not understand abstract corporate sustainability language (carbon sequestration, biodiversity, regeneration). A materials change may be better for environment and reducing waste to landfill, BUT it’s more compelling if you can find an immediate benefit too. Is it delivering a better experience in some way? Is it easier to use? Is it longer-lasting? It is also about the right language – not corporate jargon but meaningful equivalents e.g. how many car journeys, how many swimming pools, how many football fields?

3. Don't harp on about your sustainability journey
Large businesses can't change everything at once, so to avoid green-washing, want to share that they're on a journey. Consumers believe that companies should just get on with it. If you tell them that you’re not there yet, they’ll think you’re not doing enough and will look elsewhere. Develop a roadmap with destination in mind and find consumer-benefits along the journey that you can land incrementally.


Futureful has developed sustainability playbooks, business frameworks and innovation approaches for large corporates.