'Sustainability’, as a buzzword is now a given for all organisations. It’s finally become something that we expect from our lives and the organisations that we follow, buy from, and do business with.
Sustainability is not what it used to be when it first entered the scene as a highly accredited claim for brands. It is now something that is expected from brands and shouldn’t be their overall selling point. Afterall, this Forbes article shows that only 21% of shoppers fully believe in brand’s sustainability claims.
Don’t get me wrong, sustainability is still a massively important factor for brands. But it’s lost the edge that it used to have. It now needs to be paired up with other drivers for brands to succeed.
Step aside sustainability:
Two factors that should now share the onus are ‘human’ and ‘transparency’.
What do I mean by these terms?
Human:
This is a term that steers away from the old idea of a ‘faceless’ brand. Usually you would associate a ‘human’ approach to communications with small brands and charities. But big brands are starting to tune in to this way of communicating with their audience too.
Transparent:
Being genuine. Many brands have tried this and failed at this (Search online for ‘Greenwashing’ and you’ll see some horrendous examples of this). Transparency in communications is an honest approach to speaking with your audience.
Here’s a breakdown of visual communication techniques that help to produce these ‘human’ and ‘transparent’ approaches to branding:
Storytelling:
Authentic storytelling is probably the most powerful communication approach that a brand can have. Being open helps. It creates an affinity with your audience and builds trust.
Tone-of-voice:
How you speak is so important. Don’t ‘fake it till you make it’ when it comes to tone-of-voice. Be open, and genuine. It’s amazing how many brands get this wrong.
Genuine Imagery:
If your team is doing great work for the greater good, then document it. Stock photos have their place, but authentic and real photos and imagery go so much further.
Consistency:
It’s one of our massive sticking points when it comes to branding. Consistency is so important to visual communications. If you can’t get consistency, then find someone that can (ie. A good visual communicator/designer).
Saying ‘No’ to Sustainability?
Patagonia:
The company that now refuse to use the word ‘sustainable’. They claim that they are part of the problem, as they make products that use raw materials and carbon create. And they do create waste from this production.
Read more here: Patagonia doesn’t use the word ‘sustainable’.
We all recognise Patagonia as a ‘sustainable’ brand, but they do so much more. Their Activism projects offer a human and transparent look at some of the issues that the world is facing: https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/activism/
So to summarise, being sustainable as a brand now doesn’t set you apart from your competitor. ‘Sustainable’ is a given.
Audiences are way too savvy and require a much more human and transparent approach to your communications.
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