Sustainability Has an Image Problem
"Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will”. This David Attenborough quote from back in 2020 articulates the dilemma we are faced with perfectly. As an industry, we have some of the smartest, most creative, imaginative minds who use their talents to sell a new product, package up a new brand vision and reach new audiences.
So why can’t we use that same energy and expertise to tackle this challenge?
As someone who had the word sustainability in their job title for over two years, it's something I have often felt uncomfortable with. The word ‘sustainability’ often comes with negative and restrictive connotations. An obsession with carbon footprints has led us to forget what it actually means to lead ‘sustainable’ lives. The focus is too frequently on what we must stop doing rather than highlighting the positive opportunities we can adopt now to ensure a better and more sustainable future.
Great advertising and marketing have huge power to shape what people think about, what people aspire for, and what behaviours people display. Campaigns such as Zalando creating billboards from secondhand clothes, Vestiaire’s Think First, Buy Second that used AR to show clothing waste piling up in New York’s Times Square and Woolmark Wear Wool, Not Waste showing a zombie apocalypse of artificial clothing all tackle the issue of fast fashion fuelling overconsumption and overproduction. But in order to move away from the hopelessness of sustainability and start embracing the opportunity for positive change, we need to remind people that being sustainable is more than thinking about the impact on the environment.
Sustainability needs to be honoured in its entirety. It extends to people and cultural impact, well-being, inclusion, conscious consumption, equality, and education.
Our industry is often criticised for its negative impact and challenged for its lack of actionable solutions, but now we have a chance to support the acceleration of change. Purpose Disruptors’ latest report urges us to look beyond a business’ operational emissions and take accountability for the external influence it has.
We’ve worked to reframe sustainability at Amplify by not focusing on the individual challenges and negativities and instead using the agency's storytelling powers to form new narratives to focus on continually becoming a more responsible version of ourselves. Everyone across the agency has signed up to our responsible business statement, agreeing to adopt considered, conscious decision-making to create ideas that move cultures forward with a positive and long-lasting impact. This includes the impact we have on our people, the impact of our work on the wider cultural landscape and the planet.
Agencies should be an additive to culture and we do this through creating inspiring, representative and considered work that has a positive, long-lasting impact. We work collaboratively with communities to ensure that the value exchange is right for all sides. Through our partnership with Dr. Marten’s we explored the brand's role in culture to create a long-term strategy that would positively impact emerging subcultures and creators across the UK. This led to authentic collaborations with emerging artists, communities and collectives on a series of experiences and activations, positioning Dr. Marten’s as a positive contributor to music communities from the ground up.
We approach work with our charity partner with this same ethos. Young Urban Arts Foundation (YUAF) aims to create a world where young people are seen, heard and celebrated. As well as our team committing time to volunteer as part of their community outreach programme and organising fundraising opportunities throughout the year, we are also working with the team at YUAF to establish a cross-department training programme to connect incredible young talent into our industry alongside our sibling agency Seed.
Transparency and honesty is integral to progress in sustainability. Robust mitigation and measurement strategies can be used to incorporate clear principles that guide creative decisions. This was put to the test during our recent work with Bloomberg. The first Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle set out to celebrate the power of collaboration to explore radical solutions. Alongside a successful experience, we were able to deliver an Impact Report providing evidence-based, accessible feedback and data to help build future learnings.
As an industry, we can’t change everything overnight, but when it comes to sustainability and how we collectively define it, we should never let striving for perfection prevent progress. That’s why our focus is on questioning the little things every day to help discover positive opportunities. We should all be continually looking to develop agency policies and benefits to contribute more positively to our teams’ lives, researching new materials to reduce our reliance on toxic plastics whilst still achieving an innovative, creative idea and having clear, transparent disclosure with the clients we work with while pledging not to work with controversial industries including fossil fuels and tobacco. This all adds up to us working with brands’ who share our vision.
Instead of our industry being held to account for a history of fuelling overconsumption, misleading audiences with confusing messages and helping the growth of companies with no genuine transition plans, I hope we can be remembered as the ones that sparked change.
