It is often the most visible things like consumer waste which grab attention, but the biggest opportunities may lie elsewhere.

In the Autumn, Diageo set out its vision for the next decade by launching its sustainability action plan ‘Society 2030: Spirit of Progress’. These 25 ambitious goals include reaching 1 billion people with dedicated ‘Responsible Drinking’ messaging, achieving net-zero carbon emissions across direct operations, increasing representation of leaders from ethnically diverse backgrounds to 45%, women in leadership to 50% and using 30% less water in every drink it makes.

Behind these headline numbers are significant company-wide initiatives and targets. As marketers, it’s caused us to think about the issues through our brands and consumers, and here are some of the things we’ve learned:

Address the issues holistically
The fact that the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals have been adopted more broadly than originally intended provides a useful framework. Think more widely than just climate change, and understand the nuances of your brand’s specific role in the world. For Diageo this goes into promoting positive drinking, championing inclusion and diversity, preserving water, accelerating to a low carbon world, and becoming sustainable by design.

Understand all aspects of the impact your business may have
Think not only about your operations, but also your suppliers and the positive role your product or service could play in society. One recent example of this is Unilever’s commitment to ensure its suppliers pay a living wage by 2030.

Establish your commitment
Make it rich, measurable, and motivating to your employees and audiences. Diageo calls this our ‘Spirit of Progress’; it was born from cross-functional collaboration and provided an opportunity for all employees to connect to the outcomes and what it means for them.

Understand your consumers
Sustainability is a complex subject, but it helps to understand how consumers see themselves, their communities and the world. We’ve learned this subject is like an iceberg – it is often the most visible things like consumer waste which grab attention, but the biggest opportunities may lie elsewhere.

Find the right tone, and language to communicate what you are doing
Your brand’s role in society should link intrinsically to your brand purpose. We find our best work in this space springs from the same core creative idea as our other work; is bold, grounded in insight and consistent with other activity. Guinness Clear is a great example; it was creatively audacious in that it was in effect marketing H2O, but grounded in an insight about rugby-watching occasions, which have a strong association with Guinness. Not only did the evidence show that it helped to change behaviour and encourage moderation, but it created exceptional return on investment and share performance for the brand.

Finally, be inspired by brands small and large
Think about brands such as Tony’s Chocolonely, with its mission to eradicate slavery from its supply chain; or brands guided by their values such as Ikea’s drive for democratic and sustainable design; classic activist brands like Ben & Jerry’s; and Oatly’s playful approach, offering an alternative to less sustainable dairy and almond-based alternatives.

If you want to change the world, work out which pieces you can change and do them one by one with sustained effort.

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