72 However, if businesses only treat sustainability as a PR exercise and a brand positioning tool, they may well find themselves subject to consumer activism and fall foul of regulatory standards. Both will inevitably cause reputational and financial damage. Sustainability is a complex, sciencebased subject which requires forensic examination of every part of a business. Leading businesses have realised that they need to go beyond the narrative, to set goals and targets. But few have yet to make this real, underpinning science-based targets with a strategy and plan that integrates sustainability into every part of their business. Detailed plans and explanations of how targets will be reached are what separates true commitment to change from purpose marketing. And it is the biggest defence against greenwashing. Tesco is a recent example – the supermarket chainwas reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for claiming customers could help the planet by buying products from its Plant Chef range instead of consuming meat-based products. The logic is clear – meat is carbon intensive and one of the transitions we must make as a society is to shift towards a plant-based lifestyle. But the ASA could find no evidence to substantiate these claims. Alongside this, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is cracking down on overegged or ‘greenwashed’ claims from companies which could mislead consumers about the extent and impact of their sustainability credentials. Even brands regarded as leaders in sustainability can slip up. Innocent drinks, long known for its social conscience and planet-friendly behaviours, released an ad – “Little Drinks, Big Dreams” - which suggested its products could help save the environment. The ad was designed, a spokesperson said, to turn consumers into ‘recycling activists.’ Yet, as a group of consumers who organised themselves under the moniker ‘Plastics Rebellion’ pointed out, the customer would be contributing more positively to the environment by not purchasing the plastic bottle-contained drink. The ASA upheld Plastics Rebellion’s complaint. In an area that is rife with unintended consequences, it isn’t just the C-suite decision makers who must understand the implications across the whole value chain. Every business function needs to work in close collaboration with sustainability teams to ensure www.oliverwight-eame.com
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