73 the complexities of the business’ sustainability journey can be accurately deciphered on the frontline. This is why upskilling and educating the workforce at every level is crucial to avoiding greenwashing – and it’s perhaps the unspoken demand that an effective sustainability strategy makes of the business. But currently, there is a low level of sustainability knowledge within the marketing and advertising industry. With increasing regulation designed to specifically combat greenwashing, efforts towards compliance cannot come from the sustainability officer alone. It will require scrutiny from many business functions from legal to finance to marketing. As such, education and training has to be at the heart of every organisation’s sustainability strategy. And even with a fully empowered workforce, a company’s reputation will still suffer if its stated sustainability objectives are not embedded throughout the business. Look at State Street for an example of a company tripping over ‘brand purpose.’ In 2017, it was praised for creating the Fearless Girl marketing campaign on Wall Street. Praised, until the same year, the US Department of Labor fined the company $5m for paying hundreds of female executives less than male colleagues. Somewhere, there was a disconnect. Connection is perhaps the final piece of the sustainability puzzle. Sustainability has to exist in organisations as a strategy, not just a buzzword. It must be integrated across all parts of the business. It’s where Innocent and the plastic bottle fell short. Radical collaboration across the value chain is essential. And while it was ultimately the regulator, the ASA, that sanctioned the company, it was the brand’s consumers that led the charge. Businesses cannot hope to become 100% sustainable across the board immediately. However, this doesn’t mean they should stop trying. It’s imperative to own at least one area that is material to your business and the industry you operate in and aim to excel at it – whether that’s supporting diversity and inclusion, committing to removing fossil fuels from your supply chain, or introducing a newplant-based product line. For all the other areas, brands and businesses must embrace transparency and be honest about their failings. Consumers and regulators are motivated to create a better world and will understand imperfection. But they will no longer tolerate inauthenticity. “Businesses cannot hope to become 100% sustainable across the board immediately. However, this doesn’t mean they should stop trying.”
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