What's up brand builders Stephen Houraghan here at BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this video you're
going to learn what sustainable branding is with principles processes and seven of the best brand
strategy examples so you can understand the increasing importance of this branding approach
to make better connections through a better impact now sustainability branding has become a divisive
term among consumers on the one hand you have the optimists applauding the change brands are making
for the sustainability of the planet and on the other hand you have the pessimists pointing to
greenwashing and saying that it's nothing more than marketing spin but without a doubt brands and
how sustainable they are is a topic that's here for the long haul and its importance is ramping
up as well so let's dive in to what sustainable branding is why its importance is growing and how
to incorporate sustainability into the brands that you build so what is sustainability for a brand
well sustainability branding is the process of focusing and integrating identified environmental
economic and social issues into the operations of a business now these sustainability efforts
involve creating maintaining and projecting a brand that offers the benefits of sustainability
to the customers and the planet as well now generally consumers are becoming more switched
on to the damage that brands are doing to the environment and sustainable brands are leading the
charge to reverse that cycle to meet that growing demand and that growing appetite from those
consumers now of course traditional businesses they're all about maximizing profits that's what
their sole focus is but sustainability branding looks at a greater purpose than just promise and
an effective sustainability program makes it clear to the target audience that their business model
aspires to more than just boosting that bottom line so why is sustainability branding becoming
more important well as i mentioned before people are now more concerned than ever about finding
effective ways to address the environmental economic and social issues that are going
on in the world now more eco-friendly brands are emerging putting the needs of the planet
ahead of profits and today's consumers expect brands to become more sustainable in their
business operations and only those brands that support these ideals that will make that long-term
impact so that's why consumers are really starting to put the onus on brands now to do more
for the environment and this isn't just lip service either because consumer spending patterns
are actually changing according to business why 60 percent of global consumers rate sustainability as
an important purchasing criteria and look most of us like to think that we would put our money where
our meth is and this is the case with consumers and sustainability consumers now seek out products
and services that support the causes they care about such as renewable energy and purchasing
green products but it's not enough as a brand to just embrace sustainability you have to properly
communicate your commitment to fighting climate change and fighting those environmental issues
head on brands that take a stand on social issues and those who are proactive in their communication
will easily win the hearts of their target audience so let's talk about some of the
principles of sustainable branding because it goes beyond just using green themed logos and designs
or sticking eco-friendly labels around packages your entire process has to reveal sustainability
to be able to get that message out there principle number one create a sustainability roadmap
now there are a lot of brands out there that talk about sustainability and you as a brand
as well you can talk about sustainability as much as you want but unless we start to see that
sustainability in your operations in your everyday processes then there's very little to go on
there's very little to believe and as a business and a brand it's going to be very difficult to
make sure that those sustainability principles are seen out there in the market and that you're
having any kind of influence a good road map will help businesses create sustainable strategies
that will help to guarantee those long-term impact results and that market relevance as
well principle number two understand the process now if you're a brand designer or copywriter
sometimes you're working outside the organization or you're not directly involved in the operations
side of things and yet you're still tasked with the responsibility of creating a brand image
or a brand voice so before you go placing any kind of demand on your creative gland you'll need
to understand everything that goes on within the business and the brand that you're marketing and
how those processes align with the mindset of the consumers in terms of sustainability your job will
then be to help create that connection between the processes and the purpose and then creatively
communicate that to the consumers now as a copywriter or designer you can help your clients
to find and build their sustainability branding narrative by looking at their entire process
from material selection to production to packaging and end-to-end use principle number three embrace
transparity and integrity now sustainability branding is not about green washing there's
been a lot said about green washing and there have been a lot of brands that have been jumping
on the sustainability bandwagon and that's why there's such a divisive opinion in the market now
there's no need to put an eco-friendly label on a product when you can't showcase what was done
differently to make that product sustainable that said you do want to be authentic and transparent
and talk about what you're already doing to support sustainability efforts now even if
you're not there yet you can still share your big vision and then talk about the milestones
that you're hitting now i probably don't need to say this because it goes without saying but
claims about your sustainability business must be notable and verifiable and the benefits should be
directly relevant to the consumer you don't want the backlash that'll come from claiming
that you're sustainable when you are not in fact sustainable that is blatant greenwashing so you
want to make sure that your message and the message that you send out to your audience it
aligns with your sustainability efforts and that it is consistent over time principle number four
purpose ahead of profit now being sustainable is about being people and planet-oriented now this is
a sharp contrast of course to the traditional business model which is all about maximizing
profit and boosting that bottom line but a sustainable brand will have a bigger vision
which is to create a lasting impact on people economies the environment and communities as well
so with all that said how do you go about creating a sustainable brand well sustainability practices
revolve around social economic and environmental responsibilities and they can be about reducing
emissions providing eco-friendly packaging using renewable energy recycling enabling
the availability of clean water any number of these sustainable practices that will impact
the planet positively step one get started by engaging stakeholders now companies need to
engage in conversations with their stakeholders and their customers as well to be crystal clear
about what sustainability means to them what the expectations are and how to gradually commit to
those expectations as a brand step number two promote sustainability practices in operations
now whatever happens in the production process is what becomes your sustainability branding
story so you need to identify areas where you can be more sustainable than you currently are
you can appoint a sustainability executive to oversee and implement your business
and your sustainability strategies step number three audit your existing processes now some
brands are already sitting on huge sustainability credentials that they're not reflecting in their
communication to their consumers by auditing your existing processes you can find areas that you've
been exceptionally sustainability compliant now once you've done that you can capitalize on that
foundation of sustainability practices to reinvent your brand communications across your email your
social media and other marketing channels as well step four partner with other sustainable brands
now retailer brands for example can stick to products that have their roots in sustainability
practices and communicate that to their customers by showcasing and marketing only green products
that have been produced from sustainable practices they're showcasing themselves
as sustainable brands so let's have a look at some of the best examples of sustainable brands
and companies that have really embraced that sustainability branding and they're communicating
it effectively to their target audience number one starbucks now with their green and white
themed logo starbucks already showcases itself as an eco-friendly company you visit their website or
their social media profiles and you don't need anyone to explain to you that this company is
100 percent built around sustainability you'll find images graphic illustrations and messaging
that showcase plant-based menu options reusable packaging regenerative agriculture and better
waste management and as a way of transparency they also invite their customers to track the way they
produce their products and how they're cutting emissions by fifty percent number two dell now
dell brand themselves as sustainable by using renewable energy from solar panels in their plans
to reduce emissions now they've also committed part of their profits to remove about 86 million
metric tons of plastic from the oceans while also recycling these resources to create new
products as well and in communicating these as a brand you'll see the green colors on the designs
of their packaging and in addition dell also has a friendly recycling plan in place you can send
back your used equipment to dell and they'll safely destroy the potentially harmful parts
at no cost to the consumer number three beyond meat now recognizing how the meat production
industry impacts the environment negatively beyond meat uses plant-based alternatives
to create healthier products that taste just like real meat and with illustrated graphics and green
themed photos they really bring this across in their visual identity and their website and
they're really following through with that message as well of saving the planet and helping consumers
to live healthier at the same time number four who gives a crap now this toilet paper maker brands
itself as toilet paper that builds toilets and dedicates 50 of its profits to building toilets
in impoverished countries in the developing world now the toilet papers are either made from
100 bamboo or recycled fiber and they pride themselves in producing extra soft toilet papers
now this is a great example of a green brand that combines the trifecta of environmental economic
and social issues in its branding strategy number five lush now lush projects this brand
as an eco-friendly and sustainable brand because that is exactly what they do everything on their
website everything on their social media profiles it mentions their commitment to sustainability and
their sustainability practices are clear for any visitor that comes to their website because
that's what they talk about they say what they stand for as a brand and they especially showcase
100 vegan and handmade cosmetics number six pella now pellet produces 100 biodegradable products in
a bid to reduce plastic waste and create a waste free future now they make phone cases airpod cases
smart watch brands sunglasses and other accessories from composible and biodegradable
materials which are also free from toxic chemicals and number seven green toys now
green toys produces safe and green toys for kids that are made from 100 percent recycled products
visit their website or their social media profiles and you'll see how they use colors and images
and carefully crafted words to pass across their message as an eco-friendly brand green toys didn't
just mention that they use recyclable products they wanted to further state that what they're
doing really does help the planet the recycling toys that will really help the environment and
really set kids off on the right message now green toys didn't just say they were using recycled
material to make their toys they really wanted to emphasize exactly what they were recycling
to make the toys which was milk jugs now look without a doubt sustainability branding
offers an edge to brands that actually have some weight behind the words that they put out there
who gives a crap makes soft toilet paper from recyclable material and then they use a chunk
of their profits to build toilets in rural areas so you can see the connection between
the language between the words between the message and what they actually do so let your
brand designs reinforce your sustainability your logo your website your social media
your product packaging they should all communicate your dedication to sustainability
and your messaging strategy your storytelling it should tell that story and why that's important
to your brand so think about how you can carefully convey that message how you can craft that message
how you can craft that story and then weave it throughout your entire brand identity now our
next video up here will help you dive deeper into brand strategy but before you click on
that make sure you hit the subscribe if you want to learn how to become a master of brand