Navigating ‘Greenwashing’: how to identify and avoid it

With COP29 wrapped up, the outcome has been a mixed bag of sorts. Countries walked out, documents were reworked and financial goals are under speculation—there’s no better time for larger corporations and SMEs to pull their weight and ease consumer concerns.

Nearly five years ago, one of the world’s most influential investors called for corporations to take climate seriously. Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, a global investment firm with over $7.4 trillion in assets worldwide, sent a letter each year to over 200 of the world’s leading CEOs. Within two weeks, Delta, Microsoft, and Amazon made impact statements and announced strategies ranging from offsetting carbon emissions to Microsoft’s pledge to become carbon-negative.

Amongst financial and business analysts, there has been much controversy around whether these pledges represented systemic change, philanthropic alignment, or just…clever marketing. 

In our digital era, disinformation spreads six times faster than the truth. For businesses, this means the stakes are high when it comes to doing good and communicating it effectively. We’re at the point where corporate values are becoming arbitrary, particularly among younger generations. If you’re truly trying to make a difference, here’s how to provide more context when communicating your ESG commitments.

1. Marketing your ESG commitments honestly & effectively 

Large entities are, unfortunately, on the wrong side of history and have to play the role of both problem and solution. So, how do you shift the narrative? In the same way, products like Apple and Nike, with a clear sense of why, allow their consumers to tell the outside world who they are and what they believe in. Even in the B2B space, companies look to work with good folks with genuine ESG roadmaps. Some even legislate procurement processes. 

It’s no longer about what you do. While you can play with talent and price to differentiate, the why is vital. What used to be a “nice to have” is now an essential investment into effectively marketing the ESG portion of your why.

Your Creative Insight:

Don’t do ESG marketing without reason, commitment, and a funded initiative. In the past year, I’ve had to turn down several projects that lacked depth. I wasn’t saying no just to be righteous—people would have caught on to those marketing attempts and they would have backfired within the financial year they launched. 

People initially viewed Sustainable Metal Cloud with skepticism because “greenwashing” was a common theme in the AI industry. However, they continued to work on clear proof points, built genuine partnerships with other sustainable leaders in the industry and gained global recognition for it.

2. Communicate transparency across your supply chain

A lesson learned from consumer marketing is the effective execution of transparency. This tactic is where businesses openly share their supply chain, often including costs, locations, and working conditions. Brands like US fashion label, Everlane, address industry and customer sustainability needs by implementing radical transparency across every product sold. 

This approach, where your ESG efforts become integrated across the entire brand experience, is not only refreshing but also a powerful tool for marketing the why. If you’re in the advanced stages of your ESG journey, open up your supply chain, and make it common practice to share where and how you produce. 

Your Creative Insight:

Thinking creatively, service businesses, manufacturers, and consultants can do this. If this isn’t feasible for your business at the moment, it’s an effective internal communications exercise to create transparency around where, on the supply chain, you feel the need to hold back and examine why. This can be an open-ended conversation to work on areas needing alignment with your sustainable business model. Similarly, Denver & Liely led with their Australian supply chain and pushed this local aspect to the forefront of their business model. 

3. Forget the media, self-produce content

Spending resources on short-term PR stunts that receive even shorter coverage is a waste of marketing spend. Instead, show progress, not just results, by investing in self-produced long-form storytelling pieces.  If you are genuinely at the stage where your staff are seen as a primary business stakeholder, let them become your brand ambassadors. Employee-created content is the best proof-point you can get. Practically, this means content series, either articles or videos, that show insight into your business’s ESG journey. Start good conversations, start ugly industry conversations—just start talking. 

Your Creative Insight:

A great example of this is Australia Post’s series Progress at Post, a project uncovering individuals’ attempts to make changes within the organisation and allowing team members to share both successes and challenges. Collective scrutiny can win you brand loyalty by opening that door to sharing what works and what doesn’t—just find a good balance.

4. Legitimise stakeholder commitments

“But what do they actually do for the community?” 

To legitimise the notion of seeing your community as a core stakeholder, you need to solidify and ideally, brand what you’re giving back. Let’s call it a pledge. Whether that be financial support, jobs, or resources, it needs to be packaged up and include proof points, such as testimonials or metrics. Ensure you incorporate this pledge into your communications to answer the above question before it’s asked. At this point, if you say you give back to the community and it’s tokenistic, it’ll affect your ability to hire talent, and retain customers, and will likely end up being media-worthy (for all the wrong reasons).

Your Creative Insights:

This concept made telling the authentic experience of life at Grill’d so much easier. Their branded commitment to giving back to the community is a key aspect of their in-store experience, ensuring any and every customer at Grill’d is aware of what they do, and why. 

5. Celebrate your key impact statistics

In today’s media landscape, facts don’t speak for themselves. They need to be packaged as an interesting story. Some of the world’s leading businesses in ESG have missed out by not leveraging their metrics for storytelling. Turn your reporting into a public-facing campaign with marketing spend and timelines that match consumer campaigns. Create resources such as a campaign microsite that allow stakeholders to digest your impact. This ensures that when people look up what you’re doing, your verified narrative comes up, providing transparency and accountability.

Your Creative Insight:

Firmus and Sustainable Metal Cloud have verified pages to showcase their Sustainability impact. They’ve set industry-verified benchmarks, and officially partnered with the United Nations Global Compact to further establish their responsible business practices. Firmus is also releasing its end-of-year Sustainability Report for investors and the public to view its impact across 2024.

In the end, avoiding greenwashing isn’t just about looking good on paper; it’s about building a reputation that stands the test of time. Part of this comes down to dedicating marketing resources, budget, and planning on the same scale as product or internal comms. ESG done right can inspire loyalty, rally employees, and establish a business as a genuine leader. So, before you post that sustainability update, ask yourself: is this built to last or just for applause? Get it right, and the respect, credibility, and market rewards will follow.