“How should marketers evaluate the role of sustainability? They should ask themselves, what is sustainability’s role in driving brand awareness, preference, and favorability—those upper-funnel KPIs? What is sustainability’s role in driving digital behaviors, and what are consumers drawn to? Further, how are we tracking the progress and impact of our sustainability efforts? Sustainability plays a role across your entire business—customer journey, marketing, operations, practices, and roadmapping. There’s a tendency to want to put it in its own category when, in fact, it should be a layer through which you look at everything—a new lens.”

“Between regulations and consumer demands for sustainability, marketers want to have their sustainability initiatives well-defined and underway before brands make certain promises. But it’s important to understand that it’s not just about branding, it’s about being strategic with where your brand can authentically behave in more sustainable ways. It may not come across in an ad campaign or message, but behind the scenes, your team may be considering sustainability in an activation or event. There are different moments along the customer journey that you can lean into—you don’t have to have everything perfect out of the gate.”