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‘Sustainability is no longer a peripheral issue’: Industry leaders share advice on embracing sustainability
Despite recent industry-wide initiatives serving as helpful guides, starting your sustainability journey as a media professional or marketer can feel really intimidating. Mumbrella's Lauren McNamara sat down with industry leaders from Kantar, Intrepid, and Suncorp Group to learn about their approaches, as well as the UN Global Compact Network (UNGCN), to learn where, and how, one can be more environmentally conscious.
Not just a hot topic, sustainability is something that, in 2024, more and more industry leaders have begun focusing on.
As industry bodies have begun reinforcing their commitments to responsible ESG practices, so too have brands and businesses.
At the UNiting Business LIVE Australia event in Sydney last month, Mumbrella spoke to a number of industry leaders on how they’re reacting to the increasing need for sustainable practice.
Suncorp Group’s executive general manager of brand and marketing, Mim Haysom, tells Mumbrella that as a leading insurer, the brand sees the need for sustainability first hand.
“Especially climate change,” she says. “We see the severity of major weather events that impact our customers on a daily basis.”
Haysom stresses that sustainability is front and centre in the business. Even Suncorp Group’s purpose has sustainability anchored in it, as it is about building futures and protecting what matters.
But in terms of the more tangible things the business does, she says it has a strategy to manage ESG opportunities, and it advocates with government around building codes to try and manage building in high-risk communities,
And in FY25, Suncorp Group will put out its first transition plan publicly into market.
“I think the organization is very conscious of leaning into and having a positive impact around to help us build futures and protect what matters.”
Meanwhile, for market researcher Kantar, the biggest thing it’s doing is creating insights to help businesses towards sustainability, walking them through the process.
Managing partner at Consulting by Kantar, Mark Kennedy, explains: “That’s the main role Kantar can play.
“It’s providing the insight and the consumer understanding, to help fuel others.”
Similarly, the UNGCN plays an educational role for businesses and organisations.
“We encourage people to run their businesses according to what we understand are the principles that define sustainability,” New-York based chief of outreach and engagement at the UNGCN, Sue Allchurch says.
Those principles – human rights, labour, anti-corruption, environment, to name a few – underpin all the network does and all it recommends.
“We look at how businesses can have outsized impacts on those goals,” she tells Mumbrella.
(L-R, clockwise): Mim Haysom, Leigh Barnes, Dan Wilcock, Sue Allchurch, Mark Kennedy
For Intrepid, a certified B Corp with social purpose at its core, its efforts arguably go beyond that of others.
“All our decisions are based around purpose and profit,” Leigh Barnes, chief customer officer at Intrepid, explains. “It’s built into everything we do. All our decisions are right for the community, the planet, and our bottom line.”
Moreover, there’s a real superpower in brand transparency, according to Barnes. If a brand is humble, acknowledges when it’s not doing enough, and shares how it plans to change, he says it will get more freedom.
“If you go behind the curtain in media, you talk more, you show that I’m a real person. I think the same thing applies to business,” he explains. “We’re all people trying to move in the right direction. We make mistakes. But its acknowledging that, that’s powerful.”
But, he stresses, it’s important to let your audience hold you accountable. Intrepid does this through an email address – that goes straight to Barnes himself – where people can provide feedback.
“That’s made some tangible improvements. We’ve changed some stuff but its also given me an opportunity to go back and disagree when customers might not be right on the money,” he tells Mumbrella. “That accountability sets you free.
“Plus, it means that I’ve got thousands of customers doing my job for me as well,” he jokes.
This year has seen some huge industry-wide initiatives – including the launch of the Australian Chapter of Ad Net Zero and the push against greenwashing with the AANA’s Environmental Claims Code – and while Dan Wilcock, head of sustainable governance at the Australian arm of the UNGNC, says he appreciates these efforts, more needs to be done on a wide scale.
“Industry associations have a critical role to inform individual businesses about important emerging issues and to provide a collective voice for an industry,” he says. “Some industry associations have demonstrated foresight to engage early with their membership base on sustainability issues, including climate.
“This enables them to identify risks and opportunities relevant to their industry and help support a sustainable and responsible future for the industry through training, information sharing, problem solving and advocacy.”
In the interim, the Australian arm of the UNGCN has launched educational courses – such as its anti-greenwashing course in collaboration with Salterbaxter, which begun in March.
Wilcock says one of the course’s real strengths is that it has interested more than just the marketing industry – it has had people register from a diverse range of industries and sectors across the whole economy. Participants have also come from a range of large ASX-listed companies, through to small and innovative businesses.
“And while the course was designed specifically for marketing and communications professionals, we have had ESG, operations, legal and compliance professionals all benefit from participation in the course. One of things that excites us most about the course is that the interactive learning platform gives these diverse participants the opportunity to engage directly with their peers and learn from the broad range of experiences and insights.”
Course participants have reported feeling empowered after the fact, leaving with practical knowledge and frameworks to apply in their work.
“We’ve seen an incredibly positive response,” Wilcock continues. “Demand for the course has been so strong that we have added additional rounds.”
To those wanting to start their own sustainability journeys, the industry leaders stress that educating yourself is the most important first step. Understand your business – the good and the bad, they say, then you can amplify your good, and improve your bad.
“Once you have that understanding, you can advocate for the change you want to see,” Barnes explains.
Educating yourself more widely is equally critical – listen to other brands, industries, perspectives, ask them questions, learn from them.
“Understand your own context, yes, but understand the outside context as well,” Haysom says. “And you’ll learn so much for it.”
Allchurch adds: “Marketers are always looking to the future. And the way you do that is by connecting with people.
“Understand that, and make sure your business is moving in the right direction.”
Wilcock understands the intimidation that can come with wanting to start a journey of sustainability, but reassures that it is not as scary as it looks.
“We have entered a reality where sustainability is becoming part of everyone’s job – it’s no longer a peripheral issue.”
Instead, he says, it is becoming central to business strategy and operations, and marketers should lean into this.
“So as you gain confidence with sustainability concepts, you can add more value through your existing role.”
Once you’re educated, you can look at sustainability as a growth opportunity, not a cost, according to Kennedy.
“It’s where all the growth is,” he exclaims. “There’s clear commercial intent there, and I think that’s really important.
“If you’re not moving towards sustainability, you’re just going to become less and less relevant.”
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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Dan WIlcockIntrepidKantarLeigh BarnesMark KennedyMarketingMim HaysomSue AllchurchSuncorp GroupsustainabilitysustainableUN Global Compact Network AustraliaUNGCNA
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