Sustainability and climate change awareness have topped headlines and corporate
agendas as consumers gain deeper awareness of their environmental impact.
According to iStock’s
VisualGPS
research, 90 percent of North Americans practice sustainability on a
consistent basis, and 75 percent believe they have personally made progress
towards living a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
As consumers grow more eco-conscious, they’re looking for brands across
industries to take the same
strides.
Whether we’re talking about the automotive industry, consumer packaged goods
(CPG) or beyond, it’s vital to update marketing visuals to best meet audiences’
evolving sentiments and reflect their lifestyle choices. Below are best
practices for marketers looking to strike a deeper emotional chord with
consumers — particularly, when it comes to effectively incorporating
sustainability-driven assets into their visual storytelling and standing out
with their commitments to the cause.
CPG
Consumers are actively looking for brands to embody the same values that they
hold. This tracks all the more with younger generations: VisualGPS found that 69
percent of Millennials/Gen Z and 53 percent of older consumers only buy products
from brands that make an effort to be sustainable. While brands across all
industries can feature these practices within their marketing materials, there
is a significant opportunity for the CPG industry, in particular, to better
depict these behaviors.
Within marketing campaigns, visual content and even packaging, CPG brands can
highlight the nuances of a sustainable lifestyle beyond recycling. This can
include, for example, depicting customers using reusable bags, metal straws or
water bottles; or showing consumers composting food scraps and cooking with
leftovers.
Marketers looking to enhance their storytelling can also bring these scenes to
life, using video content to tell more complex stories about sustainability and
daily actions consumers can
take.
These are tiny editorial shifts that can go a long way in gaining customer
loyalty and establishing a brand’s authentic commitment to sustainability.
Automotive
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Anxiety around climate change is at an all-time high, with one-third of US
adults surveyed by VisualGPS saying they spend more time thinking about the
climate now than they did pre-pandemic. To address these concerns and spearhead
change, mobility
providers
and automakers can rev up marketing materials by including references to
sustainable practices and
offerings. At the
very least, instead of depicting a single passenger in a car, brands can
leverage photo and video content that showcase travelers carpooling.
Many of these changes are increasingly becoming the norm for consumers, and
marketers can celebrate consumer contributions and accelerate societal adoption
by reflecting these efforts. By making these simple shifts, mobility service
providers, manufacturers and dealers can acknowledge and help ease climate fears
by leaning into simple but impactful, climate-conscious behaviors.
Business
VisualGPS research shows that 53 percent of consumers doubt companies’
sustainability claims, expressing a need for these organizations to make their
dedication clear.
From the rise of ESG
investing to firmer
commitments around corporate social
responsibility,
more companies are taking action — but they still have a long way to go. While
their values may have shifted, businesses must take up sustainability in all
aspects of their work, including marketing. The visuals utilized by the business
world still fall short — and may unintentionally be feeding consumers’
skepticism.
First, brands should refrain from using tired, cliched
visuals
within their corporate communication. While well-intentioned, images of polar
bears, melting ice caps and trees do not speak directly to what companies are
doing to combat climate change. Instead, opt for relevant imagery and video that
speaks to companies’ direct action and
solutions
— from solar panels and community gardens to recycling and zero-waste packaging
initiatives.
With the shift towards sustainability comes a reckoning for brands. As consumers
continue to embrace more conscious values and lifestyles, brands must update
their visual marketing strategies and embody these values within their content.
By refreshing these assets, matching consumer sentiment and upleveling authentic
storytelling, brands can better reflect the increasingly conscious consumer world around them and
create stronger connections to audiences yearning to make a difference.
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Dr. Rebecca Swift is Global Head of Creative Insights at Getty Images, based in London.
Published May 25, 2022 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST