{"id":6946,"date":"2024-06-25T01:23:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T05:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/2024\/06\/25\/marketing-lit-the-fire-of-consumerism-now-we-must-do-the-same-for-sustainability\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T12:25:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T16:25:17","slug":"marketing-lit-the-fire-of-consumerism-now-we-must-do-the-same-for-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/marketing-lit-the-fire-of-consumerism-now-we-must-do-the-same-for-sustainability\/6946\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Lit the Fire of Consumerism: Now We Must Do the Same for Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jean-Marc Papin, SVP Media Technologies and Sustainability, Horizon Media<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

There is an inherent tension between consumerism and sustainability. From a business perspective, consumerism has historically impelled us to strive for constant growth \u2013 as shareholders\u2019 desire for quarterly revenue gains were prioritized above all else. Sustainability asks that we expand the growth focus to include measures to ensure our actions aren\u2019t resulting in irreparable harm to our planet\u2019s resources. This is not an \u201ceither-or\u201d proposition. We can have both – a world does exist where we can turn these tensions into intentional solutions for the benefit of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As of today, we\u2019re on track to overshoot the earth\u2019s replenishable resources for 2024 by August 1, recognized as Earth Overshoot Day. While unfortunate, this isn\u2019t shocking when we consider that we\u2019re individually incentivized hundreds to thousands of times per day \u2013 tiny interactions everywhere we go \u2013 to continue to consume. As the adage goes, if we\u2019re not buyin\u2019 we must be dyin\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As marketers, we have been immensely successful in helping our partner brands and clients reach and often exceed their goals \u2013 planning, creating, and placing the billions of digital ads that appear in Google searches and social feeds or on the billboards that we pass daily.\u00a0 Our collective efforts have worked \u2013 and really well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

So much so, in fact, that it\u2019s difficult to overstate the power that marketing has had in our culture. Iconic campaigns like the \u201cThink Small\u201d Volkswagen Beetle ads and Apple\u2019s \u201c1984\u201d didn\u2019t just sell products; they reframed social narratives. Marketing has the ability to alter deeply ingrained mindsets and behaviors on a massive scale. It was most succinctly described in the 1927 book Your Money\u2019s Worth<\/em>: \u201cIt\u2019s a magnificent technique. Sanely applied, it could remake the world.\u201d And it has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

If you need proof of its power, just look to the way that governments have had to regulate the industry over the years. In 1970, legislation was passed to severely restrict the ways in which tobacco companies could market their products because of proven human health hazards. Before that, tobacco reigned as a way of life, largely driven by the way companies presented their products in their advertising. Fast forward to recent years when laws have been passed in Amsterdam, the Dutch city of Haarlem, and France to restrict how fossil fuel companies can market their products. This is because fossil fuels are on the same track now that tobacco was 50 years ago \u2013 with the main difference being that in our current global economy, it is currently impossible not<\/em> to rely on fossil fuels for something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, sustainability has steadily been on the rise (though not at pace with consumerism). What started as a moral side project at many organizations has now become table stakes for doing business for many others, as well as a strategic advantage for the savviest operators. Consumers are demanding products and services that reflect their own value sets, with 96% of US consumers saying they try to live \u201csustainably\u201d at least some of the time according to BCG. So, how does the marketing and media industry navigate this tension between the constant growth business model and the embrace of sustainability?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

We must shift the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

However, it\u2019s na\u00efve to think that consumers will suddenly alter behavior immediately upon hearing or seeing new messages. Instead, it requires consumers to have a recognition of the co-dependency of consumption and the power we all have as individuals to lean into issues that often seem too big to impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As such, the consumer perception of value needs to be overhauled from consumption for the sake of consumption to consumption for the sake of sustainability and growth \u2013 or, more accurately, sustainable growth<\/em>. That is the power that we have as an industry. We know that consumption won\u2019t stop, nor do we want it to. But we also know that collectively we can do better.\u00a0 The products and services exist.\u00a0 The values-driven organizations exist. The consumers who want more from their brands and the industries that drive them exist. Companies have a significant opportunity to meet those demands so that we can all move the needle for faster, more meaningful impact across our planet, people, and profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Many organizations are working towards this already, but significant opportunity remains for many others to understand the benefits of prioritizing sustainability:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n