It’s a tough time for purpose businesses. You’re concerned about the climate crisis and want to take action. Plus, you’re aware of the scale and urgency of the problem. But balancing purpose with budgets and breaking through in an attention-driven economy is hard. The right sustainability communications can help.
On stage at the Blue Earth Summit 2024, Enviral’s Chloe Tuck and Joss Ford hosted a conversation with Nina Hajikhanian, General Manager, EMEA, Patagonia, and Emma Marsh, Executive Director of Digital Technology and Communications, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), about how to be bold, strategic and effective with your sustainability communications.
“Build a movement for nature and we’ve got a hope of overcoming this. We know what the solutions are. It’s not like we don’t know what to do. We just need to act and make it happen with urgency” – Emma Marsh, Executive Director of Digital Technology and Communications, RSPB.
Here’s how they’re doing it—and how you can, too.
1. Emphasise urgency and action
The biggest challenge is getting people to realise the urgency of the climate crisis. As Emma points out, “We have to act with urgency. There’s a real need to emphasise that but do so in an entertaining way. We can’t just give more and more information – that doesn’t work.”
Emma called for collaboration across all sectors: “We need to work with businesses, the public and decision-makers to demonstrate that we can fund nature conservation. But it’s not just about funding; we must change behaviours. It can’t just be conservation organisations doing the work on the ground. We will not save nature just by doing that. We have to make people realise they can act.”
2. Start with a solid brief
Joss highlighted the importance of a well-crafted brief: “Briefs often get thrown together without the right expertise. Don’t cram in too many KPIs and expect one campaign to achieve everything. Be single-minded. And if you’re unsure how to do this, work with someone who does.”
3. Meet your audience where they are
RSPB has 1.2 million loyal members and its demographic is traditionally over 55. Recognising the need to engage a younger audience, they took a different approach. Emma explained how they made it happen: “We knew money was a barrier, so we introduced free access to 16 to 24-year-olds to our nature reserves. We also hired a Gen Z social media manager to run our TikTok account, where we now generate over a million views per month.” The results speak for themselves, with RSPB also increasing its LinkedIn engagement by 90%.
4. Get people to act
Sharing knowledge is not enough. We need to get people to act. Nina explained, “We use beautiful cinematography and music to touch people on a sensory level. We want to be antidotes to the endless doom scrolling.” Check out the library of incredible Patagonia films here.
Joss added: “At Enviral, we’ve worked with the likes of Greenpeace on the Big Plastic Count Campaign, where we’ve got UK households up and down
the country to count their plastic for a week. People love to be involved in something bigger.”
5. Keep it conversational
Sustainability is complex, but your messaging doesn’t have to be. “We speak to our audience like we would speak to our friends – clear and concise,” said Nina. “Trust them to handle complex issues. We want people to feel strong about solutions that we’re providing them with.”
6. Create powerful partnerships for greater impact
Building strategic partnerships can amplify your message. Emma said, “Sometimes you’re not the best messenger, but you can work with a partner who is. Knowing your shared objectives helps you get the right message to the right audience.”
7. Be unexpected
Patagonia is known for bold moves. 50 days before the election in 2020, they launched a limited number of regenerative stand-up shorts with “Vote the Assholes Out,” sewn into the label. It was unexpected and bold while delivering a clear message and call to action.
8. Get your employees engaged in your purpose
Internal buy-in is key to successful purpose businesses. “At Patagonia, we’re doing a lot of work to bring our internal community along because they are our biggest ambassadors. They will also help you to be a soundboard and hold you accountable,” Nina said.
9. Get nature on the agenda
For Emma, getting nature into the conversation is essential. “Build a movement for nature and we’ve got a hope of overcoming this. We know what the solutions are. It’s not like we don’t know what to do. We just need to act and make it happen with urgency.”
Watch the video below as Chloe Tuck and Emma Marsh recap their key takeaways from the panel discussion.