As supply chain standards Trend improve, sustainability claims will become the norm. Brands must be smarter on messaging—and find ways to help the public become sustainable by default. By GEMMA Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth • COP26 leaders asked nations to BARDSLEY, a decade or so ago, greenwashing was a consider, formulate, and publish JAMIE HAMILL viable business practice. Slap an earnest updated Nationally Determined sounding but ambiguously worded decal Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris on a label, and brands could plausibly claim Agreement for 2030 by the time to be keeping an eye on sustainability. COP27 begins next year. This new Fortunately for the planet, and for “ratcheting mechanism” will enable the consumers who don’t like being duped, public and other nations to call out the those days are officially over. slow movers on climate action. Investors and regulators are now • 92% of people say they want to live scrutinizing brands’ threshold of a sustainable lifestyle, but only 16% compliance to sustainability claims. are actively changing their behaviors. The palace guard is no longer asleep, which Sustainable experiences can also help means that claims must be verifiable in solve this intention/action gap while addition to sounding good. At the same helping brands grow. time, the sunk costs required to make supply chains more sustainable will be less As attention on sustainability matters easy to claim back through sustainability intensifies, conversation around business equity alone. Brands must find new ways to efforts will morph from a unique selling connect with customers on their sensitivity proposition to business as usual. That to the health of the planet, while at the means brands will need to integrate 6same time helping them become more sustainability efforts into their entire sustainable in their day-to-day lives. customer experience. Creating sustainable experiences will help brands adopt The stakes are indisputably high: solutions into the full brand lifecycle, helping customers become sustainable by • 74% of global institutional investors default. revise investments if a company does not consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria within their business model. 25 BUSINESS & GROWTH TRENDS 2022 OGILVY GROWTH & INNOVATION