The Role of Promotional Marketing in Climate Action
With COP28 UAE , and the Advertising Standard Authority’s (UK) Five-year strategy placing a spotlight on ‘Planet ‘, we stand at a critical juncture in time for sustainability awareness and action. This presents a unique opportunity to reflect on the evolving response to climate change, particularly in the realm of promotional marketing.
Classic responses to shifting consumer behaviour towards climate change have traditionally revolved around the ‘carrot and stick’ approach of behaviourism. Yet, in recent times there’s been a noticeable shift in favour of the carrot.
As businesses align their strategies with increasingly robust guidance and legislation, they illuminate the path forward in the promotional marketing industry.
The ASA in the UK Releases 5-Year Strategy
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA UK) released its five-year strategy placing ‘Planet’ as a cornerstone. This underscores the importance of sustainability in the international advertising and marketing industry which is set to face new content and placement restrictions on marketing materials that are perceived to be environmentally damaging.
The ASA’s (UK) new strategy is in line with the urgent global need for ambitious net zero targets and the growing trend to nudge or direct consumers towards more sustainable purchasing decisions and lifestyles. Marketing, with its unique power to influence behavioural change, has a pivotal role in guiding societal transition.
“There are real opportunities for creatives and the marketing industry to really get on top of this narrative and do something impressive and exciting which actually helps the country get closer towards its goals and I think you’ll be the heroes if you are in that band.”
With the ASA’s new five-year strategy emphasising sustainability, let’s now turn our attention to the marketing industry and initiatives that are channelling their creative powers to disrupt the status quo. These initiatives are actively reshaping industry norms, truly embodying what it means to be “heroes’ in their field”.
Leading the Charge in Sustainable Promotions
Carlsberg’s ‘Raise A Glass To Seagrass’ Campaign
The campaign introduced by Carlsberg Group , in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ), aims to bolster the UK’s coastal ecosystems by planting 130,000 square meters of seagrass meadows – an area equating to over 18 football pitches. Guided by the creative expertise of ZEAL Creative Limited , the campaign introduced a charming seal character, native to UK waters, as the face of this initiative. This seal served as a ‘visual disruptor,’ creating a deep emotional connection between the audience and the marine habitats. By weaving this narrative, ZEAL skilfully highlighted the critical role of seagrass in carbon absorption and climate health. Each purchase of Carlsberg beer directly contributed to the WWF’s efforts in restoring seagrass meadows, effectively transforming a routine consumer choice into a meaningful environmental action.
LitterLotto: Winning Against Waste
LitterLotto combines environmental action with the excitement of winning prizes. By incentivising individuals to dispose of litter properly using gamification, the LitterLotto app has successfully motivated users to dispose of over ten million pieces of litter properly using social sharing and prize draws. Neil Mandel, Founder of Epic Activation describes the campaign’s global expansion and substantial impact in South Africa, where an additional half a million pieces of litter have been collected. Partnering with key councils and major retail outlets alongside forging significant international ties, LitterLotto exemplifies how promotional marketing strategies can turn a global challenge into an engaging, community-driven and rewarding experience.
In a world grappling with environmental challenges, the Advertising Standards Authority’ focus on ‘Planet’ as a cornerstone of its five-year strategy underscores the critical role of marketing in the drive towards sustainability. The evolution from traditional ‘carrot and stick’ approaches to more creative and incentive-based strategies underlines a seismic shift in the industry’s response to climate change. With governments and businesses increasingly leveraging incentives to promote environmental responsibility, it challenges the industry to reimagine its role, not just as a driver of consumer behaviour, but as a key architect in building a sustainable future.
In South Africa – The Advertising Standards Authority provides the following guidelines in Appendix G of the code.
Advertising containing environmental claims: Advertising Regulatory Board, 1 November 2018
1. General
1.1 This Appendix is supplementary to the general provisions of the Code. Special care should be taken by advertisers to ensure that the spirit as well as the letter of the provisions of the whole Code are scrupulously observed.
1.2 In this Appendix–
1.2.1 “Environmental claim” means any direct or indirect claim, representation, reference or indication in an advertisement relating to the immediate or future impact or influence on the environment of a product or its packaging or a service.
1.2.2 Unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to the product is deemed to include reference to any packaging in which the product or any of its components are or were at any time contained.
1.2.3 All environmental claims and statements made in advertising should provide accurate information, meaningful to the consumer and based on recognised scientific standards and principles.
1.2.4 Advertisements should not contain vague, incomplete or irrelevant statements about environmental matters, nor should it impair public confidence in the efforts made by the business community to improve its ecological standards.
2. Absolute claims and statements
2.1 Advertisements containing unqualified claims and statements about environmental matters will be interpreted as meaning “100%”, and shall be subject to substantiation.
The same principle will apply to descriptions such as “. . . free” or “contains no . . .” which will be assumed to claim total absence of the stated substance.
2.2 Corporate claims in advertising may refer to specific products or actions but may not imply that they extend to the company’s performance functions as a whole, unless this can be substantiated.
2.3 Advertisements should clearly indicate whether the claims made relate to the products or packaging, and in the absence of such indication shall be considered to be referring to both.
2.4 Advertisements containing general statements such as “environmentally friendly” or “ozone friendly” or “green”, or graphics or symbols designed to convey a similar environmental message, will not be permitted unless qualified by a description of the benefit conferred, e.g. “ozone friendly – free
from CFC’s”.
2.5 Environmental signs or symbols used in advertising should clearly indicate their source and should not imply official approval.
3. Recyclable
Advertisements may not by using the Mobius Loop symbol or in any other way claim that the product is recyclable, merely because it is technically capable of being recycled, unless facilities, which are reasonably accessible, exist for collection and recycling.
4. Degradable
4.1 No advertisement may make claims for the degradability of the packaging material unless the claim can be substantiated.
4.2 Advertising claims about the degradability of products disposed of through the sewage systems may only be made if the by-products of degradation and the product in question do not contain substances which are known to be damaging either to the environment or the sewage collection and treatment facilities.
5. Ozone friendly
5.1 No product or packaging may claim to be “ozone friendly” if at any point in its manufacture, packaging, use or degradation it uses or is likely to emit chlorofluorocarbons.
5.2 Advertisements which claim to indicate in any other way that a product does not contain any substance which will or may have an adverse or detrimental effect on the ozonosphere (“ozone layer”) shall not be acceptable unless the ASA is satisfied that the product falls within the class of product–
5.2.1 in which chlorofluorocarbons (“freons”) are or have in the past commonly been used as inert dispensing agents or as solvents or refrigerants; or
5.2.2 which is generally perceived by the consumer public as being a product which contains such substances.