Featured leaders Q&A: Michelle Carvill, author of Sustainable Marketing

26 Aug

Michelle Carvill is a strategic marketer, digital agency founder, consultant, CIM Course Director for Social Media Strategy and Sustainable Marketing - and five times published author and business book awards finalist in the marketing, digital and social media space.

She authored Sustainable Marketing - How to Drive Profits with Purpose alongside fellow senior marketers Gemma Butler and Geraint Evans.

I wanted to get her views on one of the most important topics for businesses and marketers today: how marketing needs to adapt in response to climate change.

What role does marketing play in the growth of purpose-driven businesses?

If we go back to the origins of what ‘marketing’ was designed for, then very simplistically, it was to uncover the needs of the customer and deliver products and services to meet those needs. Marketing has played a role in both delivering on need and driving the desire for more – regardless of whether that’s done responsibly or not – we’ve driven consumption levels and a throw-away society.

With consumers becoming increasingly aware of the climate crisis, the role they play and the choices they make, the ‘needs’ of the customer are changing. People are looking to brands and businesses to support them in making better choices. Many organisations are making great strides in the right direction when it comes to sustainability and being more purpose focused, and yet, this great work often gets stuck internally, often in the boardroom or celebrated in internal meetings – and isn’t cascaded to customers, employees and other interested audiences.

Marketing can play a role across helping organisations truly understand their purpose, helping them to ensure that their purpose and values are clearly communicated and embedded within strategy. This then cascades into business practice and brand reputation, and communicated effectively showing and telling audiences exactly what impact the ‘purpose driven’ aspect is delivering upon.

It’s one thing to say you are purpose driven and another to actually live and breathe and communicate it as part of your ongoing brand narrative and service proposition. Marketing can support across all three key areas.

There is so much pressure on business right now, especially as a result of the pandemic. What do you think is the one most important thing businesses need to focus on right now from a marketing perspective?

From a business perspective it’s about prioritisation and focus. And from a marketing perspective, it’s about transparency. I think that businesses forget that their customers are human beings – and that when communicated with effectively, so that they understand your position, situation, the challenges you’re facing and working to overcome, there’s usually quite a lot of understanding, support and empathy.

What do you think sustainable marketing means in practice?

Sustainable marketing is about being responsible and doing the right and decent thing. No posturing of the truth, no greenwashing – which is effectively, telling lies.

In our Sustainable Marketer Manifesto – (a Hippocratic Oath for marketers), we encourage three behaviours – 1) educate yourself on the realities of what’s going on with the climate crisis and consider the role you play, 2) once educated, educate others, your team, your boss, the CEO/MD of the business – so they too can become more aware and 3) commit to steering responsible marketing practice – not focused on selling more at any cost – but understanding the role and responsibility you play as a marketer, and supporting the business in driving a more sustainable agenda.

It does mean becoming the one that ‘questions’ what the business is doing, advises that you’re not prepared to tell lies, and supports the business in driving more meaningful and responsible marketing practice.

“It’s one thing to say you are purpose driven and another to actually live and breathe and communicate it as part of your ongoing brand narrative and service proposition.

Marketing can support across all three key areas.”

— Michelle Carvill

What do you think is going to be the biggest challenge in marketing as a whole in the next few years?

For my ‘Can Marketing Save the Planet’ podcast, I recently interviewed Philip Kotler, author, marketing professor and the renowned ‘father of modern marketing’ – in his interview he discussed the battle of the ‘de-marketers’ and the ‘growth marketers’ – and I believe this is going to be a big challenge facing marketing.

Those that evolve towards more ‘social marketing’ and ‘cause related’ marketing to support urgent and necessary behavioural change – and those that think it’s ok to carry on doing what we’ve been doing for the past 40 years. Of course, as a society we all have to rethink what we’re doing – and as marketers, it’s no different. There will be those that evolve and there will be those that get left behind.

My hope is that the winners are the ones that focus on doing the decent and right thing – helping business to drive a narrative that focuses on people and planet as well as profits.

On the flip side, what do you think is the biggest opportunity?

Rethinking ‘marketing’ as we have known it presents a huge opportunity. It brings marketing back into purpose, brand values, strategy and communications – working across the business, rather than siloed.

Marketing has a great opportunity to play a key role in building the business case and driving practice change, not only within organisations but also cascading the influence and driving behavioural change by engaging customers and educating, supporting and encouraging them to make better choices. Using our powers of persuasion and communications skills for good.

Can you recommend any resources where marketers and business owners can learn more about sustainability?

I recommend visiting https://www.canmarketingsavetheplanet.com/ - here marketers will find not only inspirational podcasts, but also a Learning Zone where we have created over 30 resources to support marketers and business owners to learn more about sustainability.

I would also highly recommend our book, Sustainable Marketing – How to Drive Profits with Purpose – and don’t be misled by the title, whilst we wrote it for marketers – many have said, we should have called it Sustainable Business as it’s relevant for any business looking for advice and practical guidance on how to get started with sustainability.

Marketing for purpose-driven businesses

I can take you through the marketing planning process to help you get clarity on what marketing goals to set, and how to achieve them. I can also help with content and copywriting, email and social media. I also offer 90 day content plans so you can let me take the strain and remove the hard work of planning for each of your marketing channels.