The role of marketing has historically focused on connecting brands with consumers to deliver business growth, and drive a culture of consumption and experience.
While that focus remains, today marketers also face demands to work within the context of current global issues – most significantly, the climate crisis. Another challenge lies within that: the difference between what consumers say they want, and what they actually do.
How significant is the ‘say-do’ gap?
The ‘say-do’ gap is a commonly used phrase in the sustainability space. In the beverage category, for example, 68% of consumers say they care about the environment, but only 12% follow through with a sustainable purchase [Kantar/Diageo]. And in Great Britain, 40% of the population say they try to buy environmentally-friendly packaging, but only 13% succeed.
A couple of studies shed further light on this. When segmenting consumers into ‘sustainability actives’ and ‘non-actives’, Kantar found the latter made up 76% of global consumers. Our own research also found talking in depth about technologies behind sustainable solutions can be polarising, and turns off the non-actives. So, there’s a delicate balance to be had, but there’s enormous power for marketers to tap into that 76%.
There are multiple reasons for this gap: sustainable products are often more expensive; consumers face conflicting information and have concerns about quality; and sustainable options aren’t always easy to find in mainstream channels.
How can marketers tackle this?
When assessing these barriers at Diageo, we realised companies like ours can’t achieve their sustainability goals without involving the consumer. While we have made progress on the supply side of the business, such as decarbonising distilleries, we need change the demand side – consumer purchasing decisions – to reach our goals. That’s where marketing, sustainability and innovation come in.
Crucially, marketers need to embed desirability into sustainability innovations, while creating brilliant communications to bring consumers on the journey. Shoppers need products that don’t come at the detriment of quality, convenience or price. Marketers must tackle preconceived perceptions and equip consumers with the confidence that there doesn’t need to be a trade-off.
- Embed sustainability within innovation: Sustainable products should enhance the consumer’s experience, not diminish it. A better all-round experience was the aim of our Johnnie Walker Ultra light-weight glass bottle, for example.
- Communicate value clearly: Products must be underpinned with credible sustainability credentials, with claims substantiated and easy to understand for a mass audience.
- Embrace progress over perfection: Trial product innovations, where consumers can engage in the development and provide feedback. Our trials of Johnnie Walker paper-based bottles and Baileys aluminium bottles helped our marketers gather key insights, guiding the next iteration. Consumers are often willing to work with brands, helping to remove the perception of compromise.
- Empower marketers: This is new territory for marketers – they can express a fear of getting things wrong, stifling creativity. Equip marketers with fresh training and guidance, building their confidence in marketing desirable and sustainable products.
An NYU Stern and Edelman research paper in 2023 backs up this thesis. It found consumers primarily care about a brand’s core category claims, but the addition of a sustainability claim can significantly increase the brand’s cumulative appeal by 16%. In other words, sustainability communications can be the tiebreaker that pushes consumers to purchase your option.
A thorough understanding of consumer psyche, habit and behaviour is needed to bridge the ‘say-do’ gap. Marketers and innovators should work together to create products and marketing strategies that enhance the consumer experience, offering a seamless blend of quality, innovation and environmental responsibility.
Only then can brands convert sustainable intentions into sustainable purchases – benefiting business, people and planet.
Deb Caldow is the global marketing sustainability director at Diageo
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