#16 How to avoid greenwashing?
And monetize your sustainability investments in 3 steps
The great "awokening" has also hit corporations. Increased public pressure and higher sustainability costs are pushing companies to voice their sustainability efforts.
A wise endeavor, yet many succumb to greenwashing, exaggerating their “goodness”, and risking their most valuable assets: brands.
Here’s a simple three-step framework to drive brand value through impact and steer clear from greenwashing.
Step 1: Do the right thing
You don’t need to save the world to save the world
If you’re a restaurant, make great food. If you’re a furniture company, make great furniture. If you’re an oat milk producer, make great oat milk.
Doing the right thing for the world starts with excelling at your core business. When consumers buy your product, it's proof you're adding societal value — why else would they spend their hard-earned resources?
This should be your primary focus: doing what you do in the best possible way.
Microsoft has made a greater impact than all the world-saving oat milk producers combined “just” by “empowering people and organizations to achieve more”.
Forget grandiose ambitions. Forget purposes that don't reflect your true identity. Focus on solving one unmet consumer need. Consistently.
You don’t need to save the world to save the world
Step 2: Minimize harm
Don’t do evil
Google’s initial motto was “Don’t do evil.” When your product has many negative side effects (or "negative externalities"), doing the right thing isn't enough.
Facebook (Meta) aimed to "bring the world together" and did so impressively. Yet, in doing so, it has contributed to screen addiction, teen depression, fake news, and societal polarization.
“A company is a group of people that strive to solve one problem without creating many others”
Connecting the world through screen addiction is unacceptable. Selling tasty breakfasts that cause diabetes is unacceptable. Promoting affordable fashion at the cost of sweatshops is unacceptable.
And this isn't just a moral debate. Negative externalities will catch up with you, through taxes or reputational damage.
Don’t do evil.
Greenwashing & Brand value
When doing the right thing or minimizing harm, companies aim to showcase their goodness to consumers. This is not only admirable but wise, as some good deeds drive costs up.
However, many fall prey to "greenwashing."
Greenwashing is exaggerating how good you are. Yet, like the lure of mermaids, it can be dazzling and elusive. These are the most common pitfalls:
Unsubstantiated Claims. H&M launched a “conscious” collection without specific information on why their products were “conscious”
Trade-offs. Kellogg’s calls-out “source of fiber” in their products without warning about “source of sugar”
Regulated actions. McDonald’s promoted the use of paper straws, a move pushed by regulation.
Step 3: Actvism
Amplify your actions, not a cause
Activism is the next step - use your brand as a loudspeaker to drive societal change.
In a world with significant societal issues, sinking moral leadership from traditional institutions (governments, churches), easy access to targeted media distribution (Social Media), and growing consumer concerns, it’s reasonable for brands to want into social and moral debates.
Yet, morality is not the natural realm of brands. Brands sell products and services. Not moral opinions.
And, as such, activism should not be about your brand, but about your product. Activism should amplify your actions, not a trendy cause. Activism should be a strategic approach, not a marketing stunt.
Activism is not opportunism.
Take Patagonia. Through consistent actions like making durable, low-impact, repairable products, they’ve earned the right to amplify their efforts and become climate change activists. They don’t just talk sustainability—they lead it.
Or consider Nike. After decades of supporting Black athletes, they’ve earned the credibility to connect with the #BlackLivesMatter movement, staying true to their inspirational ethos: "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything."
Before becoming an activist, ask yourself: Is it relevant to my consumers? Is it relevant to my brand? And most importantly, is it relevant to my product and strategy?
Amplify your actions, not the cause
Progress
One could argue that our role in life is to leave this world in a better place than we found it.
To progress.
In the world of brands, the world of trust, progress means adding more trust elements to the equation. From product attributes to societal impact. From “Me” to “We”. From doing the right thing and minimizing harm to activating systemic change.
From being the best in the world to being the best for the world.
Act. Impact. Shout.
Anticipate the future. Drive progress.
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