Tuesday, May 24, 2022
The Green Market Oracle
  • Climate Change
    • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    • Biodiversity
    • Wildfires
    • Extreme Weather
  • Energy
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Social Change
    • Activism
    • Disinformation
    • Education
    • Psychology
    • Gender Equality
  • Business and Economics
    • Leadership
    • Decarbonization
    • Economics
    • Supply Chains
    • Investing
  • Technology
    • Carbon Removal
    • Carbon Capture
    • Transportation
    • Buildings
    • Food
No Result
View All Result
  • Climate Change
    • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    • Biodiversity
    • Wildfires
    • Extreme Weather
  • Energy
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Social Change
    • Activism
    • Disinformation
    • Education
    • Psychology
    • Gender Equality
  • Business and Economics
    • Leadership
    • Decarbonization
    • Economics
    • Supply Chains
    • Investing
  • Technology
    • Carbon Removal
    • Carbon Capture
    • Transportation
    • Buildings
    • Food
No Result
View All Result
The Green Market Oracle
No Result
View All Result
Home Other

Marketing Sustainability and the Science of Storytelling

by Richard Matthews
December 13, 2016
in Other
0

Marketing sustainability is about telling a good story and creating an emotional experience. While it may seem like an art there is a lot of science behind good storytelling. The advantages good sustainability focused storytelling benefit both the brand and the bottom line. The goal is to invoke drama that incites emotion. Well crafted branding can arouse the kinds of emotions that call for action and encourages customers to make buying decisions. This is what all marketers try to do but it is especially important when it comes to sustainability.  The buy in that is encouraged here goes beyond taking a product to the cash, it even goes beyond the forging of a loyal bond between a product and a consumer. Sustainability focused storytelling pushes us beyond our own experience and gives us potency to act on a global problem.

Despite this power, many companies have a hard time communicating their sustainability efforts in a fashion that people can relate to.  Why is it hard for corporations to leverage their environmental stewardship efforts when being a responsible corporate citizen should be a great marketing and public relations opportunity? Perhaps that is because there is nothing sexy about reams of data.

Nancy Buzby published a piece on storytelling in a 2016 business blog post. Buzby does strategic marketing and communications for EDF, she asks why, “companies are often doing considerably more sustainability work than they publicize.” Suzanne Shelton, President & CEO, Shelton Group answers that question this way:

“The problem isn’t that most companies don’t have strong, legitimate things to say about their sustainability efforts. It’s that they try to tell all of it in little bitty ways or they tell none of it — in either case, they don’t make a marketing impact. What works is boiling the story down to a tight, emotionally compelling narrative that aligns with what the market cares about, what the brand stands for and what a company’s internal culture can embrace.”

To bring this data to life it must be steeped in human experiences so that people can relate to it on an emotional level.

To communicate sustainability we need to learn to tell the right stories. Science offers us some invaluable insights into how we can cultivate loyalty and passion from customers. There is a strong organic relationship between science and sustainability. Sustainability focused storytelling derives its veracity from science and we are seeing the ways in which science can help to make us better storytellers.

In an Op-Ed the EDF’s Fred Krupp said, “It’s time to go beyond the annual sustainability report and engage deeply on these stories.”

For information on The Science of Storytelling see: Making Facts Matter in a Post-Factual World

Related
Sustainability as Both Sexy and Spiritual
The Pearl in the Oyster – Leveraging the Climate Crisis for Human and Planetary Health
Why We Need a New Climate Change Narrative
Overcoming Obstacles in the Creation of a New Climate Narratives
Forging a New Climate Change Narrative: Addressing 5 Psychological Realities
Video – It’s all in our heads: The psychology of sustainability
Video – Making People Care About Climate Change: The Psychology of Risk Perception
Video – Changing the Narrative to Change the World
The Power of Story Telling for Sustainable Businesses
The Power of Storytelling: Lessons in Consumer Engagement

ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Historic Pan-Canadian Climate Deal

Next Post

Truck Transport: Green Greener and Greenest

Related Posts

Seasons Greetings from the Green Market Oracle

by Richard Matthews
December 24, 2021
0

American Courts are Defending Democracy and the Environment

by Richard Matthews
December 14, 2020
0

Despite unprecedented challenges, America's legal system has held. In recent weeks the courts have repeatedly defended democracy and in the last four years they have overturned a wide range of environmental...

Environmental Plebiscites: Municipal Referendums and State Ballot Initiatives

by Richard Matthews
November 12, 2020
0

The November 3rd election not only elected an environmentally responsible president it also gave Americans a chance to vote on environmental issues in five state ballots and two city referendums. Americans ...

Next Post

Truck Transport: Green Greener and Greenest

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • SoundCloud

Subscribe to the Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Economics

Defining Sustainable Economic Systems – Development vs Growth

by Richard Matthews
April 20, 2022
0

Prevailing economic systems are not working and it is becoming increasingly clear that we require a paradigm shift to address...

Read more
List of private equity firms and investment funds that focus on on sustainable development goals: Climate action, clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, quality education, innovation and infrastructure, life below water, and life on land.

List of the Top Sustainability Focused Private Equity Firms

March 21, 2022
russia's invasion of ukraine from the perspective of climate and energy

Russia’s War From a Climate Perspective

March 14, 2022
Private Equity Firms Are Paving the Way to a More Sustainable Future

Private Equity Firms Are Paving the Way to a More Sustainable Future 

February 21, 2022
sustainably invested cash money

Top 12 Green Private Equity Firms

February 7, 2022
  • About
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Business and Economics
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • Social Change
  • Events
  • Other

© 2021 Copyright The Green Market Oracle.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business and Economics
    • Leadership
    • Supply Chains
  • Economics
  • Energy
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
  • Climate Change
    • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    • Biodiversity
    • Extreme Weather
    • Wildfires
  • Investing
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Technology
    • Buildings
    • Carbon Capture
    • Food
    • Transportation
  • Social Change
    • Education
    • Activism
    • Psychology

© 2021 Copyright The Green Market Oracle.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In