Brands struggle to engage confidently and credibly on the issue<\/strong><\/p>\nIn the context of this fast-moving and critical issue, why is it that global brands with the biggest impact across the world still struggle to understand the cultural nuances of the climate crisis across the world and critically fail to act with confidence and credibility?<\/p>\n
Whether by trumpeting their green credentials, attempting to drive positive behaviour change, or innovating new products, global purpose-driven brands are attempting to engage their consumers in discussions about the climate more than ever before. Doing so without understanding cultural nuance risks undermining credibility, and inviting accusations of greenwashing. More often, though, climate claims simply fall flat with consumers. Internally, a lack of credibility in discussions of climate change risks alienating the large numbers of younger workers committed to working for climate-conscious employers.<\/p>\n
In a world of limitless cultural complexity, how, then, can brands speak confidently and credibly about climate change to consumers?<\/p>\n
Three-stage process for cultural credibility<\/strong><\/p>\nDeveloping key principles for tackling sustainability challenges from the ground up will empower brands to act locally for global impact.<\/p>\n
Be Purposeful:<\/strong> Understand your own positionality and the issues your audiences\u2019 really care about<\/p>\nBrand leaders are concentrated in Western countries and, even when not, often operate in Westernised cultural environments. This means the starting point for engagement with audiences is Western knowledge and associated vocabularies \u2013 immediately alienating those who understand nature through a different prism.<\/p>\n
Understanding the frame through which a market or culture understands the natural world and human impact upon it is an essential first step to setting the parameters for effective engagement. Familiar Western scientific language of the \u2018greenhouse effect\u2019 or CO2 levels will work far better in Sweden than in markets where alternative indigenous knowledge systems are prevalent and nature understood in more holistic terms.<\/p>\n
Good Dot Food, an Indian vegan food provider, exemplifies affect localisation. Where Western meat-free ranges tend to focus on specific technical health or environmental benefits, Good Dot has built a brand around the concept of Karmic stewardship of the body and world as a whole \u2013 providing a powerful alternative to foreign brands.<\/p>\n
Look at the Collective:<\/strong> Break down the issue into its component parts and map the system<\/p>\nThe climate crisis is a highly complex issue. Beyond a very small group of engaged consumers, this complexity can breed confusion or even fatigue, especially amongst those whose understanding of nature is rooted in different knowledge systems. Rather than focusing on the issue at large, focussing on component causes (e.g. pollution) or effects (e.g. droughts) offers a more useful \u2018way in\u2019.<\/p>\n
Not all elements of the climate crisis have equal resonance for consumers. Considering consumer awareness of the issue, in their local area and beyond, is important, but so too is the sense consumers have of their agency to have an impact on it. For example, while most consumers have some awareness of rising global temperatures, for many it is an impossibly complex challenge \u2013 breeding despondency. In comparison, localised waste pollution may be front of mind and represent an easy win for consumers.<\/p>\n
Finding a \u2018way in\u2019 doesn\u2019t always mean finding a specific environmental challenge \u2013 it can also be a particular cultural conceptualisation. Ginew, an indigenous-owned American denim brand, has built its environmental credentials, and brand, by reframing the purchase of clothes entirely. Drawing on indigenous concepts of land inheritance, its clothes are designed to be cherished and passed down, just as a habitable environment must be passed down to future generations.<\/p>\n
Take Action:<\/strong> Identify culturally relevant hooks and viable solutions that connect most meaningfully on the ground<\/p>\nIdentifying a resonant issue isn\u2019t, on its own, enough to engage consumers. Language and imagery around the issue may vary hugely by culture and are the catalyst for action. This doesn\u2019t just relate to the superficial images that come to mind when thinking of the issue (whether pollution means plastic bags or smoggy streets) but also deeper reasons to care about these issues. For example, where dominant religious traditions emphasise balance in nature, this language may be more effective, while in Abrahamic religious contexts, notions of justice, responsibility and neighbourly respect resonate more.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, however, the solutions that brands are offering must align with cultural expectations. Collectivist cultures may not respond well to invitations for individuals to \u2018do their bit\u2019, while in individualistic contexts, the idea of sparking community action around a particular issue may feel unrealistic. In authoritarian political contexts, there will be less room for the concept of \u2018people power\u2019 solutions than in democratic ones.\u00a0 In Indonesia, the e-commerce site Bakalapak has linked its brand closely with the concept of Gotong Royong \u2013 community organising. By promoting innovative eco-friendly sellers while evoking national pride, they have carved out a place in a market where sustainability is central to very few brands and live their values in upholding the community.<\/p>\n
Taken together, these principles provide brands large and small alike a blueprint for locally resonant global impact.<\/p>\n
Author-Tom Richardson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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