What is Sustainable Advertising? Why More Mainstream Brands are “Going Green”

What type of adverts stop you in your tracks in 2024? Are you drawn toward flashy graphics and a catchy slogan, or are you looking for something that tugs your heartstrings? 

As we scroll through our social feeds and continue to engage with that all-important ad-skip button, advertising campaigns have lost their power in an oversaturated digital space. 

Brands must work harder than ever to capture the attention of their target audience. One way to do this is to tap into the topics that spark conversation and connect to a demographic’s values. 

A recent study found that almost 8 in 10 consumers believe a sustainable lifestyle is essential. So, it’s no surprise that green branding is on the rise in the advertising industry.

In recent years, mainstream brands like Coca-Cola and IKEA have tackled sustainable advertising head-on with ethical campaigning, powerful storytelling, and a green shift in ad and icon design. 

The question is, will marketers continue to pull on sustainable heartstrings, or could we see challenges associated with mainstream greenwashing begin to arise? Let’s find out.

It’s no secret that consumers are becoming more conscious of their carbon footprint in 2024. As we ditch single-use plastic and opt for sustainable sourcing, less than 7% of shoppers say they don’t consider the environment when purchasing a product or service.

With demographic value shifts in mind, brands have adapted their strategies to grow in line with sustainable consumerism. Many are becoming more transparent with their material sourcing, and nearly all mainstream businesses have a sustainability pact on their website.

The question is, what does this sustainable shift mean for brand marketing and advertising? 

A recent study by ExchangeWire found that three-quarters of marketers deem sustainability metrics a top concern when crafting ads in 2024, up from just 43% in 2023.

To promote their business as an ethical company, brands now build sustainable awareness using TV ad campaigns, social content, and rebranding techniques, leading to an abundance of sustainable hashtag campaigns, green-inspired graphic design trends, and ads that focus solely on sustainable narratives. 

Let’s look at some examples from mainstream brands leading the way forward.

A recent Coca-Cola campaign hit the headlines in April this year. Their ‘Recycle Me’ campaign aimed to motivate Coke consumers to recycle their bottles and cans by changing up the classic logo that more than 94% of the World’s population knows and loves.

This brilliant twist on a recognizable logo design certainly caught consumer attention. Instead of printing their famous red-and-white logo, the iconography appeared crushed, signifying a crushable, recyclable can. 

“‘Recycle Me’ unveils a series of powerful images that depict the Coca-Cola logo after a can is crushed during recycling. This telegraphic and impactful visual, with the ‘Recycle Me’ call to action taken right from the side of the can, is designed to put recycling front of mind and encourage the consumer to take positive action after consuming a can of Coke,” says campaign creator Ogilvy.

“Using a variety of techniques like mechanical presses and vacuums, cans were crushed to make unique spins on the brand’s iconic logo. Each execution features a unique logo, mimicking the different ways people crush their cans before recycling them.” 

Coca-Cola rolled out the campaign on Coke cans, billboards, and transit shelters across all of South America and supports Coca-Cola’s recent ‘World Without Waste’ goals, which aim to see all packaging become 100% recyclable by 2025.

“At Coca-Cola, we aim to have a world without waste,” said Islam ElDessouky, global vice president of creative strategy and content at Coca-Cola on the ad’s launch. “We have a unique opportunity to use our marketing to send a powerful message and bring consumers along our sustainability journey.”

Coca-Cola’s decisive move was using its iconic logo as the face of its green campaign. When an audience sees a recognizable brand change its most famous features overnight, eyes are instantly drawn to the new iconography, which starts a conversation.

Experts at Coca-Cola used this to create a conversation about suitable topics, encouraging consumers to take sustainability into their own hands, which is a brilliant approach to a green marketing strategy. 

IKEA is another excellent example of a brand passionate about sustainable marketing. 

Their 2019 Climate Action Starts at Home campaign has been running for the last five years and focuses on encouraging consumer sustainability rather than simply promoting the company’s initiatives.

In a TV ad campaign, the film demonstrated how each of IKEA’s products can be used in the house to reduce waste and minimize energy use. Positioning the consumer at the heart of the ad, we saw the target audience actively making sustainable choices while IKEA products were featured in the background.

Take this clipping from the campaign, for example:

“Sustainability is important to IKEA. And we know it’s important to you. That’s why we’re going all in on things that matter, from switching our entire lighting range to energy-efficient LED to sourcing all the cotton we use in our products from more sustainable sources. You see, we have an ambition to inspire and enable more than 1 billion people to live a healthier and more sustainable life at home. Together, we can create great change. Let’s get started.”

IKEA is sending the message to the consumer that ethical choices are in their own hands. Giving consumers the power to make these decisions is a clever move by IKEA marketers as it reduces the impact of ‘greenwashing.’

Creating green campaigns that place the consumer at the center is an excellent way for a brand to promote sustainability. This approach connects directly with the consumer and allows the brand and its audience to explore sustainable changes together.

The best sustainable marketing technique is to forget how your brand looks and focus on how your consumer wants to look – they’re the hero here. Renault does this perfectly in their Electric Village ad, promoting their new ZOE electric car.

According to Renault, “93% of French people still believe they need more infrastructure, more autonomy, or to live in a big city to switch to electric.”

In response, the car manufacturer chose the most remote town in rural France and, with their newest ZOE electric car, colored the streets electric in this brilliant, sustainable experiment.

The TV ad follows a group of residents from a remote French Village called Appy, the first village to see everyone drive an electric car. We watch as people from all backgrounds journey towards a sustainable future and discover the wonders of switching to an electric vehicle despite uncertainties.

Throughout the social experiment-style ad, we saw families embrace sustainable changes and eventually choose to continue using an electric car. With 63 million views, this ad increased Reneault’s ZOE sales by 50%, making the electric car the number one choice across Europe.

For future sustainable marketers, the key is to shift your content focus. Renault did this brilliantly. Rather than building a digital PR strategy around claims about your sustainability, choose to hero your consumers rather than helping your brand.

While sustainable marketing may have taken off amongst mainstream brands, not all consumers have reacted positively to household names, turning their content ‘green.’

Greenwashing pertains to making sustainable claims about your business within your marketing and branding to encourage consumer engagement rather than taking steps toward ethical sourcing, production, and growth.

Adapting to sustainable marketing certainly doesn’t come without its challenges – 86% of Gen Z consumers no longer trust brands when they make sustainable claims in their marketing strategies. And, since the trend began, over 68% of company executives admit they have greenwashed some or all of their content at one point.

However, for the brands that get it right, the rewards of ethically creating sustainability-focused campaigns outweigh the potential risks.

So, where could sustainable advertising go next? As technology drives the marketing sector forward, it’s also aiding brands in going green. From blockchain-powered supply chains to eco-friendly packaging design, tech is speeding up the adoption of ethical practices worldwide. AI and machine learning alone could power a number of new green solutions for business leaders in the coming years.

With more mainstream brands leaning into a more sustainable future, green branding will become all the more common. As consumer attitudes change, businesses must grow in tandem for a shot at success in a green-tinted landscape.

While you’re here, check out this article on How to Leverage Sustainable Practices for Product Design, or this piece on Product Packaging Design Trends – from Sustainable Packaging to Personalization.

Or get started creating your own sustainable advertising campaign today with the huge library of creative assets from Envato!