Sustainable Marketing: Words must be followed by action

Have you ever noticed how much advertising has changed in your country? In Germany, where I am living, there is no longer a trace of "stinginess is cool" and classic money-saving stereotypes. Instead, there is a new visual language: People across generations are professing their support for vegan products, electric cars are conveying the joy of driving, and curvy models are confidently presenting lingerie and swimwear collections.

There is no question about it: sustainability and diversity are increasingly important selling points today. And I have the feeling this has also manifested itself in our consumer behavior. Let me give you an example out of my everyday life. I am very keen to be sustainable wherever possible. Starting with growing tomatoes and cucumber in my own garden, and drinking from glass bottles doesn't end it. I much prefer to travel by train than by plane if possible. I try to reduce waste, especially plastics. Wherever possible, I make sure to buy from companies that operate in a sustainable manner. And in my role as a leader, I always do my best to manage all my resources sustainably.

And it is not only about your and my behavior as end consumers. Environmental Social Governance, is also rapidly gaining importance in business relationships between companies. Be it in investments, the design of supply chains or the recruitment of young talent: Even the most sophisticated marketing campaigns cannot balance a lack of sincere consideration of environmental, social and governance aspects as an integrated part of the corporate strategy. I also see this as a task for managers to work on precisely this. And I am super happy to be in a position where I can make a contribution. For me it is essential to have an impact. Let’s make a difference!

Combination of economic, ecological, and social value creation

Values such as sustainability and social responsibility can only be effectively communicated outward if they are actively lived by the company. Consumers quickly recognize greenwashing and empty promises. We're all not idiots, right?

According to a recent Deloitte study, not even half of the millennials surveyed (47%) believe that business has a positive impact on society, despite all the advertising images and corporate initiatives. More than two-thirds (69%) criticize companies for looking solely after their own interests. Six out of ten of those born after 2000 even assume that profit maximization is still the only corporate goal. The recently published Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022 also criticizes the fact that on the way to climate neutrality, many companies follow up their full-bodied promises with too little action. Ukraine conflict further exacerbates the problem: It has pushed climate protection off the agenda - and shown how dependent Germany and Europe are on energy supplies, especially from Russia. In addition, galloping inflation, unstable supply chains, material bottlenecks and the threat of gas shortages in winter are causing headaches for many companies. Accordingly, the issue of sustainability has fallen behind in many places and achieving the global sustainability goals hardly seems possible anymore. I hope as many people as possible are as concerned about this development as I am. There is no Planet B!

It is now more important than ever to take climate protection seriously. Young people in Europe feel far more threatened by it than by the war in Ukraine or the Corona pandemic. One of two (52%) think that the EU countries should give higher priority to the fight against climate change than to efforts to achieve energy independence. And the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has also recently called for an explicit intensification of all climate protection efforts: "Compliance with the 1.5-degree target can only be achieved with the greatest possible effort. This means that we must now act decisively and quickly," says the latest IPCC report.

This means for all of us, it is high time now to focus on the issue and follow up green promises with action. Especially since not only the environment and society, but also the companies themselves benefit from the sustainable orientation of business models and processes: Qualified specialists can be better recruited for meaningful tasks, customers and business partners pay more attention to sustainability aspects when awarding contracts. And according to a survey by PwC, eight out of ten (79%) investors now base their investment decisions on compliance with ESG criteria.

ECOnomics initiative puts SAP customers in the spotlight

Given that 77% of the world's business transactions run through our systems, we are aware of SAP's great responsibility for a sustainable economy. And again, together we create impact! And this is not just about us. Above all, we want to help our customers achieve their own climate goals better and faster and "make sustainability profitable and profitability sustainable," as our global Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer Julia White sums up the objective in an exciting Forbes article. 

With the ECOnomics campaign, which we launched at the beginning of the year, we want to raise awareness of the fact that companies today no longer have to choose between sustainability and profitability. This is an attitude that has been anchored in SAP's DNA for 50 years now, and which we are now placing even more clearly at the center of our communications.

In addition, we are of course working to make our own marketing activities more sustainable. In doing so, we are guided by three principles: #ZeroWaste, #ZeroEmission and #ZeroInequality. There are plenty of starting points for this. For example, in the climate-neutral design of our events, the avoidance of unnecessary promotional gifts, the diverse composition of our marketing teams, and even with brand campaigns such as ECOnomics, with which we are bringing these issues even more into the public eye.