High-profile sustainability comes from the attention you pay to how customer-centric branding and impact branding reinforce each other
Impact branding that goes for growth
Yes, you read that right. Impact branding does not stand in the way of growth. If you do it right, they actually reinforce each other. Of course, it remains essential to put the customer first and apply the principles of ‘How Brands Grow’ by Byron Sharp. But, not before you have carefully examined how your sustainability strategy can strengthen your brand.
As an entrepreneur or marketer, you also want to ensure that your message sticks in a positive way. Consistency is crucial here. Be recognizable and familiar. Make your brand irresistible with easy-to-recognize and remember brand elements at all touchpoints in the customer journey.
The focus of your brand should not be so much on your own company or brand, but on the role your brand plays in your customer’s life. Your goal is that when they think of something they need, your brand immediately comes to mind as the solution. And not because you have flooded their attention with your messages, but because you have become an indispensable part of their lives.
Your goal is that when they think of something they need, your brand immediately comes to mind as the solution.
Create brand elements – brand assets – that resonate with what your customers find important. This goes beyond your logo and slogan. The same essence should come across at every touchpoint, reflecting the values and aspirations of your customers.
This is where impact branding plays a crucial role. In a world where information comes to you more and more quickly, you have to think carefully about how you make it clear to people that you are making a positive difference.
With extensive experience in impact branding that focuses on growth, our strategic creativity is ready to assist you. We think that aligning sustainability strategies with marketing strategies is the best thing there is. So, entrepreneurs and marketers with moral ambition, bring it on.
To record your sustainability strategy and the mandatory progress reporting on this in accordance with CSRD guidelines, we work closely with a network of sustainability experts, and ATC and Workiva who ensure compliance and automation of reporting.
What such a collaboration looks like depends greatly on the size of your organization. And how far you have progressed with your double materiality assessment. If you already have these, fantastic! If you don’t have it yet, we are happy to help you with it.
Please contact Tjerk de Wit if you would like to know more details about the process we go through.
What is a dual materiality analysis?
The double materiality analysis indicates which sustainability themes are most important for your organization.
You can find this out by involving internal and external stakeholders to determine the most significant sustainability topics and prioritize them based on their influence on your company and society.
The “double” refers to the dual focus of the process: it evaluates both the organization’s impact on society and the environment – external materiality – and the influence of social and environmental aspects on the organization’s operations and success – internal materiality .
Quite complicated. Who said again, “You won’t see it until you realize it”?
Our Tjerk de Wit has now shown it a hundred times.
What impact branding is:
Goal oriented
Impact branding focuses on creating positive changes in society or the environment through a brand’s core activities and values.
Genuine
Real impact branding comes from a brand’s authentic commitment and actions to address social or environmental problems. It is deeply rooted in the brand’s mission and values.
Transparent
Companies engaged in impact branding are open and transparent about their goals, efforts and results related to their impact initiatives. They share both successes and challenges.
What impact branding is not:
No greenwashing or socialwashing
Impact branding is not a marketing ploy or superficial attempt to portray the brand in a good light without actually contributing to social or environmental goals.
No PR or short-term tactics
Impact branding goes beyond just improving the brand’s image for public relations. It represents a long-term commitment to the brand’s core values and goals to make a lasting impact, rather than a temporary campaign or one-off initiative.
Not solely for “green” brands
Impact branding is not just limited to environmentally oriented companies. Any brand can apply impact branding by contributing to social, economic, educational, or health-related causes, regardless of their industry.