Interview: What marketer Ellen Yau thinks sustainability means beyond environment or packaging

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is proud to present Content 360 – Hong Kong: Stories for a new era, a conference about content marketing, content trends, content narratives, and storytelling in a post-pandemic era. Taking place on 20 June at Hotel ICON, our 26 speakers will share with us their insights and experiences on content strategy for crisis, sustainability, engaging with Gen Z, influencer marketing and how AI will impact consumer intelligence.

Joining us on the panel on sustainability is Ellen Yau, head of marketing and innovation, consumer health for North Asia at Bayer, who is a seasoned professional with 16 years of experience in marketing, eCommerce and partnerships.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Yau shared that some people often associate sustainability with environment or packaging, but in reality, it is also about addressing the important social issues of the time such as health equity, food security or gender equality.

There is a lot that brands can do to drive social impact; not only to drive awareness but being an actual force for good and a force for growth.  

For example, Bayer partnered with Vitamin Angels since 2021, a global public health NGO to launch an initiative namely The Nutrient Gap Initiative, which expanded access to prenatal vitamins, through direct interventions, education and advocating for changes in standards of care. The initiatives managed to help four million pregnant women and their babies gain access to prenatal vitamins, according to Yau. 

"At Bayer, it's important to us that every mother is given the chance to have a healthy pregnancy and give her baby the best start in life," she said. She also shared that authenticity, simplicity, emotional connection and storytelling are key elements when conveying brands' commitment to sustainability through marketing campaigns. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are some trends in the sustainability marketing space that marketers might want to keep a lookout for in 2023?   

In terms of collaborative partnerships, brands can amplify their sustainability impact by partnering with NGOs, industry peers, to address common environmental and social challenges.

Meanwhile, when it comes to purpose-driven storytelling, consumers are increasingly seeking brands that align with their values. Marketers should focus on their brands’ true purpose, which needs to guide and drive all its actions around sustainability. Based on this, brands can tell their authentic storytelling that highlights a brand's commitment to sustainability and its positive impact on the environment and society.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Sustainability is a salient topic in the post-pandemic era; what would be your advice to brand marketers looking to convey their commitment to sustainability through marketing campaigns? 

Both consumers and retailers have come to understand that safeguarding the health of the planet and its people are among the major challenges facing humanity today, and they increasingly look to brands and manufacturers to play their part.

In terms of authenticity, brand marketers should stay genuine in their sustainability efforts and avoid overstating their brand's achievements.

Sustainability needs to be part of their business strategy, not just a marketing strategy. Only when marketers have made real progress and have truly committed to their long-term goals, they can think about communicate it. Otherwise, they risk losing their authenticity. 

In terms of simplicity, marketers should use clear and concise messaging to convey complex sustainability concepts to consumers, making it easy for them to understand and engage with the brand's efforts. Meanwhile, in terms of education and awareness, marketers should foster a deeper understanding of sustainability issues among their target audience by providing resources and opportunities for them to learn and take action.

When it comes to emotional connection and storytelling, sustainability often involves setting big audacious goals, but we don’t want to forget that it’s about driving an impact on real people’s lives. Therefore, sharing relatable stories of people can be emotionally powerful. Impact is about more than just the quantitative number – it’s about moving towards a better society, so good storytelling plays a role.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Earlier in the year, a Reuters special investigation discovered problems with a sustainability marketing campaign in Singapore. What would your advice for marketing heads worried about overreaching and getting caught in a greenwashing scandal? 

Don’t exaggerate claims. Marketing leads may set a realistic goal and be honest about the timeframes and resources needed to achieve them. Overpromising and underdelivering can be damaging to a brand's reputation.

Avoid use unclear and nice-sounding words or pictures. Using words like "natural" or "green," or visually implying a product is green or natural, are ways companies try to use eco-friendly ideas without really changing how they make things. However, it looks like customers are starting to notice. Studies found that 49% of people think brands are pretending to be more green than they really are.

Moroever, marketing heads should always be open about their sustainability efforts and achievements, as well as areas where their brands are still working to improve. Share both successes and challenges to demonstrate genuine commitment to progress.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Effectively communicating sustainability can be an expensive affair, especially as many campaigns seem to have high production values that eats into the marketing budget. What are ways that marketers can measure the impact of sustainability-themed marketing campaigns to win over stakeholders internally? 

Again, sustainability cannot just be a marketing strategy but rather a broader brand or business strategy. So, if sustainability is not yet embedded as a business driver and part of your brand strategy, then that is where you need to start in order to win over stakeholders internally. Once you have an authentic brand strategy and activation plan, as with any marketing campaign, you need to know your audience and how they are perceiving your messages. We understand that brands perceived as more purposeful are more successful in the long run, so make sure that you are tracking equity over the long term.

In terms of brand perception metrics, marketers may track changes in brand awareness, sentiment, and credibility related to sustainability through ways such as surveys and social listening sentiment analysis. In terms of engagement metrics, marketers may analyse consumer interactions with their sustainability content, such as click-through rates, shares, comments, and website traffic, to understand the resonance of their messaging.

For impact on sustainability-related goals, if the campaign has specific goals such as number of people it wants to reach for education of better health practices, marketers may assess the actual contribution made by the campaign.

Join Content 360 - Hong Kong: Stories For A New Era where over 150 content marketers come together to shape the future.  Content 360 - Hong Kong is a must-attend conference that focuses on cutting-edge content trends, innovative creation techniques, strategies to customise your content for the newest marketing channels, and more. Don't miss out on this opportunity to elevate your content marketing game in Hong Kong! Tickets are on sale now, register today. https://conferences.marketing-interactive.com/content360-hk/