Sustainable & Green Digital Marketing Examples for Ecologic Brands
This is the day we steal vegan & vegetarian marketers’ hearts!
In that blog, we’ll be focusing on sustainability & green digital marketing in the digital world and share the best practices from famous brands. Let’s get started.
What is Sustainable Digital Marketing?
In the most basic terms, sustainable digital marketing is an approach that aims to minimize the environmental impact of marketing activities while still achieving marketing goals & promoting social responsibility.
Actually, sustainable marketing is all about reducing the footprint – it means integrating sustainable practices into digital marketing strategies is an act of green marketing. For example, a study by The Green Web Foundation found that optimizing website images can reduce a website’s carbon footprint by up to 87%, highlighting the potential for even small changes to create significant environmental benefits.
By optimizing website design, employing energy-efficient servers, and reducing reliance on unnecessary email marketing blasts, green marketing lowers energy consumption associated with digital activities. And yes, using social media platforms to raise awareness about environmental issues regularly, is a sustainable digital marketing example.
However, what is the best way to make green marketing real? The answer still seems like having a totally vegan brand. That’s because vegan brands contribute to a smaller environmental footprint compared to dairy.
Why Green & Sustainable Digital Marketing is Important?
Let’s start with the result of a comprehensive study; IBM’s survey with 16,000 global consumers found that more than half (51%) of respondents say environmental sustainability is more important to them today. Another statistic: Mintel found that 16% of U.S. consumers avoid animal products for environmental reasons – and that is much more common with 18 to 34-year-olds.
It translates into consumers now discerning and prioritizing brands aligning with their values. Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability through green marketing practices fosters a positive brand image and attracts environmentally conscious customers.
And, the best part, sustainable practices encourage responsible use of resources like water and energy throughout the digital marketing lifecycle. This can involve utilizing efficient data centers, adopting cloud-based solutions, and minimizing unnecessary server usage. And all of these efforts may need a helping hand – seasoned digital marketing agencies.
Best Digital Marketing Practices Concerning Sustainability
As we mentioned before, even though a great number of companies try to integrate sustainable practices into their digital marketing strategy, actual work is done by plant-based brands (again). So, we will be focusing on their digital marketing efforts; from social media posts to sharing messages – everything about digital marketing.
Before discovering your favorite brands’ approaches, you may want to check the best sustainability ad campaigns of all time.
Oatly
Oatly, the Swedish oat milk brand has become a digital marketing darling in a quite short period, thanks to its sustainable digital marketing efforts. As a great green marketing act, the brand readily shares the environmental impact of its products through Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and other data-driven methods.
Even though we cannot name it a green digital marketing effort, we also know that the brand turns leftover oat waste into renewable electricity.
“The good news is that at our plant in Millville, New Jersey, we’ve uncovered one such use: turning oat residue into renewable electricity. With the help of our friendly neighbors at Trenton Renewables, we can transform some of our residues while also sourcing 100 percent renewable electricity to power our factory and charge our fleet of electric trucks.”
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When it comes to promoting their vegan products, they mainly challenge the perception that plant-based milk is unfamiliar or niche – instead showing how easily it can integrate into our everyday lives.
If we’re playing a game of “Odd One Out,” maybe you’ll immediately say it’s the pink hair rollers that should be taken away because they don’t belong on a table full of crystal glass objects and a nicely prepared iced tea with oats. Or maybe you’re thinking it’s the Oatly Barista Edition carton because its contents have already been poured into the pretty crystal goblet so it has no function in this setting anymore. Or maybe it’s the game itself that doesn’t belong because if you familiarize yourself with an odd thing instead of taking it out, it can become your new normal, and then you decide that every day is pink hair rollers in the dining room day.
On its social media platforms, Oatly goes beyond simply promoting its product. They showcase the versatility of oat milk through recipes, tips, and user-generated content, demonstrating how it can seamlessly fit into existing routines and culinary preferences.
In addition to normalizing plant-based products, the marketing team of Oatly also infuses with a healthy dose of humor and self-awareness. They don’t shy away from poking fun at the current diary industry. Remember the brand’s print and its related social media posts?
Beyond Meat
First thing first: A less complex website with fewer visual elements and animations generally consumes less energy to operate and maintain. This aligns with Beyond Meat’s commitment to minimizing their environmental footprint across all aspects of their business.
What’s more, as Oatly does too, Beyond Meat, one of the most-known vegan brands, shares life cycle assessments (LCAs) on their social media platforms, highlighting the environmental benefits of their products compared to traditional ones.
As a great example for ecologic brands, Beyond Meat also is very open-hearted about sharing the energy sources they use in digital & in-person facilities:
We source most of our energy for our directly-operated manufacturing facilities and headquarters in the U.S. from the local grid. To reduce our energy usage, we have shifted most of our lighting to LED bulbs, installed occupancy sensors, and seek ways to improve the efficiency of our processes. For example, in 2022, at our COMO facilities, we carried out a kaizen event that identified machinery adjustments that reduced downtime and increased throughput.
We also know that, instead of face-to-face internal education, the company promotes learning opportunities through a custom learning path developed with LinkedIn Learning.
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Beyond Meat has established itself as a leader in social media engagement – regarding sustainability. Their social media posts strike a balance between informative and engaging. In other words, they do not shy away from sharing “bold truths” about the environmental impact of animal agriculture.
However, the Beyond Meat marketing team does so in a way that is digestible and sparks conversation, using relatable design and language.
While eating animal meat may feel like the most natural thing in the world, the latest @bcg Global report* shows otherwise 🌱
This approach has garnered them a loyal following and positioned them as a brand synonymous with both delicious plant-based alternatives and environmental consciousness.
Alternative Apparel
In addition to reducing the environmental impact of their supply chain, Alternative Apparel gets actions about the last part of online shopping; they have been working on more sustainable alternatives for packaging. Together with brands like Bonds, Berlei, and Sheridan, the vegan fashion brand has made the switch to shipping bags made from 90% recycled.
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Sharing practical tips about vegan products empowers followers to make more sustainable choices in their everyday lives. It also potentially leads to brand loyalty and advocacy. And Alternative Apparel knows how to do that.
At that point, we should remind you that sharing solely informational content can get repetitive or overwhelming. However, Alternative Apparel can balance informative tips with engaging content, like user-generated content showcasing how their products are used sustainably or collaborations with sustainability influencers.
Impossible Foods
Impossible Foods’ main statement on its website actually explains why we choose vegan & plant-based brands to give green marketing examples:
What’s the most effective way to reduce your environmental footprint? We’ll give you a hint: It starts with your plate. That’s right — adjusting your diet can be better than getting solar panels, driving an electric car, or avoiding plastic straws. That’s where Impossible Foods comes in. We make delicious meat products, from plants, so you can eat what you love, and save the planet that you love.
Impossible Foods’ website is another great green marketing example. As we mentioned before, a streamlined website with clear navigation allows users to find information quickly and efficiently. Better, this reduces unnecessary page loads and server requests, potentially leading to lower energy consumption.
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Impossible Foods’ success on social media is multifaceted, however, their collaboration with traditional brands is a big move for a vegan brand.
As you may know, vegan communities are sometimes strict about brands abusing animals – especially fast food chain brands – and that is a very ingenuous reaction.
On the other hand, one of the most known plant-based brands, Impossible Foods teams up with KFC, Mcdonald’s, and Burger King. Even though these brands are the first destination when it comes to animal cruelty, Impossible Foods seems to do that to reach a wider audience and promote their plant-based options in a positive light.
Through these collaborations, Impossible Foods focuses on aspects like the taste and overall experience of their products, rather than solely positioning themselves as an alternative to meat. This approach is more likely to attract new consumers who are curious about plant-based options rather than feeling pressured to switch.
However, whether that kind of digital marketing approach for a vegan brand is fair or not is totally up to the consumer.
MATT & NAT
MATT & NAT, another vegan fashion brand, takes a different but equally effective green marketing approach on social media. We can also state that the fashion brand contributes to green marketing via its SEO works. By spreading sustainability-related keywords through its blogs and content on its website, MATT & NAT is one of the pioneers.
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They share the stories behind their products, highlighting their use of recycled materials. This kind of transparency builds trust and resonates with the main idea of being a vegan brand. The best part? It educates consumers about the potential of sustainable practices within the fashion industry.
Let’s take a closer look at how we turn plastic bottles into our fabulous bags.
Wrapping Up: Walking the Green Line with Green Digital Marketing
Green digital marketing (or sustainable marketing), as we already mentioned, offers a powerful tool for brands to strike a balance between promoting their products and protecting the environment. By utilizing some strategies like content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, and PPC, brands can amplify their green marketing messages. Beyond a one-time effort, green marketing is an ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility.
Regarding that topic, it’s crucial to remember the distinction between green marketing and greenwashing. While green marketing authentically integrates sustainability into your brand identity and practices, greenwashing involves making misleading or unsubstantiated claims about your environmental efforts. Building genuine trust and transparency with your audience is paramount for long-term success in green digital marketing.
