Sustainability may not originate in marketing & sales, but driving the topic forward proactively is still part of the job. Here are four reasons & theses why it is important to integrate sustainability into communication as a fundamental element, without forgetting internal communication along the way:
- Reason 1: Certification. Brands that engage with certifying their companies and their products will in future be given priority in competitions and projects with a sustainability focus.
- Reason 2: Competition. Brands that also engage with sustainability in public will remain competitive in the years ahead too and improve their image sustainably, in both senses of the word.
- Reason 3: Greenwashing. If you align your communication activities strategically, honestly and transparently, you won’t fall into the greenwashing trap. The motto here: honesty is the best policy, and it’s better to communicate small steps than false ones.
- Reason 4: Knowledge sharing. Teams in marketing and sales that are well versed in the subject and its content and invest in their own knowledge sharing can communicate about it credibly and authentically, and are therefore seen as genuine partners over the course of a project.
Straight talk, times four
So how can those who are not involved in the production processes, and probably not in the company’s higher-level decisions either, make a meaningful contribution? To answer that, we look at our four reasons again in detail and offer some initial suggestions for solutions:
Certification
Let’s imagine the following scenario:
One of Germany’s most renowned architecture practices is planning a pilot project that emerged as the winning design in an international competition. The basic idea of the project? Only products that have a C2C certificate and can be returned to a biological or technical cycle after use will be installed. A building product manufacturer is approached about a considerable order volume and a project with guaranteed reputational value, and is out immediately when it becomes clear that its products don’t have the certificates.
That’s not only annoying; it also means the company misses out on an extremely good reason to communicate and a high sales volume. This may now get you thinking about a few things:
- »Which of our products actually have a certificate?«
- or: »Which of the many certification systems should I go for?«
- and »Was that a one-off, or will products without suitable certificates soon often be left out?«
Taking a pragmatic view of thought 1: List them. All of your products. Create an internal product matrix with individual categories that gives you and your colleagues an overview of where you stand. Because only when you can classify your own products better can you advise your customers as well as possible and help them make a sensible purchasing decision. Ask and answer questions such as: Which products have a label or a certificate? Which are close to getting one? What are the pros and cons of the sustainable products in terms of price, properties and so on? What goals is the company pursuing for future product development?
And on thought 2: Any certificate is better than none? It’s not that simple. Here too: find out about the certificates that are common in your product segment. Pester the DGNB (the German Sustainable Building Council), gather information about the individual certification systems, ask your network and find the best solution for you. No system has established itself on the market as the »golden solution«. Quite the opposite: the number of labels and certifications keeps growing. What matters: check the award process. Good labels present their testing process transparently, and testing is carried out by an independent institute. Since 27 September 2026, this has also mattered legally: towards consumers, sustainability labels may now only be used if they are based on a certification scheme or have been established by public authorities. More on this in our article on green claims. And perhaps even more important: architecture practices are also still unsure about the »right certificates«. Ask about the criteria used to choose building products, do field research and take your lead from what the target group tells you.
Competition
»Sustainability is where competition ends« is probably the most neutral impulse that comes to mind on the subject of competition. But away from this idealistic idea, we are still in an antagonistic economic system in which the point is to generate sales in order to keep operating in the market. We are aware of that too. So how can you, despite high competitive pressure, work with other players and so have a lasting effect on your company’s success?
- Approach 1: Take action and list your products and projects on initiatives such as Concular, Madaster and the like. Your direct competitors may do the same, but this way you support the circular development of existing and new buildings on independent platforms.
- Approach 2: Go to industry events such as the Klimafestival, the 80-Sekunden-Summit and the like and network with other players in the construction industry. Increase your budget by doing field research together, bringing the target groups to one table, and discussing and developing approaches to solutions.
- Approach 3: Do some competitor research: which communication activities are your competitors possibly already pursuing much better than you? What can you take inspiration from? What do you definitely not want to do?
Greenwashing
At BAU 2023, the major construction trade fair in Munich, it struck us again: many companies presented themselves in the usual way, and we see some untapped opportunities and potential in that. Because the different shades of green on the stands suggested that a whole new story was actually meant to be told. Was meant to be, because some of you fell head first into the greenwashing trap.
Every fundamental change of strategy requires a change in culture, or at least has to be accompanied by one. Sustainability as an overall corporate strategy is just such a fundamental change. Because economic success combined with careful use of finite resources and respect for nature’s capacity to regenerate not only requires a fundamental rebuild of business goals and models but also changes the relationship between companies and customers. This process takes time.
In concrete terms, this means, particularly for communication on trade fair stands: by all means (continue to) use the colour »green«, because it isn’t bad in itself. But avoid promotional claims, calculations embellished because they sound good, and cheaply produced merchandise. Don’t be put off by the supposedly great successes of your stand neighbours. Communicate, at your own pace, the stance, the successes and the next steps of your own company, which has, after all, set out to act more sustainably itself.
Knowledge sharing
That leaves one target group that often gets too little attention: your own teams, employees and colleagues.
Invest time and energy in anchoring your new sustainability messages internally too. While products and campaigns are usually geared to external communication, make sure, especially with sustainability, that you don’t neglect the target group closest to you.
Why? You and your colleagues are currently being confronted with the full force of the urgency, and »suddenly« a highly complex field of topics pops up that needs to be worked on and taken outside on top of your everyday work. So prepare the topics in such a way that you first pass them on to marketing & sales (possibly peppered with internal lines of argument and information) before they are taken outside. This ensures a »one voice policy« and avoids confusion caused by different statements about your brand or your products in the context of sustainability. Helpful means include regular topic newsletters, an internal wiki, sales and marketing training, and working groups on specific topics.
So what are the concrete lessons from the recommendations so far?
Establishing sustainability communication means making strategic and business investments and taking account of changes in the target group. Project requirements are changing, know-how on sustainability is changing, particularly among the up-and-coming generation of architects, and regulations are getting stricter. This means that none of you can carry on as before; instead, you have to focus your communication more on the earlier stages of the design process in particular. Address the target groups where, to put it bluntly, the money is, bring investors and property developers on board, and provide information about sustainable products and projects in order to multiply your own knowledge and contribute to value creation.
You’ll have noticed:
This topic doesn’t leave us cold. On the one hand, of course, because we notice that the need for advice is great due to the general uncertainty. On the other hand, because the topic matters to us not only professionally but also personally. That’s why, together with HPP Architekten, we launched the masterclass »Sustainability in Marketing & Sales«, which was about examining the topics described above over two days at HPP’s offices in Düsseldorf, discussing them with other industry representatives, formulating initial approaches to solutions and, above all, setting the next steps in motion in their own companies in a positive frame of mind.
Sounds good and you want to know more? Then contact us any time, we look forward to hearing from you.
