Global warming has been a hot topic in recent weeks, with many countries experiencing extreme weather conditions and Ireland is no different.
There is a heightened awareness of the crisis within the advertising industry and governments are beginning to propose significant measures that would have been unthinkable years ago. COVID-19 served to underline that lockdowns reduced carbon emissions by 6.4% compared to 2019 proving significant change can happen quickly.
The UK will host the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 with Italy in November this year to bring together world leaders to commit to urgent global climate action. In the run up they are working closely with businesses amongst other groups to tackle climate change. They are encouraging all groups to join in the #RaceToZero, which is a UN backed global campaign rallying companies, cities, regions, financial, educational, and healthcare institutions to take rigorous and immediate action. They need to halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a healthier, fairer zero carbon world in time.
The appetite is there for brands and consumers to instigate change. Sustainable marketing is now in the mainstream as outlined by some findings from Accenture, Kantar, The Soil Association, Plant Based Food Association:
- 60% of consumers report making more environmentally friendly, sustainable or ethical purchases since the pandemic started
- 65% feel it is “important that climate change is prioritised to the economic recovery after coronavirus”
- 9.5% is the amount the US and UK organic food market grew by in 2020
- 90% is the increase in vegan food sales during the 2020 lockdown in the US
A recent ‘Responsible brands’ survey from RTL AdConnect asked 4,000 people around the UK, France, Germany and Italy about sustainability and found that 71% of Europeans believe we are experiencing a serious ecological crisis while 80% are shifting their behaviour to be more sustainable. This is a massive captive audience for the advertising industry to educate and a chance to make positive changes for the future. However getting the message across isn’t that easy and 40% of those surveyed were not able to name one “responsible” brand, so there is a lot of work still to be done.
With the advertising and media industry increasingly looking to embrace sustainability and match customer expectations for brands, the hopes of a greener future lies ahead.
Source: AWEurope Trend Reports 2021
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