By Sustainability Research Fellow, Katie Koenig
Introduction
If you’ve followed Sustainable Emerson for a while, you might have seen the first “Interviews at Emerson” series. Michael Tucker, the Senior Executive-in-Residence in Marketing Communication at Emerson, agreed to sit down with me to explain some of the ways he has incorporated sustainable strategies and topics into his own life and work. Rather than rehashing a post that already exists, I decided to revisit his ideas and actions to take a look at the Marketing field as a whole.
For a more in-depth introduction of Michael and a discussion of his strategies to live more sustainable lives, check out “Interviews at Emerson: Michael Tucker.”
Working in the Field
Michael’s work has long centered around energy efficiency and advertising projects, teaching courses focused on brand writing and advertising development as well. He gave me a brief overview of the history of energy efficiency marketing in the States, particularly on the East Coast, and I was interested to learn that energy efficiency—becoming more of an important value by the 1980s—was heavily driven by public utility companies themselves.
In 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed an oil embargo on the U.S. to retaliate for the U.S. government’s military support of Israel during the Arab-Israeli War. To be brief, this resulted in increasingly inflated domestic oil prices and a push for energy efficiency to reduce the U.S.’s dependence on imported oil. The federal government imposed several energy efficiency measures like a national 55 mile per hour speed limit on highways and mandates for utility companies to increase their energy efficiency however they could. Of course, the main consumers of energy—anyone relying on the power grid—have the greatest impact on energy demands and energy use.
These companies reached out to ad agencies, like Michael’s, to create campaigns to increase public awareness and action towards energy efficiency. These campaigns have had incredible success, along with other organizational and individual efforts like those of the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), a bipartisan nonprofit organization. According to an ASE report in 2013, compared to practices in the 1970s, the U.S. has reduced energy use by 50% to produce our current GDP, and up to three quarters of this shift can be attributed to widespread incorporation of more efficient products and services.
Storytelling
All types of companies need advertising projects and brand building, and, like I covered in my last post, more businesses have started shifting to focus on green initiatives and projects beyond any attempts at greenwashing. When a company does attempt to greenwash itself, you can generally spot it because, compared to legitimate practices to reduce emissions and pollution, greenwashing claims tend to be vague. The company will use buzz words rather than detailed, statistical information about their green initiatives and the change in emissions that come about as a result.
For any story or advertisement, the strongest, most powerful narratives are those based in truth. Specific claims like the amount of water reduced in fashion production or in transportation emissions lend themselves to a stronger advertisement overall, not to mention lending towards honesty and transparency as well.
Heading into the world of marketing, the business you work for makes a difference. If you’re applying for the advertising department of an individual company, you can move your search to highlight greener companies. If you’re more interested in working at an advertising agency that works with a variety of clientele, the way you tell stories and the values you highlight in your advertising strategies also matter.
It may be easy for me to see the connection between my focus as a fiction writer and the impact of storytelling, but stories come in a wide variety of forms. Advertising strategies, brand stories are also powerful ways to shape the narratives that inform our world.