Don’t Overengineer it! Five key takeaways from Man Bites Dog’s latest CMO roundtable series

Last week the team at Man Bites Dog and a select group of friends took to the 24^th floor of the Shard to tackle one of the biggest issues impacting sustainable marketers today: language. More specifically, how can global marketing teams working in complex B2B businesses ensure their campaign messaging works across borders and audiences in a world where a common sustainability lexicon is seemingly fraying at the seams. 

No mean feat, especially for a breakfast meeting. But armed with pastries, a tonne of industry expertise and the Chatham House Rule we set to work unpicking these challenges and stitching together practical solutions for overcoming them. 

The insights from the session can be broken down into five key points:  

Language matters now more than ever 

From greenwashing becoming a regulatory issue, to net zero becoming overly technocratic for some audiences, terminology (and the impact it has) is evolving quickly. CMOs must stay on top of this shift, and ensure their organisations speak the language of sustainability in a way that resonates with key markets while being commonly understood.   

Show how sustainability helps the bottom line

As well as having a positive impact on the planet sustainability can have a positive impact on profits. It can also mean ‘investability’, ‘insurability’ and growth. It’s not enough to communicate purpose alone – performance can unlock greater engagement to ensure messages resonate with investors and markets to make change happen. 

Understand your audience

Across sectors and roles, there’s a significant perception gap – terms are interpreted in varied ways, leading to misalignment and confusion. Establishing a shared, consistent language is essential to unify understanding and drive meaningful action.  

Time is running out

2030 is less than five years away, but many organisations are losing sight of the timeline. Reframing communications to highlight this urgency, without overwhelming audiences, is a powerful way of landing your sustainability messaging. 

Specificity is the key to standing out

In sustainability, broadness and ambiguity have prevailed – inviting scepticism and diluting impact. By choosing a clear, focused theme, brands can communicate with greater credibility and achieve stronger engagement and impact. 

With the world becoming ever more fractured, finding clarity in your sustainability marketing campaigns whilst getting cut through with your audiences will become more important – as well as more challenging. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but choosing your words carefully, showing how sustainability drives real business value, and crafting messages that are specific, urgent, and audience-aware are just some ways to set your next campaign up for success.