Book Review: Can Marketing Save the Planet
Marketing can no longer ignore its impact on the environment. This is the stark message from leading marketing professionals and authors Michelle Carvill and Gemma Butler.
Can Marketing Save the Planet? is well-researched and designed to help communications practitioners transform their work.
Though it’s explicitly billed as a marketing book, the advice covering strategic, ethical and commercial issues is highly applicable to public relations practitioners.
It attempts to address the challenges of the tension between market-led consumerism and the climate crisis, calling on practitioners to embed sustainability in their work.
Carvill and Butler are leaders in the field of sustainability marketing. Their previous book, Sustainable Marketing – How to Drive Profits with Purpose, was highly commended at the Business Book Awards 2022.
The principles around developing a narrative and linking communications work to business strategy are a case in point. The authors argue it’s in the interest of all communicators to understand these topics and be able to interpret and lead on them.
Part of this book’s appeal is how it unpacks technical or complex terms and concepts to aid understanding.
Its structure differs from many professional books and acts as a stepping stone to finding credible digital sources and tools to help on the sustainability journey.
The authors have created a 101-topic directory of what marketers can use to drive positive impact. The format makes it ideal for coming back to as and when needed for specific advice. With 101 topics, they’ve gone for breadth, not depth.
It’s organised around themes: situational analysis, objectives and goals, strategy, tactics, measurement and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The authors signpost credible sources such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the IPCC, the Competition and Markets Authority, and many more.
Everything in this book is there to push the reader towards action.
Carvill and Butler have done the hard research and verification work, so that you don’t have to. And if you don’t like one suggested tool, template or plan, the authors have plenty of others at their fingertips.
Given the sheer amount of information (and misinformation) out there, there is a growing need for trusted curation and the authors do a great job.
Their personality and calls to action are in evidence, too.
“What the world needs now is educated and aware marketers, who are committed to reshaping our thoughts and consumption, sparking and driving innovation and having the courage to tap into the enormous commercial opportunity that operating through a more responsible lens can bring.”
It’s hard to disagree, and for those who want to do something about it, this book offers many practical suggestions for getting started.
Can Marketing Save the Planet? 101 Ways to Use Sustainable Marketing as a Force for Good
Michelle Carvill and Gemma Butler
Bloomsbury
£10.00
About Claire Munro
Claire Munro Chart.PR, CMktr is an award-winning communications professional and manager with over 15 years’ experience in Scotland’s environment and housing sectors.
She has served on the Committee of CIPR Scotland and has a CIPR Diploma in Internal Communications and the AMEC International Certificate in Measurement and Evaluation. Claire is both a Chartered PR and a Chartered Marketer.