We were stoked to run a GoodSense workshop at the Carbon Zero Christchurch conference on 11th Otctober 2019 and delighted to support Enviro-Mark Solutions (now Toitū Envirocare) and the Sustainable Business Network with this ako.

In the session at the conference we looked at the urgent need to make climate action the new normal – and the vital role of storytelling in doing that. We referenced the Colmar Brunton Better World research, published earlier this year, which captures New Zealanders’ high level of concern about climate change.

Our top out-takes include:

• 55% are highly concerned about climate change.  Up from 29% in 2011.
• 4 in 10 NZers rate themselves as highly committed to living a more sustainable lifestyle
• 90% would stop buying if heard “about a company being irresponsible or unethical” – this is already extending to climate responsibility and will increase
• 83% think the way businesses talk about their social & environmental commitments is confusing
• 70% can’t name a leader in sustainability unprompted – even ecostore – the most named – is only cited by 5%

We also:

• Covered some examples of brands telling their stories about greenhouse gas reduction. Some have made it central to their story, others use it to reinforce other messaging. 
• Explored the Five Point Starfish Framework for telling your own story, namely:
  1. Be real Is your goal to be better or to look better?  Substantive effort and clear and authentic about how solving.  Greenwash and be damned!
  2. Why What When     Frame your story with context, goals and progress – share the nature of the journey, where you are headed and how far down the path you are. Update consistently. Facts are your friend!  Remember the NZ legal requirements for environmental claims – and that customers want different levels of detail.
  3. Tangible  If no one at the conference knew what a kilogram of CO2 looks like, we can’t expect our customers to!  Make the invisible tangible and relevant.
  4. Work with others to build momentum and credibility – look at Certification, such as Enviro-Mark’s gold standard suite of options, build collaborative stories and play your part in making action the new normal. However, did you know, collaboration is nuts?!
  5. Inspire with emotion – be bold, fun, visual, on brand.

Some examples of climate story-telling we have helped with recently include:

Supporting Wishbone design with New Zealand and Australian media relations for their world-first kids bikes made from recycled plastic bottles. The innovative design is part of the NZ government’s Gen Less initiative on carbon dioxide reduction. View the media release here

Helping Rise Financial promote their fossil fuel free investments on their website more here

Lastly, a particularly rewarding project this year has been our work with the Kaipātiki Project on a new brand, website and tagline – ‘Share in nature’s revival’. This is the kind of rallying cry we need to make our zero-carbon Aotearoa real. Read more about this project.

For more about marketing climate action, watch this video on what the NZ Climate Act means for marketing. 

You can see more about the work we do with clients at GoodSense here – and if you’d like to book us to run this workshop for your group or organisation please contact us.

Picture credit: Toitū Envirocare