Kantar has expanded its sustainability solutions to help brands better address the sustainability challenge and secure long-term growth.
The new BrandSustainability tool will help marketers understand the opinions of Australians on where their brands stand on sustainability, and how this contributes to brand growth. By integrating Kantar’s proprietary Meaningful, Different and Salient framework, it is the first tool on the market to assess the likely influence of sustainability marketing efforts on overall brand equity.
BrandSustainability provides a clear understanding of a brand’s sustainability credentials and how efforts in this space contribute to brand building. And it identifies where to focus to leverage sustainable marketing as a powerful contributor to brand equity. This unique, industry-first solution provides the necessary guidance on the often-missed critical step of brand strategy and positioning on sustainability; filling the insight gap between the understanding of the changing landscape and brands’ activations.
BrandSustainability is a powerful tool to help brand owners find gaps in their brand positioning, proactively plan where (and if) sustainability fits within your brand strategy and prioritise the actions that will make the greatest impact, said Mark Kennedy, managing partner – consulting and head of sustainable transformation for Kantar Australia.
“Our Sustainability Sector Index in 2023 reveals that almost half of Australians are most concerned with social sustainability issues such as poverty (46 per cent) and mental health (46 per cent) along with over two in five worried about the effects of climate change (42 per cent). Domestically, our sustainability worries are rooted in what impacts us directly. In general, we see social issues dominating. When issues are perceived as only affecting ‘the world out there’, most people find it hard to connect; but when ‘me and my world’ are affected, things shift very fast.
Cost-of-living is a key driver of the search for sustainability and not the distraction from sustainability that some believe it to be, added Kennedy.
“Affordability is the key aspect intrinsic to sustainability. People don’t want to be forced to choose between affordability and sustainability – they want both and will reward brands that deliver it. Positive sustainability perceptions can enhance brand equity, drive sales, and allow brands to command a premium. Kantar BrandZ data shows that sustainability is adding as much as 10 per cent to the value of the world’s top 100 brands, yet businesses are still leaving an estimated $600 billion on the table. The consumer demand for sustainable options is not going away. Brands need answers to how they can harness sustainability to deliver both business and brand growth.”
Diageo is using BrandSustainability to understand the brand impact of its sustainability efforts. Sam Elliott, consumer and cultural insight, brand strategy and ESG specialist, Diageo said: “At Diageo, we are constantly seeking innovative approaches that help us build stronger, more sustainable brands. BrandSustainability represents a step-change in how the industry can connect sustainability with brand growth.”
“What sets it apart is its ability to move beyond generic ESG perceptions to validated metrics directly linked to brand equity – offering brand-specific, data-led guidance that is both strategic and actionable, in a way we haven’t seen elsewhere in the industry. This breakthrough approach brings more clarity to a complex challenge, and we believe it has the potential to set a new standard for sustainability’s role in brand building across the industry.”
BrandSustainability is the latest in Kantar’s suite of sustainability solutions which also now includes Bridging the Gap, which helps marketers identify how to encourage consumers to adopt sustainable behaviours and unlock growth from the large ‘moveable middle’ of consumers who care about sustainability but are not able to make choices in line with their values.
