Today’s corporate marketing departments are charged with communicating the social and environmental values of their companies, but they are left out of actually activating most triple bottom line initiatives.  They are not participants in sustainability; they are communicators of sustainability values and actions.

Imagine a promotion that has intrinsic social value.  How much good could the marketing community do if we architected programs with corporate, civic and cultural value as the measurable objective?

If we do it right, a few things happen:

1.    Greenwashing becomes impossible because the act of the promotion is the thing itself.

2.    The marketing department finally gets to eat at the sustainability table, rather than feed on the table scraps from corporate intent or actions.

When vigilant and ingenious, these campaigns generate greater loyalty with the conscious consumer, elevate authentic brands to heroic status, build organizational reputation and provide financial return on the fiscal investment.  But, perhaps more importantly, finally, our marketing programs will Do Something.