{"id":21250,"date":"2022-12-06T07:50:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T07:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/06\/these-brands-want-to-solve-bankings-sustainability-problem\/"},"modified":"2022-12-06T07:50:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T07:50:15","slug":"these-brands-want-to-solve-bankings-sustainability-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/06\/these-brands-want-to-solve-bankings-sustainability-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"These Brands Want to Solve Banking’s Sustainability Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The first question David Hayman asks new people he meets is if they know where their pension money is held. Most say they don\u2019t. If you\u2019re reading this in the U.K., you might be surprised to learn that yours is most likely invested in fossil fuels, tobacco or arms. In the U.S., just 14 public pension funds inject $82 billion<\/a> each year into coal, oil and gas. <\/p>\n

Hayman is campaign director at Make My Money Matter, a movement started by Richard Curtis<\/a>\u2014better known as the co-founder of Comic Relief U.K. and director of films like Love Actually. <\/p>\n

The nonprofit wants to bring more transparency to pension schemes across the world. It\u2019s currently on a mission to educate people about what exactly their pension funds and encourage switching to providers that don\u2019t fund deforestation among other things. <\/p>\n

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At the same time, it hopes to pressure big financial institutions to adopt more sustainable investment practices of their own. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an enormous gap between where the $3 trillion of U.K. pension payments are invested every year on people\u2019s behalf goes, versus the lifestyle actions we make every day around the climate and the planet,\u201d Hayman explained during a talk at Adweek\u2019s recent Brandweek Europe event. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to help people understand the impact of their money and help them make positive financial decisions for the good of themselves and the good of the planet,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

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We\u2019re trying to help people understand the impact of their money.<\/p>\n

David Hayman, campaign director, Make My Money Matter<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not just pension providers that have a green problem. Each year, global banks spend millions on glossy advertising to frame themselves as friends to the planet, but unfortunately this isn\u2019t always the case<\/a>. <\/mark><\/p>\n

A marketing problem<\/h4>\n

In the U.K, the five of the most prominent high street banks funneled $141 billion<\/a> to the 50 companies at the forefront of oil and gas expansion between 2016 and 2021. <\/p>\n

More recently, HSBC was censured by watchdog Advertising Standards Authority ASA for \u201cmisleading\u201d customers<\/a> over green initiatives. The bank\u2019s promotions around carbon offsetting, which ran during Cop26, didn\u2019t add up, according to the organization. By the bank\u2019s own admission, emissions related to clients it financially backed in 2021 stood at the equivalent of around 65.3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year for oil and gas alone.<\/p>\n

Also trying to put a halt to greenwashed marketing is U.K. challenger The Co-Operative Bank. <\/p>\n

The business hasn\u2019t backed fossil fuel production for over 20 years, and in 2022 it launched a campaign urging people to ditch banks that support a range of unsustainable businesses, from Amazon logging to coal production.<\/p>\n

Make My Money Matter\u2019s David Hayman discussed its recent research into pension pots at Brandweek Europe<\/span>Adweek<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cWe want to lift the lid and provoke people to question what their money is doing, whether it\u2019s the balances that sit in their savings or current account,\u201d said Deborah Darlington, director of brand, marketing and communications at The Co-operative Bank. <\/p>\n

Darlington said people\u2019s paychecks are being used \u201cin their trillions\u201d to invest in projects that are damaging the environment, but also potentially funding oppressive regimes and projects that violate human rights issues: \u201cThe list goes on and on.\u201d <\/p>\n

A recent survey from the brand found that 70% of customers didn\u2019t know where their savings were being invested, yet more than 50% wanted to be made aware.<\/p>\n

Changing behavior<\/h4>\n

The Co-operative Bank\u2019s commitment to remove itself from this system started 30 years ago with the launch of its customer-led ethical policy, which guides every business and marketing decision it makes. Darlington said the climate crisis consistently tops the list of things that matter to customers in regular surveys; they want their bank to protect the environment. <\/p>\n

The company refuses to work with a lot of business clients based on these tenets, which is \u201ctricky\u201d at times.<\/p>\n

The main challenge is ultimately driving change. Both brands are still early on in this journey, but in the last 12 months they\u2019ve invested in creative campaigns to spread their message. <\/p>\n

The Co-Operative bank is running a series of ads created by Denstu calling on people to \u201cWithdraw From This,\u201d showing images of grand bank buildings crumbling away to reveal the journey their bank notes have been on. They flutter through scenes of worldwide devastation caused by the fossil fuel industry, before finally being dispensed into the customer\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

Working with Dentsu, The Co-Operative Bank is hoping to drive change with a shocking campaign showing the journey people\u2019s money takes<\/span>The Co-Operative Bank<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Working with Mother London, Make My Money Matter has taken a different approach, leaning on humor to drive awareness with a film showing the delivery of a \u201cDeforester5000\u201d and a dozen chainsaws to the doorstep of an unsuspecting couple. The delivery driver explains it\u2019s from their pension provider. \u201cFor every \u00a310 you put in your pension, \u00a32 is linked to deforestation,\u201d ends the witty spot. <\/p>\n

Other colorful billboards have aimed to showcase the nonprofit\u2019s calculation that moving a pension into a greener fun can reduce someone\u2019s carbon footprint 21 times more than going vegetarian or giving up flying.<\/p>\n

Hayman admitted it can be a tricky brief, especially with the cost of living crisis top of consumers\u2019 minds in a world where they\u2019re already being \u201cbombarded\u201d by climate change messaging. <\/p>\n

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We need some form of accreditation or easy-to-spot logo or stamp that shows the work has been done for the consumer.<\/p>\n

Deborah Darlington, The Co-operative Bank<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cPensions isn\u2019t your natural place to go for campaigning around climate change, but we try and bring the two together,\u201d he stated, pointing out that while people think pensions are just \u201csomething that happens in 50 years\u2019 time\u201d there is a need to communicate the immediate to short-term environmental impact they\u2019re having now. <\/p>\n

For Darlington, banking is a commodity and is meant to be \u201cdull.\u201d It\u2019s also an industry built around \u201capathy\u201d where people are reluctant to switch providers, even if it\u2019s easy. These truths can bring their own challenges for her team. <\/p>\n

Make My Money Matter\u2019s most recent creative from Mother takes a humorous tone <\/span>Make My Money Matter<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Greenwashing guidelines<\/h4>\n

In the U.K market, the ASA\u2019s ruling against HSBC is just the latest clampdown on greenwashing that has also landed Unilever<\/a> and Oatly in hot water. However, some brands, including Innocent Drinks, have expressed concern that guidance is not clear enough<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the World Federation of Advertisers issued a stark warning to brands that purport to be environmentally conscious for marketing purposes without making any notable sustainability efforts,\u00a0issuing landmark guidance of its own<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, consumers are still ultimately confused<\/a> by what claims like \u201ccarbon neutral\u201d and \u201cnet-zero\u201d mean in the context of brand campaigns. <\/p>\n

Where Darlington\u2019s standing, there\u2019s a fine balance between having tight regulations and \u201cstiffing\u201d smaller brands from entering the conversation entirely. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the most important thing would be having some form of accreditation or easy-to-spot logo or stamp that shows the work has been done for the consumer so they can make an informed choice. It\u2019s easy to over-regulate, but sometimes it can cause more confusion,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would like there to be a review of brands can present information in an unbiased, unfiltered way,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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In recent months, the new term \u201cgreen-hushing\u201d has made its way into discussions around corporate sustainability in reference to the rise of less public-facing communication of sustainability targets from big brands for fear of scrutiny, making progress harder to assess.<\/p>\n

Hayman said these worries are \u201cover-egged\u201d by internal marketing teams at times. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re honest about the journey you\u2019re on, you\u2019re not going to get shut down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n