Meet the marketing agencies leading the way on climate action

In 2020, Sir David Attenborough said that “saving the planet is now a communications challenge”. If the marketing and advertising industry can’t rise to the challenge, then who can?

Use these handy quick links to jump straight to a specific story…

• Helping businesses build low carbon websites: Complex Creative
• Selecting clients who walk the walk: Remarkably
• Science-based targets for carbon reduction: MSQ
• Going all-in for sustainability: Climbing Trees
• Putting people and the planet first: Propellernet
• Going beyond being sustainable – to being regenerative: Avery & Brown

Sustainability can help marketing agencies fulfil their environmental responsibilities while creating better client engagement, employee satisfaction, and commercial performance. It’s no longer a niche consideration. It’s a mainstream issue that is forcing the marketing & advertising industry to reckon with its environmental impact.

Regulators are cracking down on greenwashing. The European Parliament voted to support new rules to improve product durability by combating greenwashing and misleading claims on consumer labels, such as ‘CO2 neutral’ or ‘carbon neutral’. While in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority is pursuing stricter enforcement on adverts claiming carbon neutrality through offsetting. 

Our recent survey of 1,000 SME business owners and decision makers carried out with the British Business Bank and One Poll revealed that 76% of SMEs believe that having an environmental strategy is good for business. A huge 98% of SMEs who have taken steps to reduce their environmental impact have seen benefits to their business.

These range from improved brand image (43%), attracting more eco-conscious customers (38%), increased productivity and innovation (37%) and employee loyalty (34%). Over a third (31%) also say that they have benefited from increased revenue.

The marketing and advertising industry are masters at instigating behavioural change. Imagine an entire industry redirecting their superpowers of communication and strategy into protecting our planet. Tackling the climate crisis. That’s one hell of a creative brief we can get behind. 

Here are six marketing and advertising agencies who are taking increased steps towards climate action.

Complex Creative is a sustainable web design agency, helping businesses build low carbon websites through optimising for reduced file sizes, cleaning up drives, servers and databases and so much more, which in 2022 helped save 148 trees from websites alone. 

They are also a Million Tree Pledger business, an Ecologi Climate Positive Workforce® and have signed up to One Percent for the Planet to donate 1% of gross sales every year to their non-profit partners. Complex Creative is also one of the hundreds of businesses that have calculated their carbon footprint with Ecologi Zero for free. Find out more about their story in the video below:

Remarkably is a creative, brand, marketing and learning consultancy. Their purpose  – building brands for a remarkably better world.

Now in its third year, Remarkably has been climate positive from day one, achieved B Corp certification in 2021, and invests in a number of impact innovation projects globally.  As a Beta partner of Ecologi Zero, the consultancy has been able to fully quantify its carbon footprint for the first time last year.

If that is not enough, Remarkably has pledged to plant one million trees by 2030, with 250,000 already planted. 

Remarkably’s commitment to the triple-bottom line also extends to careful decision making for which clients to work with. A first analysis was shared in its inaugural impact report for 2022.

MSQ was one of the first global marketing groups to become carbon negative. That means that across all 13 international offices they offset more carbon than they create. They have pledged to reduce their overall carbon emissions per employee by a further 50% by 2024 and have approved Science-Based Targets in place for 2030 with near-term targets validated by the SBTi. 

MSQ is a signed up member of the Million Tree Pledge, and has planted over 150,000 trees to date. The team promises to plant 500 trees for each client pitch, and also plant trees for a wide range of internal activities, including work anniversaries, Christmas celebrations, company meetings and more.

Climbing Trees is an SEO, Google Ads and Social agency with a mission of reducing emissions across their entire organisation. They have already moved to sourcing 100% renewable energy; changed their bank to a more planet-friendly supplier; reduced travel emissions with less commuting and more home working and increased use of public transport.

They use Ecologi Zero to calculate their emissions, and what they cannot reduce is offset. Climbing Trees are also a Ecologi Climate Positive Workforce® and a Million Tree Pledger, as well as a B Corp.

PropellerNet is a low carbon digital agency based in Brighton, and a certified B-Corp. The team believes in putting people and the planet first, and has a desire to go beyond offsetting and take radical action to help solve the planet’s environmental challenges. In 2022 alone, they became zero waste to landfill, installed solar panels on their offices and funded carbon avoidance projects to offset their historic carbon emissions since 2003.

Their sustainability drive is based around three big and highly admirable climate goals; Cut future carbon emissions by 50% or more by 2025 (and reduce to zero by 2030), draw down the emissions created over the past 20 years (since 2003), and plant one million trees by the end of 2024.

Avery & Brown is a sustainable marketing agency for the built environment. They’re a signatory of the Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, supporters of The Better Business Act as well as members of Business Declares and the Climate & Ecological Emergency Bill Alliance. 

Having pledged to halve their emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero before 2050 while disclosing their progress every year – they have a deep commitment to restoring and regenerating our planet. They’ve also referred over 19 other businesses to join our community!

If your marketing or communications agency is looking to start its climate journey, get in touch below.