How ESG Can Empower Marketing and Sales and Strengthen Your Bottom Line
TL;DR
By integrating sustainability into business strategy, companies can transform their ESG efforts into powerful sales assets, strengthening their competitive edge and bottom line while sidestepping the risks of greenwashing.
Collaborate with marketing and sales teams to amplify sustainability efforts and use benchmarking to position your company as a market leader.
Tools like the C-mulator™ provide real-time, data-driven insights that empower sales teams to showcase the tangible benefits of sustainable practices, while avoiding greenwashing by grounding claims in transparent, measurable outcomes.
Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) and ESG managers often find themselves in a lonely corner of the corporate world. Their work is vital—shaping a company’s strategy for long-term resilience and compliance—but it’s not always seen as central to business growth. Despite the increasing demand for transparency and accountability in sustainability efforts, many professionals in this field struggle to convince their peers that sustainability is more than an ethical or legal obligation; it’s a competitive advantage.
If you’ve ever felt like no one in your company truly sees the value of what you do, you’re not alone. A 2023 Thomson Reuters report highlights the disconnect: while many companies acknowledge the importance of sustainability, they struggle with integrating it effectively into their business strategy. This often leaves sustainability teams without a clear voice in the company’s most critical conversations, particularly in marketing and sales.
The Overlooked Opportunity: Sustainability as a Growth Lever
Sustainability isn’t just a checkbox for regulatory compliance (like the latest Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive [CSRD]) or an altruistic pursuit—it’s a decisive factor in today’s competitive markets. Consumers are increasingly prioritizing brands with authentic sustainability credentials. A 2023 study by NielsenIQ and McKinsey revealed that products marketed as sustainable saw higher sales growth than that of their conventional counterparts.
In B2B contexts, the story is much the same. Procurement teams are asking pointed questions about many scope 3 emissions categories such as supply chain emissions, material sourcing and end-of-life product impacts. In manufacturing and materials industries, these concerns are reshaping buyer expectations.
So, why are companies missing this chance to link sustainability with growth? A major reason is the failure to communicate sustainability and ESG data in a way that resonates with business-focused teams. While sustainability professionals excel in gathering data and crafting reports, these insights often fail to translate into compelling narratives that drive decision-making in marketing and sales. For companies that do succeed in branding themselves around sustainability, they may open up a world of scrutiny and face potential greenwashing backlash, if their environmental claims are unfounded or unsupported by transparent data.
Breaking the Silos: Strategies for Integration
Turning sustainability into a strategic advantage requires breaking down silos and aligning sustainability metrics with business goals. Here are three actionable strategies to get started:
Reframe Sustainability in Business Terms:
Too often, sustainability metrics—like tons of CO2 saved or renewable energy percentages—are presented in isolation. To make an impact, these metrics need to be connected to broader business priorities. For instance, replacing conventional materials with sustainable alternatives might not just lower emissions; it can also meet consumer demands for transparency and build stronger customer loyalty. Pairing these insights with industry benchmarks can provide a competitive context that resonates with sales and marketing teams.
Collaborate with Marketing and Sales:
Instead of viewing other departments as roadblocks, consider them as allies and message ambassadors who need the right tools and stories to succeed. Work with marketing to create customer-facing materials that highlight your company’s sustainability achievements. Collaborate with sales to address customer concerns with clear, data-backed answers. A 2023 study by McKinsey found that companies integrating sustainability into their sales processes saw higher win rates with environmentally conscious buyers.
Benchmark to Stand Out:
ESG benchmarking isn’t just about compliance; it’s about positioning. Showcasing how your sustainability initiatives compared to competitors can elevate your company’s standing in the market. Tools and platforms that allow real-time comparisons of material choices, carbon footprints, or other sustainability factors can amplify this positioning.
The Role of Technology in Closing the Gap
Technology is a game-changer for sustainability professionals looking to make their work more accessible and impactful. Tools that provide intuitive ways to communicate complex sustainability metrics can help bridge the gap between departments. Advanced tools also allow for tailored simulations that show the direct impact of sustainability choices, such as switching to greener materials or reducing supply chain emissions.
These capabilities not only help translate technical data into actionable insights but also foster collaboration between sustainability, sales, and marketing teams by providing them with a shared narrative rooted in measurable outcomes. By showcasing carbon savings and benchmarking against competitors, such tools elevate sustainability conversations from abstract goals to concrete business drivers.
Introducing the C-mulator™
At ECO-OS, we recognize the challenges faced by sustainability professionals in communicating their value. That’s why we’ve developed the C-mulator™—an innovative carbon footprint simulation tool designed to empower marketing and sales teams with the insights they need to champion sustainability.
The C-mulator™ is an online tool that allows companies to demonstrate the carbon savings of the advanced, sustainability-optimized material choices they are offering- in real-time. With precise, data-backed carbon saving insights and an interactive, gamified experience, it elevates sustainability conversations beyond traditional “green” claims to tangible business outcomes. Most importantly, it offers true benchmarking capabilities, positioning your offerings as leaders in the competitive landscape. It’s a powerful tool for partners looking to lead in transparent, impactful, sustainability solutions.
If you’re ready to turn sustainability into a strategic advantage, the C-mulator™ is here to help. Learn more about how the C-mulator™ can transform your sustainability conversations.
Make Sustainability Your Sales Superpower
Sustainability is no longer a niche concern—it’s a core driver of business value and a key differentiator in competitive industries. For CSOs and ESG managers, the challenge lies in moving from being seen as compliance champions to strategic leaders. By reframing sustainability in terms that resonate with sales and marketing teams, leveraging technology, and showcasing tangible outcomes, you can turn your initiatives into powerful growth levers.
The C-mulator™ is here to help bridge that gap. With its ability to simulate real-time impacts, provide precise benchmarking, and deliver engaging, interactive insights, it’s a game-changer for aligning sustainability with business goals. Along the way, companies can sidestep the pitfalls of greenwashing by grounding their sustainability claims in transparent, data-driven insights. It’s time to transform your sustainability efforts from “nice-to-have” to “must-have” in the eyes of your organization and its stakeholders.
Glossary
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance): A comprehensive framework used to evaluate a company's commitment to sustainable and ethical practices. ESG encompasses three key areas: Environmental factors, such as a company's carbon footprint, resource usage, and environmental stewardship; Social factors, including employee relations, community involvement, and human rights; and Governance factors, which assess corporate leadership, transparency, ethical behavior, and stakeholder engagement. ESG criteria help stakeholders understand a company's long-term sustainability and ethical impact on the world, guiding investment and operational decisions.
Greenhouse gasses (GHGs): Gasses that allow light and heat from the sun to enter the earth's atmosphere, but trap heat on earth, preventing it from being released back into space. These gasses are believed responsible for human-caused (anthropogenic) climate change. The main GHGs that have an effect on climate change include: carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane gas (CH4), refrigerant gasses (HFCs).
Scope 3 emissions: Indirect emissions involved in producing a product, including upstream and downstream emissions. Upstream emissions relate to those activities that support the production of your product before manufacturing (i.e. production and transportation of raw materials, business travel, capital goods, etc.) and Downstream emissions support the distribution and end-of-life of your product (processing of sold products, waste disposal, use of product, etc.) Scope 3 emissions are often the hardest to collect and typically account for the majority of emissions stemming from a product's production (for non-vertically integrated companies.
Carbon Footprint: A measure of the greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere by a person, company, product, or activity. A larger carbon footprint indicates a bigger contribution to climate change. Calculating a carbon footprint involves summing up GHG emissions produced in three main categories: Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and the final sum is typically presented in units of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e).
Greenwashing: A phenomenon where a company makes misleading or false claims to convince consumers that its products are more environmentally friendly or have a greater positive environmental impact than they truly do. This is often viewed as a critique of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices because it undermines the credibility and effectiveness of ESG efforts.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD): An obligatory reporting framework enacted by the European Parliament that applies to certain companies with operations taking place in the European Union. The mandate requires companies to report on specific ESG metrics, conduct a double materiality assessment (considering both the impact of the company on the environment and the impact of environmental issues on the company), and undergo third party assurance to verify the accuracy and reliability of their ESG disclosures.
Double Materiality Assessment: Evaluates not just how the company’s operations affect the broader environment and society, but how external environmental and social issues may impact the company's financial performance and reputation. The CSRD mandate requires companies to report only on ESG issues deemed material, supported by their double materiality assessments. This approach provides a comprehensive understanding of risks and opportunities essential for navigating today's business landscape.