Global Brands Rally Behind Climate-Positive Marketing With Action

359

From Unilever to IKEA, marketers are moving beyond greenwashing to embed sustainability into brand strategy and creative execution.

Sustainability is no longer a side campaign – it’s becoming the campaign. At the 2025 Global Marketing Impact Forum, leading brands including Unilever, IKEA, and Heineken unveiled a joint commitment to climate-positive branding, signaling a shift from performative messaging to measurable action.

The initiative, backed by the UN Global Compact and Kantar’s Sustainable Transformation Practice, introduces a unified framework for embedding sustainability across marketing—from growth strategy to media planning. The “CMO Blueprint for Sustainable Growth” outlines five pillars, including innovation, brand purpose alignment, and long-term storytelling.

“Marketers have the power to shape culture and consumption,” said Chris Jansen, CEO of Kantar. “But to do that responsibly, we need a common language and clear metrics for sustainable impact.”

The urgency is real. According to WARC, 78% of global consumers say brands must take responsibility for the planet, yet only 22% trust sustainability claims. The new framework aims to close that intention-action gap by standardizing how brands define, measure, and communicate sustainability.

Notably, the blueprint encourages brands to move away from campaign-based green messaging and toward systemic transformation— embedding sustainability into product design, supply chains, and customer experience.

The collaboration also includes a zero-base measurement survey, inviting CMOs to benchmark their progress and share best practices. It’s a bold step toward making sustainability not just a marketing message, but a business imperative.