The COP26 summit (UN Climate Change Conference) finishes today, a conference where world leaders have come together in Glasgow to try and agree on how we as a world can avoid a future climate disaster with meaningful pledges and ambitious targets.
We all understand the climate emergency and play our part where we can, but the recent attention on this climate change summit has been a wake-up call for many of us to refocus ourselves on the biggest issue facing our planet and our futures.
Impact is proud to work with many clients where sustainability is at the very core of their brand identity, we collaborate to make the most sustainable solutions and they bring us new challenges with every project to keep innovating for sustainability objectives.
But we know that, like everyone, we can do more. COP26 and the tireless work by campaigners around the event has energised us to continue towards being better and ensuring retail marketing plays a responsible part in averting a climate crisis.
Examples of Sustainable Retail Marketing
Take a look at some of these great examples from our clients’ retail spaces which prioritise sustainability in their marketing objectives.
Willsow
Willsow books are a sustainable innovation for experiential children’s books. The front and back cover is made of plantable seed paper, a 100% recycled and handmade paper filled with real vegetable seeds, stitched together with 100% natural cotton. Supporting their appearance on BBC’s Dragons Den, Impact have collaborated with Willsow on both temporary retail units in garden centres and permanent displays in stores such as Selfridges, with both visual merchandising solutions being 100% recyclable while 100% fun and engaging!
weDo
Describing themselves as ‘the new positive activist full-on eco-ethical brand’, weDo products promote clean ingredients, 100% recyclable materials, natural origins and certified cruelty free practises. For every weDo product sold, eight plastic bottles are removed from the environment. In line with their brand integrity, all materials for their brand spaces need to be sustainably sourced with correct certification, able to be recycled with correct certification, and be sourced from a UK supplier where possible. As part of their UK-wide weDo rollout into hair salons, we created visual merchandising solutions made from natural bamboo and recyclable faux greenery.
Ruinart
This luxury champagne brand launched its sustainable ‘Second Skin’ gift packaging for Ruinart bottles, made of 100% natural wood fibres and reducing the bottle packaging carbon footprint by an astounding 60%. For their luxurious window displays in London wine merchant, Jeroboams, Impact celebrated this unique sustainability story by using recycled paper, non-PVC window stickers and natural wood to craft creative and impactful luxury displays.
L’Oréal
While never compromising on attractive aesthetics, playful designs and shaping innovation when it comes to their retail spaces, for L’Oréal sustainability is always a key objective. Impact have designed and produced a number of award-winning L'Oréal displays across retailers that use recycled and recyclable materials in the merchandising units as well as the delivery boxes sent to stores. The glues and inks used for building the retail displays have the lowest level of solvent available, and like most of our projects they are printed and assembled in-house within our factory so mileage is kept low.
As we go forward, we have a renewed sense of urgency when it comes to making sure we prioritise meaningful sustainable change within retail marketing and the Impact team. We are pleased to announce we have just joined Zellar, a sustainability platform which enables small businesses to create sustainable business strategies, track our emissions, and keep us on track to continue making progress in our sustainability goals.
A few things we already know is that choosing local suppliers makes a considerable impact on our carbon footprint, and we will continue to prioritise this in all projects, which will only benefit our local communities too. Being FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) accredited in our temporary side of the business means clients can be certain our materials come from responsibly managed forests and whilst this is also the case on the joinery side of the business too, we are now pulling our socks up to get this accredited officially for all permanent projects.
In addition to this, many members of our team have told us they want to do more to make a difference when it comes to the environment, and we are working on what we can do to make meaningful change together. That may be organised beach cleans, supporting local wildlife initiatives or fundraising for environmental charities. When we’ve figured out what this may be, we’ll update you on our social pages, so watch this space. Together we create change and we are confident that retail marketing can and will play an important role in fighting the climate crisis.
