Should marketers lead the sustainability agenda in business?
The first piece in Marketing Week’s new series – Setting the agenda: Marketing’s role in driving sustainability – we debate whether responsibility for sustainability should be part of the marketing remit.
From brand-building and advertising to digital and CRM, CMOs and marketing directors already have a lot on their plate. But in some businesses, something new has been added to their already lengthy job descriptions: sustainability.
Some of the most high profile jobs in the industry now blend marketing and sustainability into one combined role. In 2022, Tesco marketer Michelle McEttrick took on the top marketing job at Primark and with it oversight of the retailer’s sustainability strategy, Primark Cares.
That same year, FMCG giant Reckitt appointed Fabrice Beaulieu as its chief marketing, sustainability and corporate affairs officer, tasking him with “reimagining and scaling Reckitt’s playbook for digitally-led, sustainable and profitable growth”.
And yet, when Marketing Week recently polled more than 600 marketers via LinkedIn on whether they believe marketers should be the ones leading their company’s sustainability agenda, the vast majority (68%) said no.
