By now we know that the purchasing power of Gen Z is growing, and with that comes shifting consumer behaviours. And with that? A shift in marketing strategies. And a big part of that shift has to do with showing how sustainable and ethical your business is. But do companies really mean what they market?
Companies increasingly highlight their green credentials, whether it’s a t-shirt made of ethical cotton or showing off their recyclable packaging. And at a first glance, this appears to be good news. But how do you know if a brand is really eco-friendly, or just greenwashing? And if you are a brand – how do you communicate your sustainable efforts without falling into the trap of greenwashing*?
*Greenwashing is when a firm makes an unsubstantiated claim to trick customers into thinking its products are ecologically friendly.
To shed some light on the current issues in the world of online shopping and overall consumerism, we talked to e-commerce expert and CEO and Founder of Swedish sustainable e-commerce brand A Good Company, Anders Ankarlid. A Good Company was founded in 2019, after Anders, his family and their farm animals stood face to face with climate change during 2018’s record-hot summer in Sweden. “Due to the extremely high temperature, the grass was burnt for a long time,” Anders says, explaining how their cattle almost died of thirst and had to be fed the food kept for winter months. After this experience he decided to use his skills gathered during many years of being an e-commerce entrepreneur and make a change, by launching A Good Company that only sells sustainable products made and shipped as sustainably as possible, such as plant-based phone cases manufactured in Sweden.
What was the response to your business at the beginning?
Anders Ankarlid: It’s been a mix of positive and negative. I think the positive part is that we have been able to work with some of the best brands in the world, both really high-end fashion brands but also a lot of other brands who have been very interested in either supporting our products or doing collaborations. Positive also in the way that we already have loyal consumers.
We tried to challenge the norm, we tried to challenge things that have been done one way. That’s usually when you trigger a lot of people and you get quite some negativity in return.
When you collaborate with brands, how do you make sure that the companies you collaborate with are sustainable?
Anders Ankarlid: We say no to brands we don’t believe have a sustainable path. If we don’t believe that our brand matches with another brand’s culture and approach to business when they want to collaborate with us, we simply say no.
But what A Good Company can help them with is two things. One: an educational journey on the products we have the knowledge of. And two: we can help them with replacement. So, some companies trusted us and we made phone cases together. Our phone cases are made here in Sweden from a circular-only plant, and it’s way more sustainable than making them somewhere across the ocean containing two different fossil fuel-based plastics. We also have very high standards when we collaborate with brands, such as eco-friendly shipping, which means no use of airplanes, sustainable packaging, to name a few.
When it comes to marketing a sustainable product, do you think you have a different approach?
Anders Ankarlid: What we believe and hope is that people who buy our products are more interested in understanding the dynamics that go into the product. What we do is that we’re very transparent, that may be a little bit different from having a traditional product marketing. We share everything from the development phase to why we pick this specific material instead of another, how we shape it, how we pack it, what should happen with it when it’s done, and so on. I think one more thing that differs us from other brands is that they often have a lot of secrets and declare their products recyclable and sustainable, when in reality they might have only 1% of actual recyclable materials in it.
Another main difference is that we are very restrictive with discount codes and seasonal discounts in general. Unfortunately, that’s the basis of shopping culture worldwide and we are not contributing to that.
Overconsumption has a very negative environmental impact, and at the end of the day you’re still an e-commerce. What would you tell people who challenge the idea that there is no such thing as a sustainable brand or sustainable e-commerce?
Anders Ankarlid: In an ideal world, the best thing would be if everyone just kept what they have and stayed status quo. Unfortunately, it’s very deeply rooted in human nature that consumption is something we need. So, if they’re shopping from us, or another brand who is truly sustainable, they can be sure that we have thought through packaging, we have thought through the product, what goes into the product, what will happen after the products have been used. So, there are differences.
But surely, consumption is always, to some extent, a bad thing.
What we believe is that if you have a clear need for something, it is better to buy from someone who is truly sustainable, rather than someone who’s using sustainability as a marketing gimmick. I think there are complications with brands who say “we are sustainable.” There are lots of fast fashion brands who claim to be ethical and then they still participate in Black Friday, Christmas Sales, Seasonal Sales, and overall they still sell on sale. Then you’re using sustainability as something you do with marketing rather than something which is true by heart. And I think that’s very problematic.
Do you think that greenwashing in marketing is happening because of consumer behaviour?
Anders Ankarlid: I think consumers are not the ones to blame here. It’s the brands who have a sincere responsibility. Now that we have more people who are conscious about environmental things, the easiest trick for brands is to add on a few marketing tactics: say sustainable, biodegradable, these vague terms, which are very hard to identify what it really means. For example, everything is biodegradable. Even my phone is to some extent biodegradable – if you leave it out for 5000 years, bacteria will eventually break it down. It’s the same with plastic.
Brands are taking these easy paths of greenwashing since the other path means that they need to take down their financial and growth targets for a while. And that is the core of what’s problematic.
Consumers could shape up as well. If not, then we are all in that very hopeless situation in ten years. It’s not 20 years anymore, it’s maybe five to ten years, and people can vote with their wallets. Do the research, and decide after. I’m sure that in any given moment, buying something sustainable will give you more joy for a longer time, even if it’s 5-10 or 50 percent more expensive, than something you shopped on an impulse on Black Friday.
What would be your tip to become a more mindful and sustainable consumer?
Anders Ankarlid: I think the one trick everyone can apply is to never buy anything on impulse. If you follow that, I can ensure that you will enjoy the product more, and you will also care for the product more. This accounts for any type of product. Of course, you need food. That’s a basic need. But if you set aside the basic needs for humans to stay alive, it’s so much better to be more conscious, do more research and shut down the impulse. I think that if everyone is following that, I would be very surprised if people would be still picking the brands they are picking today. If impulses would go down, more people would pivot towards something a little bit more sustainable.
