The Power of Research & Understanding our Audiences - A Missing Marketing Fundamental with Denise Hicks, Global Climate Lead, C-Space

The Marketing Society podcast

“We need to get back to classic marketing – what matters to our audience is a must. Even those people who don’t ‘buy into’ sustainability – up to 70% of them are actually engaged in sustainable behaviours – they just don’t label it as sustainable….”

In this episode were joined by Denise Hicks, Global Climate Lead at strategy and insights consultancy, C-Space. We were particularly interested in a very soon to be published piece of research titled, ‘The S Word’.

Denise shares insights from the research findings, highlighting the ‘dysfunctional love triangle’ that exists between brands, their stakeholders and regulations and the tensions and frictions which are causing trust issues.

We explore some of the key highlights from the research (due out January 2025), Denise reveals, “consumers are frustrated, the problem is stuff – there is too much stuff and brands / manufacturers need to start taking responsibility”. She also talks about, “the increasing amount of skepticism at all level at the ways the S word is used for commercial gain”.

Denise shares some brilliant examples of brands who are showing up in this space and engaging with their customers however, whilst they have sustainability high up on their agendas, they aren’t leading with it – rather they are leading with good old fashion marketing tactics around what benefits their customers. The fact they are also sustainability focused is an added benefit.

Denise explains, “the need to get back to classic marketing – what matters to our audience is a must. Even those people who don’t ‘buy into’ sustainability – up to 70% of them are actually engaged in sustainable behaviours – they just don’t label it as sustainable.” Sustainability paralysis is very real, the need for strong listening, insights and learning about what truly matters to audiences has never been greater. This episode is a MUST LISTEN TO for all Marketers….packed with plenty of food for thought!

Tune in and listen as we talk to Denise about:

• The importance of research.
• Sustainability paralysis and why it is very real.
• Why it is so important to understand the views of everybody and where they are at.
• The need to drive mutual benefit and work together collectively.
• How regulation plays an important part - but we can’t just wait for it, all stakeholders need to keep moving forwards.
• Why brands / Marketers need to be asking - is sustainability a big part of our identity as a brand?
• The need to meet your audiences where they are at and focus on what matter to them – elements which aren’t necessarily sustainability related.
• What it means to behave more responsibly and asking what’s the role of responsible products and services in achieving a ‘better life’.

This really is a fantastic episode to wrap up all our 2024 conversations. Tune in, enjoy it, share it - and of course, share your comments.

Find out more information about C-Space and the work they do. Connect with Denise Hicks - and you can register to receive The S Word research once published.

We’ve got plenty more terrific conversations coming in 2025. Stay tuned… and here’s to more.

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You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.