Is it time to redefine the title of the modern marketer?
I say: ‘Yes’.
When many talk about modern marketing, they imply that they would like to adopt new tactics and trends that drive exponential growth and revenue.
But this mindset is shaped by business-as-usual ideals, or how we’ve been doing business in a linear process with little regard for finite resources and the impact on people and the planet, for the last century.
To create the level of change that is necessary to build a more just and brighter future for people and the planet, I believe every marketer has a role to play — whether they work directly in a climate company or they’re a communicator at a fashion label.
Understanding the role begins with redefining your position. Your marketing role is no longer about output, performance metrics, and goal-setting. It’s something deeper: influence for good and a connection to a better future for all.
It takes bravery for you to take on this role (but I believe in you). In this article, let’s explore the role of the ecomarketer and the various roles it might mean.
Putting SOUL at the center of your role
The ecomarketer is a communicator or creative that puts people and the planet as the center focus of all their marketing campaigns.
Much like making nature a stakeholder in a company, the marketer places people and the planet at the center of their campaign creation and creative processes.
As the ecomarketer, you challenge the status quo of typical marketing – and rethink what might not be so good for humanity (and all life on Earth). You also challenge yourself to be better, which will take a lot of bravery.
As an ecomarketer, you begin rethinking modern marketing as a different role. It’s one of deep empathy, awareness, and understanding of your creative influence on the behaviors of people and the impact on the environment.
- Empathy — understanding others emotions, or at a level where you can imagine what that person is thinking or feeling. When this process is fulfilled, your communication aims to fulfill the true needs of humanity i.e. time with family, independence, happiness, and connection to nature — without disrupting those needs or convincing them otherwise for profitable gains.
- Awareness — tuned into the true worries, concerns, and opportunities that people seek every day. When marketers are aware of what people want, they can then streamline their campaigns to be more purposeful (reducing wasteful and hurtful messages).
- Understanding — acknowledgment that creative talents influence people to make decisions that might be good for them (or not), or for society (or not). They understand how they shape campaigns to change people’s perception of the world and how that is dangerous when shaped only for profit and monetary growth.
Remember, we must be bold and brave, to build a better future for everyone, and we need YOU onboard, understanding your power and influence as a force for good.
In this video, I introduce the role and what it includes:
Rewriting the marketing PLAYBOOK
We’ve been following a certain playbook for the last century. This playbook simply won’t work anymore to fulfill the objectives set out in the Sustainable Development Goals to create peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
That means that the role of the marketer is changing. The role will adopt new philosophies and perspectives shaped by a shared, sustainable future for all.
The ecomarketer will practice a form of marketing called Sustainable Marketing, which will be a realignment of its purpose and role in a sustainable future. We will need to reclaim skills and tactics that favor sustainability and realign our marketing role to drive creativity, innovation, and technology with a sustainable lens.
Simply put, sustainability marketing:
- Drives long-term growth for people and the planet — and puts them at the heart of our campaigns instead of solely economic development.
- Informs and connects people to new and sustainable desires that are aligned with well-being for all, reconnecting people to the planet — and embedding sustainability into our identity, culture, and purpose.
- Influences sustainable production by shaping good demand for sustainable products and services, creating value that supports society, the planet, and the economy.
But the various day-to-day intentions of the ecomarketer are evolving! We have our philosophy basis rooted in sustainable marketing principles, but how can we translate that to action?
That is where the ecomarketer comes in! This role won’t replace the roles currently in the marketing sector. You will still show up to work as a Content Writer, Content Marketing Manager, Marketing Director, or maybe, a Performance Marketing Manager. But you will take on the eocmarketer role in your day-to-day job, nonetheless, adopting that lens in your work.
This role is evolving, and I believe that it will be co-created by those in the industry who want to do better. I talk a lot about this on my LinkedIn feed, so the current task list below was curated by all of us.
The ecomarketer TASKLIST
Here is what we’re currently co-creating together! The ecomarketer’s role falls into three distinct categories:
1. REDEFINING YOUR COMMUNICATIONS — you put your energy into rethinking the playbook and redesigning projects so that they’re better for people and the planet. For example you will
- Define your moral code book, where are your boundaries for doing good (and bad)? Start with the pledges defined by Creatives For Climate, Clean Creatives, and the Sustainable Marketer Manifesto.
- Be ready to say: “Don’t buy this [insert product name]” if it’s not aligned with the SDGs or planetary boundaries.
- Approach all marketing with empathy, with a deep understanding of the problems and solutions for people and businesses, redirecting them to better-informed practices that are ethical and sustainable.
2. SKILLING UP — understanding the role of the modern marketer through courses, educating oneself, and leading by example in the industry.
- Able to scrutinize a company’s sustainability practices and distinguish greenwashing from genuine intentions.
- Committed to continual learning on the topic of sustainability and at the intersection of marketing.
3. COLLABORATION – acknowledging that great change can only come from collaborating as a marketing industry and getting as many people involved as possible.
- Create creative allies with those who follow the same moral codebook and amplify your impact.
- Collaborate with business leaders to push the business case for sustainability, getting buy-in from leadership.
- Champion sustainable practices within the organization that go beyond marketing.
- Rally the marketing community around sustainability and raise the standard for the whole industry.
- Be an activist and remain involved in the greater sustainability movement.
Thank you to Marcello Angione, Kim Grob, MFA, Claudia Di Meo, and Gilles Toussaint for helping to curate this first rendition of the ecomarketer’s role.
If these words resonate with you, then you’re in the right place. Let’s continue brainstorming the role of the ecomarketer and how the marketer’s agenda will evolve and shape in the coming years.
You can follow my ECOMARKETER diary and insights on these channels:
- LinkedIn Newsletter – a monthly newsletter about my transformation into the ecomarketer role (and how you can do it too).
- YouTube – a deep-dive into sustainable marketing topics.
- Instagram – a video journal of “My Life of an ECOMARKETER”.
If you’d like to digitally meetup to discuss the ecomarketer role, book a digital coffee session with me!
Is it time to redefine the title of the modern marketer?
I say: ‘Yes’.
When many talk about modern marketing, they imply that they would like to adopt new tactics and trends that drive exponential growth and revenue.
But this mindset is shaped by business-as-usual ideals, or how we’ve been doing business in a linear process with little regard for finite resources and the impact on people and the planet, for the last century.
To create the level of change that is necessary to build a more just and brighter future for people and the planet, I believe every marketer has a role to play — whether they work directly in a climate company or they’re a communicator at a fashion label.
Understanding the role begins with redefining your position. Your marketing role is no longer about output, performance metrics, and goal-setting. It’s something deeper: influence for good and a connection to a better future for all.
It takes bravery for you to take on this role (but I believe in you). In this article, let’s explore the role of the ecomarketer and the various roles it might mean.
Putting SOUL at the center of your role
The ecomarketer is a communicator or creative that puts people and the planet as the center focus of all their marketing campaigns.
Much like making nature a stakeholder in a company, the marketer places people and the planet at the center of their campaign creation and creative processes.
As the ecomarketer, you challenge the status quo of typical marketing – and rethink what might not be so good for humanity (and all life on Earth). You also challenge yourself to be better, which will take a lot of bravery.
As an ecomarketer, you begin rethinking modern marketing as a different role. It’s one of deep empathy, awareness, and understanding of your creative influence on the behaviors of people and the impact on the environment.
- Empathy — understanding others emotions, or at a level where you can imagine what that person is thinking or feeling. When this process is fulfilled, your communication aims to fulfill the true needs of humanity i.e. time with family, independence, happiness, and connection to nature — without disrupting those needs or convincing them otherwise for profitable gains.
- Awareness — tuned into the true worries, concerns, and opportunities that people seek every day. When marketers are aware of what people want, they can then streamline their campaigns to be more purposeful (reducing wasteful and hurtful messages).
- Understanding — acknowledgment that creative talents influence people to make decisions that might be good for them (or not), or for society (or not). They understand how they shape campaigns to change people’s perception of the world and how that is dangerous when shaped only for profit and monetary growth.
Remember, we must be bold and brave, to build a better future for everyone, and we need YOU onboard, understanding your power and influence as a force for good.
In this video, I introduce the role and what it includes:
Rewriting the marketing PLAYBOOK
We’ve been following a certain playbook for the last century. This playbook simply won’t work anymore to fulfill the objectives set out in the Sustainable Development Goals to create peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
That means that the role of the marketer is changing. The role will adopt new philosophies and perspectives shaped by a shared, sustainable future for all.
The ecomarketer will practice a form of marketing called Sustainable Marketing, which will be a realignment of its purpose and role in a sustainable future. We will need to reclaim skills and tactics that favor sustainability and realign our marketing role to drive creativity, innovation, and technology with a sustainable lens.
Simply put, sustainability marketing:
- Drives long-term growth for people and the planet — and puts them at the heart of our campaigns instead of solely economic development.
- Informs and connects people to new and sustainable desires that are aligned with well-being for all, reconnecting people to the planet — and embedding sustainability into our identity, culture, and purpose.
- Influences sustainable production by shaping good demand for sustainable products and services, creating value that supports society, the planet, and the economy.
But the various day-to-day intentions of the ecomarketer are evolving! We have our philosophy basis rooted in sustainable marketing principles, but how can we translate that to action?
That is where the ecomarketer comes in! This role won’t replace the roles currently in the marketing sector. You will still show up to work as a Content Writer, Content Marketing Manager, Marketing Director, or maybe, a Performance Marketing Manager. But you will take on the eocmarketer role in your day-to-day job, nonetheless, adopting that lens in your work.
This role is evolving, and I believe that it will be co-created by those in the industry who want to do better. I talk a lot about this on my LinkedIn feed, so the current task list below was curated by all of us.
The ecomarketer TASKLIST
Here is what we’re currently co-creating together! The ecomarketer’s role falls into three distinct categories:
1. REDEFINING YOUR COMMUNICATIONS — you put your energy into rethinking the playbook and redesigning projects so that they’re better for people and the planet. For example you will
- Define your moral code book, where are your boundaries for doing good (and bad)? Start with the pledges defined by Creatives For Climate, Clean Creatives, and the Sustainable Marketer Manifesto.
- Be ready to say: “Don’t buy this [insert product name]” if it’s not aligned with the SDGs or planetary boundaries.
- Approach all marketing with empathy, with a deep understanding of the problems and solutions for people and businesses, redirecting them to better-informed practices that are ethical and sustainable.
2. SKILLING UP — understanding the role of the modern marketer through courses, educating oneself, and leading by example in the industry.
- Able to scrutinize a company’s sustainability practices and distinguish greenwashing from genuine intentions.
- Committed to continual learning on the topic of sustainability and at the intersection of marketing.
3. COLLABORATION – acknowledging that great change can only come from collaborating as a marketing industry and getting as many people involved as possible.
- Create creative allies with those who follow the same moral codebook and amplify your impact.
- Collaborate with business leaders to push the business case for sustainability, getting buy-in from leadership.
- Champion sustainable practices within the organization that go beyond marketing.
- Rally the marketing community around sustainability and raise the standard for the whole industry.
- Be an activist and remain involved in the greater sustainability movement.
Thank you to Marcello Angione, Kim Grob, MFA, Claudia Di Meo, and Gilles Toussaint for helping to curate this first rendition of the ecomarketer’s role.
If these words resonate with you, then you’re in the right place. Let’s continue brainstorming the role of the ecomarketer and how the marketer’s agenda will evolve and shape in the coming years.
You can follow my ECOMARKETER diary and insights on these channels:
- LinkedIn Newsletter – a monthly newsletter about my transformation into the ecomarketer role (and how you can do it too).
- YouTube – a deep-dive into sustainable marketing topics.
- Instagram – a video journal of “My Life of an ECOMARKETER”.
If you’d like to digitally meetup to discuss the ecomarketer role, book a digital coffee session with me!
