Interview: Creating clear corporate sustainability strategies with Futerra.
Devon Leahy is VP of strategy at Futerra, a change agency dedicated to making sustainability so desirable that it becomes normal. She works with clients like VF Corp, Target and REI to build the business case for sustainability and social impact. She has an MBA and a master’s in environmental policy from the University of Michigan, and has led corporate social responsibility and sustainability work at Walmart and Etsy.
Laura Hunter is head of copy at Futerra where she specializes in finding the simple, compelling story that will get through. She works with clients like GEOX, C&A Foundation and Kering to develop brands and campaigns that get people excited about sustainable fashion.
Kyle Calian: How did the two of you end up at Futerra?
Laura Hunter: I started my career in the charity sector working on campaigns and branding projects. I was keen to move into an agency, but I wanted to use my skills to make a positive impact. I hope I don’t sound too much like a millennial, but that’s what I wanted to do.
And then someone told me about this creative agency that only works on projects and campaigns that make a positive impact on the environment or on people’s lives. Once I heard that, I was hooked.
And Devon?
DL: I’ve been at Futerra for less than a year, but I’ve been working in the corporate sustainability space for about 10 years. I had worked both in-house on the client side, with companies like Walmart, and also on the marketing, branding and communications side of the spectrum.
What was so appealing about Futerra was the blending of the logic of strategy with the magic of creative. We are able to bring our strategies to life and translate them into not just reports or websites that no one visits, but into campaigns that incorporate compelling ideas and movements around the strategies. That mixture is really hard to find. When you’re inside a company in a CSR or sustainability function, you aren’t usually sitting very close to the marketing folks that have those resources at their fingertips. So you are often fighting to break out of your silo. You have a lot of different stakeholders you’re trying to engage with, but you don’t have the right tools (internally) for compelling storytelling.
It’s such a treat to be in an environment where there are creative team members that just get the content. They get the issues. They get that we need to be talking about this stuff, but they can also help turn those conversations into behavior change campaigns or employee engagement platforms that can drive the impact we envision.
So this blend of logic and magic is really unique. I’d like to dive a little bit deeper into that. Devon, can you talk about the strategy or logic side of the work you do?
DL: The strategy base in corporate sustainability is pretty large. There are a plethora of organizations that focus on reporting and materiality assessment. In other words, they’re looking backward at the impact of a company.
That approach is very important, and it’s something we leverage in our work. But Futerra’s approach to logic is more about developing forward-looking strategies.
We do that by first understanding the impacts of that particular business, and then by looking across the industry to understand what broader critical issues the entire sector is facing.
And Laura, could you tell us a little bit more about the communication work you’re doing?
LH: Our subject matter can be complex social and environmental issues, so our job is to get sustainability off the page and into people’s lives. We’re working to make complex issues accessible, relevant and exciting.
So how do we do that? Well, the main thing that we do is answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” When it comes to the public, there is certainly a group of people who will go out of their way to choose the sustainable or eco-friendly option. But that’s just not the case for the majority of people. So when it comes to sustainable fashion, we need to help the masses see the value in it. Just saying it’s sustainable isn’t enough. Empathy and understanding what motivates people is at the heart of what we do. We meet people where they are and find creative solutions to deliver a product or service they can clearly see the value in.
That’s what we did with Geox, an Italian shoe manufacturer. They launched their first sustainable shoe a while ago, which used less than half of the normal components that usually went into manufacturing a shoe. But we didn’t just market the shoe based on its environmental benefits. We created a campaign called the art of simplicity. It was based on the idea that it takes confidence to strip away things that you don’t need, which tapped into a consumer desire for a more considered, minimal lifestyle.
You took a similar path with REI? How did you craft their story in a way that fits into their larger brand image?
DL: When you look at REI, as both an apparel and outdoor equipment co-op, they have a unique business model. They offer both products and services, like equipment rentals and experiential services, that work together to turn their customers into lifelong lovers of the outdoors. What’s really incredible about REI is that they’re a portal to the outdoors; they have this ability to remove barriers and increase access to the outdoors through the products and services they offer. So when you think about the strategy that they’re going to employ, the focus has to be around mending the relationship between humans and the outdoors, and explaining why spending time outdoors is so important for human health and the health of the environment. That’s what was behind the work we did around their #OptOutside campaign.
And for our readers, can you explain what it means to opt outside?
DL: #OptOutside is a campaign that REI has been doing for a number of years that encourages their customers to spend time outside on Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving and the biggest shopping day of the year — rather than spending time indoors buying stuff. So they actually close their store on that day and encourage customers and employees alike to spend that day outside. They also do some programs and projects with partners across the U.S. to make sure that actually happens. It’s not just a soft act. They put a lot of effort and energy behind it. This year, Futerra worked with them to develop athought leadership piece about why opting outside on Black Friday and on other days of the year is so important.
LH: That piece was called “The Path Ahead” and is the intellectual underpinning for why we should get outdoors. For me, it was so eye-opening to learn about the impact of nature on our well-being. It can help with depression, enhance child development, make our cities better places to be. “The Path Ahead” democratizes the knowledge around the benefits of a life lived outdoors.
We also created a short animation for launch. It starts with the fact that Americans spend 95 percent of their time indoors and that it’s time to choose a different path.
Awesome.
DL: Along with that, the amount of time we spend indoors is also increasing over time. Our research showed that this trend has negative effects on both public health and the environment. And if we’re not spending time outside, then we’re not as apt to fight to protect it. We don’t necessarily value it at the individual level. As a society, the environment is undervalued economically, too. That’s a key point.
Great. So to wrap it up, considering some of the trends you both see in the world of corporate sustainability, what are you and the Futerra team most excited to work on next?
LH: For me, definitely circular solutions.
DL: Same answer over here.
LH: Yeah, it’s all about circular. It’s really interesting, because when you go to any conference now, everyone is talking about circular solutions.
It’s wonderful and so exciting. But getting a mainstream audience involved in that conversation is a big challenge that we’re working to solve every day.
DL: On the strategy side, we are similarly interested and in circular and are doing a fair amount of work in the circular space on retail and apparel. For me, what’s exciting is trying to make it work financially and making the case that circular solutions can actually help businesses grow. But it’s not easy because there are ingrained patterns consumption and production that create real barriers to realizing a circular future.
There is a well established infrastructure and pricing and cost structure that companies have built around taking resources, making products and then sending them to the landfill. For the longest time, companies have operated under the assumption that once you purchase an item they don’t need to talk to you again. There needs to be a major culture shift before circular solutions can become the new norm.
Check them out online at:
wearefuterra.com
Follow them at:
@futerra
This interview is featured in Issue №3 of The Regeneration Magazine. You can preview it, order it, or subscribe on our website.
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