Can Marketing Save the Planet? – It certainly plays an important role.

We’re all about conversations that inspire change…

We didn’t know what to expect when we decided to start a podcast back in 2020, all we knew was an important conversation needed to happen after writing our first book. Since then, we’ve sat down with some of the brightest minds in sustainability, marketing, science and business, we’ve dived into raw, honest conversations about how brands can, and must step up to protect our planet and society. Can Marketing Save the Planet? It’s a big question and an even bigger conversation - this is a podcast where hope, innovation, and tough truths collide.

The planet is in crisis, and businesses have a huge role to play. How do we turn profit-driven marketing into a force for good? How do we inspire real action, not just lip service? Who’s responsible and how do we educate, raise awareness and change behaviour at scale? Our podcast sets out to explore all of this.

Tune in to over 100+ and growing all the time episodes… You’ll find the podcast on Spotify , Global Player , Apple, and on all the usual platforms. (Pretty much wherever you get yours!). Tune in.

Download our About the Podcast Overview Doc - or get in touch, if you’ve got an idea for an episode…

Our guests are changemakers, CEOs, activists, scientists, regulators and of course marketers who are rewriting the rules and doing amazing work all with a common goal. You’ll discover conversations about:

  • How Marketers can tell a true story about climate change

  • Principles of climate communication

  • Building capital from waste

  • Stories of impact

  • How to navigate green claims and greenwashing

  • The practical challenges facing business

  • Why Carbon Literacy is so important

  • Sustainability leadership - Leading by example

  • How small businesses need to progress to Net Zero

  • The purpose of business

And SO MUCH MORE…

We believe Marketers have unique skills in the world, from branding which builds loyalty to storytelling that moves people to act. What if we used our powers for good - imagine what we could achieve?

Sceptics, optimists, marketers who want to do better, and the consumers demanding change, if you’ve ever felt torn between making a profit and making a difference, you’re in the right place. Spoiler alert – you can do both.

Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 27: How small businesses need to progress towards Net Zero - with Adam Bastock, Founder of Small99

“Stop talking about the environment, stop talking about emissions, people don’t really care about carbon emissions, it’s too intangible. Instead, marketing needs to focus on the benefits to people, aligned with people’s existing decision making frameworks and what they care about. Time to sell net zero and climate action as a gain, rather than a loss.”

In this episode, we hear more wise words from Adam Bastock, a passionate environmentalist who founded Small99 to provide practical and clear guidance to small businesses to learn how to take action to reduce their environmental footprint.

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 26: Leading by Example - Sustainability Leadership - Richard Hagan, Managing Director at Crystal Doors

“What are you doing with your profits - are you investing it back into your people and community or the pockets of a few?”

What a question? And one of many that Richard Hagan, businessman and radical and passionate sustainability champion asks businesses and leaders to reflect on in this informative and inspirational episode.

When it comes to ‘radical’, by his own admission, Richard recognises that business has a powerful role to play in necessary climate action -supporting planet and people. Given that time to act is short, Richard shares how radical action is required by all businesses - and that many just aren’t prepared to take the risks, the commercial hit and the necessary investments and leaps of faith that’s needed.

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 25: The hidden impact on our plates - Juliane Caillouette-Noble, Managing Director at The Sustainable Restaurant Association

“People need to understand that the embedded carbon footprint in their dining choices is actually one of the most impactful in their lives’

It’s a new year and many of us are emerging from the festive season, where food and drink takes its place centre stage in the ads we see, the conversations we have and the celebratory plans we make. January brings with it, new year resolutions to eat more healthily, do ‘dry Jan’ and more recently give the growing trend of Veganuary a go.

In this episode we speak to the brilliant Juliane Caillouette-Noble, Managing Director of The Sustainable Restaurant Association.

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 24: Time for the creative industry to stop promoting pollution with Duncan Meisal, Director at Clean Creatives

“It’s critical brands consider the supply chain of their ideas.”

The evidence is clear that with responsibility for 75% of carbon pollution, the fossil fuel industry is the number one cause of climate change. Yet, following COP26 - and our increased awareness of the catastrophic impact the industry is having on the planet, the urgency to transition to clean energy is still lacking.

In this episode Gemma and I speak with Duncan Meisal, Director at Clean Creatives - an organisation dedicated to encouraging brands, agencies and creatives to reject working with the fossil fuel industry - providing data, facts, statistics and support.

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 23: It’s not about Purpose - it’s about who you can help me become! Thomas Kolster, Author, Founder.

“The ultimate proof point is answering the question… who can you help people become?”

In this episode we speak to author of The Hero Trap and Founder and Creative Director of Goodvertising, Thomas Kolster. Thomas has been championing sustainability in the advertising and marketing industry for over a decade - he tells us that when he wrote his first book, Goodvertising, back in 2012, no one in ‘the industry’ was really interested in what he had to say - his main audience was those already embracing sustainability. However, jump a decade forward - and now he spends his time consulting and sharing his wisdom with leading brands and agencies around the world.

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 22: What’s marketing got to do with human trafficking? - with Ruth Dearnley, OBE, CEO, Stop the Traffik

“You can’t stop what you can’t see.”

In this episode we hear from Ruth Dearnley, founder and CEO of Stop the Traffik - an organisation working to prevent human trafficking globally through an innovative, intelligence-led approach.

“By shining a light on this hidden crime, and by empowering communities and businesses, we can change the environment and increase the risk to the trafficker and the safety of the vulnerable.”

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 21: Brand Led Sustainability with Luc Speisser, Global Chief Innovation Officer at Landor & Fitch

“A brand is a promise and a great brand is a promise kept.”

In this episode Luc Speisser, Global Chief Innovation Officer, generously shares his years of experience working within Landor & Fitch, leading brand led sustainability.

Luc breaks down what brand led sustainability means for businesses - bringing to light the key point, that it’s not enough for brands to simply focus on sustainability - they have to make sustainability profitable to sustain the business - and this means finding a genuine point of differentiation that strategically fits their brand.

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 20: The role finance plays in moving us towards a sustainable future with James Alexander, CEO, UKSIF

“The role of marketing is critical. Marketing what is real rather than the image you want to create!”

In this episode James really sets the record straight on just what sustainable finance is and the role finance and financial investment plays in moving us towards a sustainable future.

With over 270 members within UKSIF (UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association) and constantly growing, James leads a membership committed to growing sustainable and responsible finance in the UK.

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Michelle Carvill Michelle Carvill

Episode 19: Holding the question…What can we do? The power of bringing people together to #ChangeTheBrief with Rob McFaul, Co-Founder of Purpose Disruptors

“How can we make living with less not feel like loss…?

Great question… and one of many raised by Rob McFaul, co-founder of Purpose Disruptors.

In this episode Rob shares how Purpose Disruptors was born and how it has rapidly grown into a collective of over 2000 people focused on holding space to ask important questions - bringing people together to learn and grow confidence and expertise so that they can effect meaningful change.

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