The Sustainable Marketer: What Will Post-growth Marketing Jobs Look Like?

Ever come across a symbiosis marketing manager or ethical signaling manager? No – because they don’t exist. Yet. Here, Giorgio DeMarco of EPAM envisages a marketing ecosystem rebuilt for a post-growth society.

Marketing departments have always had very clear goals: increase awareness of a brand’s products and services, and drive sales. The specific method is up to the marketer’s intellectual (and, sometimes, moral) judgment – but will always involve generating emotional responses in the consumer and presenting them with opportunities to express and curate their identities.

On a planet of eight billion people and counting, it is no longer possible for brands to ignore the detrimental impact of consumption on the environment. They have a huge responsibility to act, as we all do, in turning back the doomsday clock.

Are marketers beyond the problem-solving phase?

Or, to look at the issue from a very different angle, are brands equipped to deal with the aftermath of the environmental crisis?

Unfortunately, the answers are yes and no. Most brands are moving too slowly on the issue. Marketing is increasingly focused on transparency, accountability and measurable results, and companies have started providing detailed information about their sustainability practices and their impact on the environment. But it’s clearly not enough to deal with the irreversible damage we’ve done to the environment.

But is there even a way for businesses to generate income without increasing consumption? And if there is, what would the role of marketing be within this system?

Read the full article here.