Marketing and PR is, at its most basic, a link between an organisation and the public. Whether a private business or a government department, the PR team shapes the information that fills almost every corner of our lives; ultimately, this means we hold ever-more power in an increasingly connected, digital world. Our content, in whatever format it comes in, aims to influence people to do the right thing, to purchase the right stuff, to follow the right instruction, or generally to just be informed.
Content holds power, and with power, as the cliché goes, comes responsibility. Yet it also goes both ways, and as organisations try to hold the attention of and influence the decisions of their target market, they too are influenced – and they change; slowly, but surely.
PR is therefore an enabler of compromise; the tool used to create a middle-ground between the wishes and ideals of Joe Public and the company trying to sell him a phone clearly too large to comfortably use. A business will try to meet the consumer in this middle ground, showing that they are listening to consumer feedback – either through rhetoric, or ideally, significant, substantial change.
Society is changing
Climate change and ecological disaster is an imminent threat to our planet and everyone on it. Not a refreshing thought, and probably not even the first time you have heard such sentiment today, however a fact, nonetheless. COP26, most would argue, was not the solution humanity needs. It was a mixed bunch – an opulent selection of both dismal failures and joyful successes, yet it was certainly progress, to at least some degree. It marked yet-another turning point in society’s seemingly infinite-point-turn as we try and switch course. However, many would argue that we are still sitting in the back seat with white knuckles, heading far-too quickly into impending doom.
Again, a glass half-empty statement, but for a change, here is a half-full one: most of the society has woken up to the imminent threat of climate change. In January 2021, the United Nations Development Programme reported results of the largest-ever climate survey, and 64% of respondents (1.2 million people) in over 50 countries considered climate change an emergency.
This decade is the only chance we have left to keep climate change to non-catastrophic levels, and more people are waking up to that fact every minute. This means that yesterday was about the last chance for your brand to succeed without rapidly starting to shift its image to a greener and more sustainable one.
Where does PR come in?
Good PR is not just about visibility or managing perception — it is, at its best, a precise negotiation between cultural pulse and corporate objective. At the intersection of those two forces lies strategic opportunity: a chance to align messaging with broader societal movements while serving the long-term interest of a business or institution. In theory, it’s where values and value proposition meet. In practice, however, the constraints imposed by the client — budget, legal risk, market positioning, shareholder expectations — can reduce the PR function to a branding afterthought.
That said, the profession is at a tipping point. The climate crisis has ceased to be a matter of ethical choice; it is now a business variable. Extreme weather disrupts supply chains. Climate policy affects valuations. Consumer and investor sentiment is shifting fast. In this context, communications teams—both in-house and agency-side—have an outsized influence on how companies speak to, or avoid speaking to, environmental responsibility.
No, a press release won’t slash emissions. A social media post won’t decarbonise operations. But communication shapes the agenda. Every time a business speaks credibly about climate issues, or puts its messaging in the context of environmental urgency, it reinforces the norm that these issues matter. Not as a sidebar, but as a core part of doing business in the 21st century.
The PR industry’s job is no longer just to defend or promote. It’s to educate upward. To give sustainability language that the boardroom respects. To shift internal priorities by shifting public perception—subtly, consistently, and with strategic clarity. Done right, it’s not just content. It’s pressure. And pressure, when aligned with economic self-interest, is how transformation starts.
However, people working in PR and marketing also have another duty, and that is to try, as best as they can and within reason, to discourage greenwashing. Content creates a conversation, conversation creates a compromise, and companies try and make their image fit the ideals of the other person in that conversation. This can lead to greenwashing as a company’s shiny, new environmentally-friendly image overtakes the true substance of these credentials in a bid to look like they are compromising more than they really are. Therefore, although we must encourage this content, good PR must only enter these conversations if a client’s compromise with the public is real – and not just a marketing ploy.
Environmentally-conscious is no longer just an option or a buzzword for a particularly progressive PR agency; it is a must, a priority, and ultimately, a responsibility for us all.
(This post first appeared on the PRCA blog here).