Brand protection is more important than ever, with blue chip brands often getting it wrong – take Nestle USA, who had a class action lawsuit filed against them in 2019 claiming that the food giant’s supply chain involves child and slave labour.

It’s not a secret that supply chains are complex and can hide an array of issues, and it only takes one of these to come to public light for large name brands to be destroyed.

1. For brands to remain relevant, you have to follow your consumer. More than 28% of 18 to 34-year olds said they have convinced someone else to stop using a business or service because of practices they didn’t agree with compared to just 6% of those aged 65 and over, and 26% would stop using a business if it had caused an ecological problem or catastrophe.
   
   The general public, shareholders and consumers are taking a long hard look at brand’s sustainability commitments, goals and track record. It’s not just price and quality that define a consumer’s decision to use a brand.
   
   
2. Sustainability issues will impact your bottom line. Measuring your sustainability risks and creating a plan to tackle these will provide long-term value. Larger brands are building whole sustainability teams and appointing sustainability CFO’s which can be very costly.
   
   ESG and sustainability strategies should be incorporated into your main business goals, not put onto a long forgotten web page akin to ‘ticking a box’.
   
   
3. IKEA was considered a trailblazer in sustainability until June 2020, when the furniture retailer was implicated in illegal logging in Ukraine. In a report by NGO Earthsight, the wood certification scheme IKEA uses, Forest Stewardship Council, was described as an organisation that greenwashes the timber industry. It was accused of failing to catch IKEA’s sourcing of conflict wood, and act on it.
   
   Not only that, when IKEA built its “most sustainable store” yet in London in 2019, it did so on top of another sustainable store that was demolished after just 17 years of use.
   
   Greenwashing and greenwishing only exacerbate the problem. You need to set clear defined commitments and show progress towards these.