The Ellen McArthur Foundation, and Kantar, the world's leading marketing data and analytics company, today publish a playbook which demystifies the circular economy and illuminates the role of marketers in accelerating the circular transformation of their businesses. Marketing playbook for a circular economy is the result of a collaborative research project which explored how marketers are capitalising on the competitive advantage that circularity can offer.
Kantar data finds that 64% of people believe businesses have a responsibility to solve climate and environmental problems , so are looking to brands to find ways to eradicate waste and pollution. And while the linear ‘take-make-waste’ approach has become the norm, circular business models – such as reuse, repair, and rental – allow brands to differentiate themselves, strengthen customer loyalty, and unlock new revenue streams. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that the circular economy could generate up to $4.5 trillion in economic benefits by 2030 .
The report maps out four pathways for marketers to catalyse change:
1. Create scalable circular solutions
Marketers are the best people in their business to understand their brand, how their customers think and act, and how that shapes market trends. That means they can identify circular market opportunities and develop viable products and solutions that not only address climate and biodiversity challenges but also resonate with potential buyers.
Anne Joly, Sustainability Senior Director, ASEAN and South Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company remarked on the role of marketing in developing circular offers: “Strategic marketing skills are critical to boost the adoption of circular practices – in particular, understanding consumer centricity to influence behaviour for circularity, design thinking in problem solving, storytelling, and connection to the wider business goals.”
2. Drive demand for circular propositions
To normalise circular behaviours, marketers need to create a demand for circular solutions. By embedding these principles into core brand messaging and creative they can keep circular values front and centre to help drive long-term change.
Toby Foy, Head of Brand at eBay UK, explains how the platform partnered with Love Island to position pre-loved fashion as a credible, stylish, and cost-effective alternative to fast fashion:
“We wanted to drive broad adoption of pre-loved shopping behaviour, and by partnering with Love Island – an iconic show synonymous with fast fashion – we were able to create a cultural tension that made pre-loved fashion exciting and relevant to a mass audience.”
3. Make circular behaviours irresistible
Change can be hard, even when we want to make better choices. Marketers are in a perfect place to remove the barriers that stop consumers from adopting more circular behaviours, because they have a deep understanding of what makes people tick. In sectors like white goods, electronics and clothing, a circular strategy can encourage people to take on a ‘stewarding’ role over their purchases to keep them in use for as long as possible. Initiatives like repair, resale and product-as-a-service models can also be used to build loyalty by bringing buyers back to the brand as they care for their products.
IKEA's CIRKULÄR initiative used financial rewards, humour and green imagery to encourage customers to buy and sell used IKEA items, incentivising people to adopt a more circular approach to consumption. For IKEA, this decoupled growth from producing new items.
4. Hardwire circular KPIs
Delivering circular outcomes can be challenging for marketers who have inherited linear metrics focused on short-term growth and sales. By integrating circular measures into brand performance, marketers can over time build a clear picture of how circularity is positively contributing to broader objectives like brand growth, resilience, and climate action.
Nicole Rigas, Vice President of Marketing at start-up EON, said the firm is shifting towards measuring the “lifetime value” of the products they sell: “We will measure customer lifetime value in the future because each product won’t just be sold once, it will be sold a number of times and have services embedded like repair or upgrades that enable you to generate more revenue from the same item.”
Commenting, Jonathan Hall, Managing Partner of Kantar’s Sustainable Transformation Practice, said: “In too many businesses circularity is viewed as the responsibility of operational and sustainability teams. It’s too late for that kind of thinking: sustainability has to be on everyone’s agenda and marketers shouldn’t underestimate the positive impact they can make. They are the voice of the customer as circular solutions are developed and can advocate for change in their business and supply chains. The playbook is a rich source of insight for marketers who want to learn about the part they can play in accelerating this transformation in their businesses.”
Andres Oliva Lozano, Senior Research Analyst at the Ellen McArthur Foundation, added: “A circular economy provides better value for customers, competitiveness and business resilience, all whilst tackling climate change and allowing biodiversity to thrive. Circular solutions can transform the relationship between brands and customers, moving from transactional to more meaningful and value-driven exchanges that extend well beyond the initial point of sale. The circular economy needs marketers to use their skills to realise this opportunity in their businesses.”
You can read Marketing playbook for a circular economy here and watch on demand the “Seizing the circular opportunity: a guide for marketers” webinar for practical insights and real-life examples from Kantar and the Ellen McArthur Foundation’s experts and guest speakers.
About the Ellen McArthur Foundation
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is an international charity whose mission is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy in order to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. Founded in 2010, we work with our Network of private and public sector decision-makers, as well as academia, to build capacity, explore collaborative opportunities, and design and develop circular economy initiatives and solutions. Increasingly based on renewable energy, a circular economy is driven by design to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials at their highest value, and regenerate nature, to create resilience and prosperity for business, the environment, and people. Further information: www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org.