06 December, 2024

Buying into sustainability - a greener approach to retail brand activation

- Sustainability is now a core expectation in retail brand activation, driven by consumer values and global climate goals.

- B Corp status and carbon accountability are becoming standard benchmarks for responsible retail brands.

- How Pearce Signs integrates sustainability into every project, using closed-loop materials, repurposing, and life cycle thinking.

- Recent Pearce Signs brand rollouts (e.g., NatWest, Motorparks) prove sustainable solutions can be both cost-effective and impactful.

- How ESG transparency and measurement set us apart, with full carbon disclosures and a no-greenwashing approach.

- Ongoing client partnerships enable long-term, evolving sustainability, combining innovation with environmental responsibility.

Pearce Signs Group Managing Director Paul Shilling explains how the company is now leading the way with sustainable brand activation projects for a growing portfolio of retail clients.

The need for all retailers to be sustainable is now a given. The global agenda around climate change and environmental responsibility has not only transformed the way we work, but created a whole new language and dialogue around the subject.

A common part of our conversations with retail clients on sign rollout programmes now includes everyday terms such as Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, Net Zero objectives, Science-Based Target Initiatives (SBTIs) and Carbon Disclosure Programmes.

And now being a B Corp certified business is the next big thing.

Brands as diverse as Farrow & Ball, Seasalt, Jamie Oliver Food Group, Innocent Drinks and Patagonia are just some of the growing roll call of names that are proudly declaring their B Corp credentials. Why? Simple. Because it’s a signal to their customers and investors that they take their environmental and social responsibilities seriously.

Sustainability isn’t just an item on the agenda, it is the agenda.

Indeed, one of the key drivers in the retail sector is a growing awareness among consumers that they want to support retail businesses that share their values.

Look no further than consumer watchdog organisation Which? Its guide to the UK's most sustainable supermarkets provides more than sufficient evidence of how consumers are not just conscious about sustainability, but active stakeholders in key decisions around where they spend their money.

Our environmental credentials are as important as our track record in global brand activation.

Increasingly, the projects that we win are based not just around our design, engineering and brand implementation, but by our expertise in devising solutions with sustainability at their heart, as our ambitious vision for sustainability blog explains.

A great example of this is our recent project for UK retail banking brand NatWest where we were challenged to prove the point that a sustainable signage rollout could use closed loop materials and repurpose existing signage, and actually be more cost effective than using entirely new products.

This project also gave us a great opportunity to bring our design engineering and prototype expertise to the fore, and to explore the durability and weathering properties of different materials before committing to full manufacture.

As part of the process we also went back to our supply chain to explore material innovations and worked on a due diligence exercise around the environmental claims around their recycled content.

Also, in a tight timescale project for Motorparks, whose strapline is “Drive to Net Zero”, we worked with them on a value engineering exercise to demonstrate that both sustainability and value for money could be achieved on a rebranding rollout of their dealerships.

As brand identities evolve, wastage and the prospect of landfill from defunct designs is a significant issue.

Sustainability is our driving agenda for the simple reason that, aside from our own green ambitions, we want to enable our clients to achieve theirs.

There’s no hiding from the fact that, in the constantly evolving world of brand implementation, wastage and the prospect of materials ending up in landfill, is a genuine possibility - and on a major scale too. So we can’t let this happen.

When we’re planning a major brand activation for a supermarket chain, for example we’re deeply conscious that a property estate of 500-800 stores (and even more) requires a mammoth quantity of materials, all of which now have to be considered as part of a whole life cycle project.

We used to talk about throwing things away. But we all have to be of the mindset that there is no 'away', and that the only sustainable options are 'recycling and repurposing'.

Retailers choose to work with us - not just because we’re innovative around sustainability but through how we measure it

One of the many strengths of choosing to work with Pearce is that we bring decades (and centuries) of engineering and design knowhow to the resolution of numerous different challenges.

Our work on prototyping different materials, and exploring the effective use of LED lighting is only part of the solution. As we drive our sustainability programme forward, we want to be at the forefront of metrics and evaluation by:

Committing to full carbon disclosures around the materials we use
Reviewing the processes we deploy to make them (including our carbon footprint around our logistics)
Leading the way on transparency and accountability - “if it’s measurable, it’s mentionable”. All the rest is greenwashing, or greenhushing.

Also, by continuing to work with clients as an ongoing retainer means we can help evolve a brand sustainably by enhancing our designs, and bringing new ideas to the table. Our work with Tesco is a great example of how our in-depth design intelligence around their brand and our wider knowledge of their business enables us to come up with new value added innovations, either for external signage or internal wayfinding.

Retailers choose to work with us - not just because we’re innovative around sustainability but through how we measure it

If you want to bring sustainability into your retail supply chain, we should be talking

Ultimately, everything we’re doing around sustainability starts with our own best practice. In the coming months we’ll be rolling out our ambitious vision to lead the way on full supply chain accountability around our carbon footprint, covering Scope 1, 2 and 3, plus carbon disclosure metrics.

This is as much about us, as it is our clients. And, as we’ve demonstrated with recent projects, we now have the empirical evidence, plus the value engineering expertise, to bring measurable sustainable outcomes to any brand activation.

But, we never forget that, in the retail arena, one of the key elements of any successful retail brand is customer engagement and excitement. All of this, and more, can be achieved with the added kudos of being environmentally responsible too.

Paul Shilling

Group Managing Director

So let’s talk.

Call us today to start a conversation about your (sustainable) retail brand activation project.

0115 940 9620 or email hello@pearcesigns.com