Sustainable Marketing Foundations

Marketing is at the heart of our economy. It shapes how we spend, what we choose and how we think. Such influence, if directed effectively, has the potential to play a pivotal role in shaping a more sustainable future. This self-paced online course explores the sustainability crisis, the impact of marketing on our society and planet, and how to switch the narrative and embed sustainability into your strategies and campaigns.

This course delves into all aspects of the marketing ecosystem, from creative ideation and planning through to technologies and supply chains, exploring the opportunities within each stage to transition to more sustainable solutions. Through real-world case studies, examples of best practice and interactive materials, you’ll learn key concepts, from marketing’s footprint to the marketing brainprint and how marketing activity not only has a physical impact on the environment but can also shape societal attitudes towards the climate crisis.

Learn how to identify greenwashing and develop a considered approach to sustainability reflecting on the role you and your team play in influencing your organisation and transforming the markets in which you operate. This course equips marketers with the knowledge and practical tools to navigate the sustainability transformation and play a critical role in rewiring the economy and reshaping the narratives that underpin the current sustainability crisis.

Through a series of six modules, this course explores marketing’s role in sustainable business transformation, equipping professionals with the knowledge and skills to embed sustainable practices into their campaigns:

• Production, consumption and marketing. Explore the depth of unsustainability across socio-economic systems and the level of transformation needed.

• The ambition of sustainable marketing. Understand the sizeable shift needed in marketing and related sectors to reach sustainable outcomes

• Analyse footprint, brainprint and greenwashing. Examine key concepts, risks and opportunities surrounding marketing in the context of sustainability.

• Change your influence for good. Develop an understanding of the necessary changes to influence, inspire and nurture individual and collective awareness, connection and action for a sustainable future.

• Build strategies and communications. Analyse the theories, models, and resources that can be used to inform a sustainable marketing plan.

• Plan for action. Develop a personal action plan to turn commitments and theoretical principles into meaningful action for positive impact.

This course equips you with the knowledge and confidence to develop marketing strategies with sustainable goals and messaging at their heart. By completing this course, you will:

• understand the sustainability crisis, the role of the economy, sustainable production, consumption and behaviours, and systems thinking

• explore marketing’s history, ecosystem and role in sustainability before unpacking the ambition of sustainable and purpose-driven marketing and how new systems emerge

• explore key sustainable marketing concepts such as marketing’s footprint, AI marketing and the challenge of greenwashing

• explore marketing’s leadership role as a meaning maker in society and better understand the depth of its influence in driving social change

• gain a practical understanding of how purpose, scientific evidence, levers of change and measurements can be used to build new marketing strategy, and how greenwashing regulation should be understood and actively used in your day-to-day work

• create a personal action plan to drive sustainability change.

This course is designed for professionals at all career stages and in all areas of marketing, communications and public relations, including in-house, agency, advertising, brand, publisher and technology.

The course would also benefit businesses and business leaders across all industries and geographies, who want to understand how to influence sustainable change across the socio-economic system.

This course offers a flexible and engaging learning experience, allowing you to complete 6-8 hours of content at your own pace over a 12-month period. You’ll progress through a series of modules featuring a mix of videos, case studies, interactive graphics and self-assessments designed to make learning both practical and immersive. With a focus on multi-format content, the course ensures that each concept is reinforced in ways that suit different learning styles.

As you navigate the course, you’ll engage with real-world examples of sustainable marketing practices, helping you connect theory to practice. Regular quizzes and assessments provide ongoing opportunities to test your understanding, while supplementary reading and optional content deepen your knowledge.

At the end of the course, you’ll develop a personal action plan, equipping you with concrete steps to integrate sustainability strategies into your role within your organisation. Upon successful completion, you’ll receive a digital badge from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, marking your achievement.

Course licences are valid for 12 months giving you and your team the flexibility to revisit the content as needed even after completing it. For organisations, the admin portal allows you to distribute licences easily and to track your team’s progress and gain aggregated feedback, supporting future learning strategies.

Providing a foundational understanding of the role marketing can play in driving sustainable action, this course is designed for marketing professionals in any industry and at any stage of their career with no specific prior knowledge required.