The world’s biggest brands like Apple and Microsoft are missing billions of dollars of potential value by greenhushing: failing to communicate their sustainability achievements and progress properly. Others, like Tesla, are in debt.
Brand Finance’s Sustainability Perceptions Index is based on a study of over 150,000 respondents across 40 countries. Key outputs include:
- the role of sustainability in driving choice in each industry
- the brands that global consumers believe are most committed to sustainability
- the financial value of a reputation for sustainability
- the value at risk, or value to be gained, arising from a gap between sustainability perceptions and performance
Apple has the highest sustainability perception value of any brand, USD 33.3 billion. This huge sum is driven by a combination of Apple’s financial scale and supportive consumer perception. Actual sustainability performance aside, our research shows that consumers have clear confidence that Apple is committed enough to minimizing its negative impacts for them to continue buying and paying a premium for its products.
Microsoft has the second highest total value (USD 22.7 billion), along with the highest ‘gap value’ of any brand in the index – USD 3.2 billion. Microsoft has engaged extensively in sustainability initiatives, including committing to becoming carbon-neutral, water-positive, and zero waste by 2030. Yet its communication of its commitment and progress has been somewhat muted. The implication of this is that with a concerted effort to communicate its sustainability achievements more effectively, Microsoft could add over USD 3 billion of value for shareholders.
Microsoft is not alone in leaving value on the table in this way – 85 brands have a positive gap value of over USD100 million, totaling USD 25 billion.
Green debt for Tesla
At the other end of the spectrum is Tesla. Tesla is well known as a pioneer of electric vehicles and battery technology aiding the transition to a lower-carbon economy. This image has carried across into the sustainability perceptions held by global consumers. Tesla is seen in several countries, including Mexico and the UK, as the brand with the greatest commitment to environmental sustainability. However, the strength of this perception creates its own risk; whilst Tesla performs fairly well on perceived sustainability, it falls significantly short of peer average on sustainability performance. As a result, Tesla has USD 1.5 billion of value at risk.
Brand Finance’s Strategy & Sustainability Director, Robert Haigh, commented, “Brands have to strike a fine balance when communicating about sustainability. Consumers are now rightly attuned to potential greenwashing; in response, brands are becoming too precautionary and restrictive in their approach to sustainability communications. This greenhushing could reduce the incentive for competitors to improve their performance, slowing progress industry-wide. Just as importantly, these brands are letting finances go to waste, short-changing shareholders and other stakeholders in the process.”
