The face of incentives has changed enormously across the last few years. Whilst luxury trips to far flung destinations are still an enticing reward, many planners are looking for ways incentives can better align to their overall CSR policies. Itineraries are now just as likely to include experiences that give back to the environment or local community as high-end luxury treats. The three P’s (people, planet, profit) are front and centre for organisations, and this increased focus on sustainability is filtering through to their events strategy.

Whilst event planners strive to create more sustainable incentives, so often, the story around their environmental decisions is being left untold. Throughout the lifecycle of an incentive, there are many opportunities to involve, inform and educate attendees about your eco-friendly choices. By incorporating the sustainability strategy into your supporting communications programme, you can far better showcase your eco-credentials and get attendees on board with your green agenda.

Communicate the purpose from the offset

When launching your communications campaign, it’s important to incorporate your sustainable decisions from the offset. By taking your attendees on the journey with you from the start, you can better highlight your brand mission while also helping them adopt more sustainable behaviours. Begin by telling the story of why you’re making a shift in the incentive format, then showcase where more eco-friendly decisions have been made, such as the choice of destination, travel options and ground programme. If there were things you were unable to make more sustainable, don’t be afraid to highlight these too, so your attendees are fully informed on every decision.

This will also involve benchmarking your incentive emissions from the start, to help you assign targets for carbon reduction in following years. Without this data, it’s impossible to measure where improvements can be made. 

Highlight the green aspects of your incentive destination

If you’ve chosen Amsterdam as your destination due to its green transport credentials or Helsinki because of its environmentally friendly certified hotel rooms, then make sure to highlight these reasons to your audience. Don’t expect them to know the ‘why’ around your destination choice, so tell them! Make this part of the incentive story and weave it though every aspect of your comms campaign that brings the destination, venues, and itinerary to life. It doesn’t have to be laboured but highlighting the sustainability credentials in video content, graphics and on your event website helps build a picture. 

Communicate your CO2 savings

Did you know that business class emits three times more carbon than economy due to the room the seats take up in the plane (Reuters)? Therefore, moving forward we’re bound to see a rise in incentive destinations accessible by rail, shorter travel times or companies opting for economy class when travelling long haul. Calculate the total CO2 emissions saved through these types of changes and make it a selling point in your communications.

Greener gifting

One area of incentives that has seen a significant shift is the role of gifting. Whereas before, high-ticket items such as branded sunglasses or handbags might have been the norm, planners are now sourcing ethical items to gift. If you’re going to an effort to source eco-friendly luxury gifts, make sure to communicate why it’s ethical, such as an detailing the story behind the product, where it’s made, who made it and the ingredients. Ideally source something by local artisans that also helps small businesses.

Highlight the credentials of F&B suppliers

If you are making your first steps to a greener incentive, then menu choices can be a key way to make a big impact. It’s also worth highlighting in your sustainability story. Has the menu been sourced within 20 miles? Is there a focus on plant-based alternatives? Is there a zero-waste policy from the caterer? These are all excellent points to consider in your planning and your communications. Of course, how you communicate your menu should matter too. If you must print, then use environmentally friendly inks on sustainable paper or card. Better still go digital and use QR codes by the dishes that bring up menus on your event app or website. Perhaps even consider a video going behind the scenes of the chef, local farm or caterer.

Communicate the sustainable legacy of the event

When designing an incentive, it doesn’t just end at the point attendees travel home, there’s so much opportunity to extend the event. And a sustainable story can be woven into this legacy. Having attendees take part in a CSR activity that will really help the community is a story worth reminding them of in the future. 

Where to communicate your sustainability measures

When communicating your eco-friendly changes, aim to create a story throughout your event. You want to feel that if an attendee joined at any point in the incentive, they would still understand your mission in this area. Therefore, that’s communicating it at every touchpoint throughout your incentive.

Consider including sustainability comms in your:

-       Event website

-       Email marketing

-       Video campaigns

-       Teaser campaigns

-       Post-event comms

-       F&B Menus

-       Event app

-       Room gifts supporting communications

Here at The Collective by BCD M&E, we have looked at many different aspects of how sustainability becomes part of our clients’ incentive stories. This year alone we have moved a number of trips to more sustainable destinations. We have tied in volunteering and CSR as part of trips and focused on locally sourced produce and activities to reduce the carbon footprint of events. The import thing though was to ensure delegates understood these changes and choices from the outset. That’s why it was an integral part of the messaging from day one.