Google: How CSOs & CMOs Can Collaborate for Sustainability

Overperforming companies are treating sustainability as a strategic growth opportunity rather than a cost burden. 

The CMO–CSO Playbook, a collaborative report written by Google, Ipsos, UNGC, the ANA, the Institute for Real Growth (IRG) and Ad Net Zero, dives into why strategic collaboration is a must for measurable sustainability and business value.

The evidence shows that the strongest performers embed sustainability in long-term strategy, translate it with a marketing mindset and unlock organisational resilience, brand equity and pricing power.

Why CMO–CSO alignment drives growth

The playbook highlights a stark gap: in overperforming organisations, one in four Chief Marketing Officers report an effective partnership with the Chief Sustainability Officer, compared with roughly 13% at underperforming organisations.

Overperformers are also far more likely to prioritise long-term thinking and interdependent ways of working with 70% focusing on the long term, only 23% in underperformers, and 67% collaborating across silos. 

This partnership blends complementary strengths, marketers bring customer insight, segmentation, storytelling and scale, while sustainability leaders bring technical credibility, measurement and accountability, to convert priorities into products, services and narratives that win over the broad middle of the market. 

“Bridging the gap between marketing and sustainability isn't just good for the planet, it's a competitive advantage that can drive innovation and transformative growth,” writes Kate Brandt, CSO at Google, on LinkedIn.

“Realising this potential requires a new level of collaboration between CMOs and CSOs.”

From vision to value 

The playbook outlines that overperformers align value creation across colleagues, customers, communities and capital markets and treat sustainability as “built-in” strategy. 

Intangible assets like brand, reputation and trust now represent the bulk of enterprise value, reinforcing the need to ground decisions in stakeholder realities. 

“Our interviews about what it takes to drive such a long-term sustainable business growth strategy, what the IRG calls ‘Humanized Growth’, find that it takes enormous leadership conviction and strength and that more effective partnering is essential,” says Marc de Swaan Arons, IRG Founder, in the report.

Practical examples show how this becomes revenue.

IKEA’s Circular Hub extends product life through repair, resale and spare parts, creating a circular ecosystem, while Suncorp’s cross-stakeholder “One House to Save Many” boosts resilience to extreme weather and strengthens insurance uptake. 

Alos found in the report, Baukjen’s Pre-Loved collection adds a resale stream and enhances reputation. 

Cutting marketing footprint

Marketing’s supply chain can account for a notable share of corporate emissions, which means pressure is added onto CMO's to tackle emissions in their own sectors. 

The playbook sets immediate moves for creative production and events: reuse assets from libraries before commissioning new shoots, switch diesel generators for renewables, choose central or virtual sets to cut air travel and design sets and materials for disassembly and reuse. 

“We have found that integrating our sustainability storytelling seamlessly into our overall company communications strategy is important so that the two feel holistic to employees, franchisees, partners and customers alike,” says Marissa Jarratt, CMO and CSO of 7-Eleven, in the report.

Sustainable catering choices and durable, repairable physical assets beat single-use “swag and other physical materials."  

Quick actions include compressing files, avoiding auto-play, planning flights around network energy profiles and embedding emissions data into media planning and procurement.

The playbook urges metrics that track both business outcomes and sustainability progress, citing Haleon’s Health Inclusivity Index as a model for measuring value creation beyond sales alone.

"Authentic sustainability communication requires evidence before eloquence. Real-world conservation efforts and transparent actions create the foundation for credible messaging that builds consumer trust," the report states.

Field immersions, as used by Danone, help marketers gather human stories rooted in real impact. 

“Insights teams can serve as the bridge between Sustainability and Marketing, providing data to demonstrate benefits within specific categories and brands,” says Nathalie Alquier, CSO, Danone in the report.

“It is about data and neutral position, but beyond this, it is really about ‘human to human’, about personalities and creating trust.”

The report implies that behaviour-change campaigns work best when they lead with consumer benefits people care about, like: Colgate’s “turn off the faucet” habit-nudges or Dove’s long-running work to build confidence and challenge harmful beauty norms. 

AI can also be an accelerator if measured and used responsibly: Carbon Footprint for Google Ads aligns with the Global Media Sustainability Framework, while AI-enabled tools help teams plan lower-carbon productions and surface sustainable choices more visibly in everyday campaigns.

CMOs and CSOs who ground decisions in stakeholder insight, reimagine market futures, align strategy and incentives and organise for interdependence can scale sustainable choices and deliver durable growth.