Wim Vermeulen on the future of marketing

In our March Catherine Archer, founder of Brand Archery and former CEO of JING, interviews Wim Vermeulen, partner at BUBKA and author of Speak Up Now!, to explore the future of marketing.

This discussion was a reminder of the important leadership role that business has in helping us all to adapt to and mitigate the climate emergency. When politicians are incapable of thinking beyond 4 to 5-year election cycles, family run businesses are thinking in terms of 5 generations.

Wim shared that we've gone beyond the phases of moral duty and regulation, when it comes to climate we're now in the risk management phase. In this phase demonstrating our credibility is more important than ever. We have to show that we're not on the side of misinformation and that we are responsible.

We also discussed storytelling and language, activating the silent majority and modeling the potential for the most effective messaging.

We covered the 4 barriers to shifting demand towards planet-friendly products.

1) Affordability - you need to aim for the 90%, not the 10% to create real impact

2) Knowledge - people don't know what 'sustainable' means, so find a simple way to communicate real benefits

3) Convenience - make it easy, they don't want to work for it

4) Lack of action - 'don't ask me to save the world when politicians and businesses have created the problem'

Wim said marketers have to talk to the sustainability leaders in their organisations. They have to learn from them. And then show the CEO how marketing can contribute by identifying new value that can be created with more sustainable products and services.

And he left us with a note of optimism, saying in the future 'there is plenty of room for lighthouse brands'. Wim believes that the language of hope will be incredibly important and we will want to buy from businesses that give us hope.

Wim’s work focuses on the 'Demand Shift', examining how corporate sustainability drives business growth, enhances brand value, and inspires consumers toward less but more sustainable consumption.

In 2023, his contributions were recognized by the marketing industry with the Silver Marketing Leadership Award, and his latest book, Speak Up Now: Marketing in Times of Climate Crisis, received the PIM Literature Award in the Netherlands.

In 2024, BUBKA was awarded Agency of the Year in the Positive Impact category, and its Net Credibility Score (NCS) research work won an AMMA award.

In the conversation Wim mentions his recent collaboration ‘We, the hopeful’ about the story of 2050, which you can view here.

You can watch the full replay below or listen to the podcast version here.