Justin Goldsberry remembers a client who thought it had cracked the code on sustainability. Out went the glossy annual reports and in came sleek digital dashboards. The strategy made the leadership team proudly proclaim they had gone “all green.” For a while, the story stuck. With great optics and fresh messaging, the client leaned into solving their sustainability problem.
But then came the questions. What about the massive energy draw of cloud data centers? What about the environmental cost of e-waste from outdated devices? Suddenly, the story didn’t feel so clean.
“That’s when it hit them,” says Goldsberry, founder and CEO of Goldsberry Management Group LLC and Goldsberry Equity Partners. “Sustainability isn’t about one big switch or a marketing tagline—it’s about transparency, integrity and an ongoing commitment to improvement.”
The lesson is that one more brand is learning the hard way. In a time where greenwashing is easy to spot and call out, companies can no longer afford to treat sustainability as window dressing. Today, the brands thriving are ones that integrate eco-friendly marketing practices that are authentic, measurable and, most importantly, believable.
For Goldsberry, the danger lies not just in overstating progress, but in underestimating how savvy audiences have become. In the B2B world, buyers and stakeholders often know more about sustainability than the brands selling to them. “It’s not enough to talk the talk or appeal to emotions. The most effective approach is to create thought leadership that’s educational but also demonstrates authenticity. That could be blogs, white papers, case studies—anything that shows measurable progress rather than vague sustainability promises.”
He recalls how quickly reputational damage spreads when buyers uncover fabrications. “The worst outcome is when someone realizes you’ve overstated your sustainability story. It only takes one LinkedIn post or industry whisper, and suddenly that damage is everywhere. Credibility is hard to win back once you’ve lost it.”
The antidote is transparency. Even when progress is incremental, honesty wins. “B2B consumers respect a brand that says, ‘We’re working toward sustainability’ and shows a roadmap for improvement,” Goldsberry says. “They’d rather see small but verifiable steps than bold claims that don’t hold up.”
That philosophy shaped one of his most successful campaigns. During a recent “Earth Month,” Goldsberry led a project highlighting how travel and expense policies could reduce carbon footprints. The campaign combined data, storytelling and third-party validation, generating nearly 35,000 impressions on LinkedIn and 700-plus article views.
More importantly, it sparked conversations about what “essential travel” really means. “It resonated because it was authentic,” Goldsberry recalls. “The story was rooted in lived experience, reinforced with trusted data, and shared as practical advice. That’s the kind of sustainability marketing that sticks.”
Want more insights like this? Dive into The Noodle, Vol. 15 Issue 6 for fresh perspectives on marketing, technology, and creativity. Read the full issue here.
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