The playbook addresses the working relationship between the chief marketing officer and the chief sustainability officer. Its context is the politicization of ESG and diversity work, against a position that inaction is increasingly not an option.
The evidence comes from a partnership in which Ipsos completed 20 CSO interviews and IRG spoke to industry experts. The framing is a move from the what to the how.
Key findings
- Effective partnership between the two roles is rare even at the top end. A very or highly effective partnership with the CSO is reported by 25 percent of overperformers and 13 percent of underperformers.
- The first barrier is conflicting targets. CMOs are driven by sales, growth, and engagement, while CSOs are focused on impact and sustainability goals.
- The second is time horizon. Interviewees describe the difficulty of developing joint projects that deliver short-term wins and long-term sustainability impact at the same time.
- The third is a lack of education and shared language, stated bluntly from both sides. Marketers are said not to understand what sustainability is about, and sustainability people are said to think marketing is just a way to push products.
- The fourth is fear. Greenwashing concerns leave the marketing team scared to say the wrong thing, and one interviewee describes CSOs looking down on marketing and feeling morally superior.
The five recommendations
The first is to integrate sustainability into core business strategy. The two roles should collaborate to embed it into the company’s DNA, brand strategy, and product development, reflected in joint KPIs, shared objectives, and integrated measurement frameworks.
The second is to foster cross-functional collaboration and communication: break down silos with cross-functional teams, establish a common language, run regular joint planning sessions, and encourage field visits and direct interactions to build mutual understanding and empathy. The playbook attaches a figure on working interdependently, 7 percent against 67 percent.
The third is to align sustainability with brand narratives and consumer expectations, developing authentic narratives that resonate with consumers while aligning with brand purpose, using consumer insights to inform initiatives, and translating technical data into compelling stories.
The fourth is to leverage technology and data for innovation, collaborating on AI and data analytics to identify sustainability challenges, drive innovation, and future-proof business models, and developing localized sustainability data to unlock market-specific opportunities.
The fifth is to build long-term resilience through collaborative planning: joint scenario planning for future sustainability trends, flexible strategies that adapt to changing regulations, and long-term roadmaps aligned with business goals and stakeholder expectations.
What sustainable marketing looks like in practice
On storytelling, the playbook asks marketers to translate sustainability reporting into consumer language, align sustainability to brand narratives with authentic stories, and normalize sustainable lifestyles regardless of industry.
On the marketing supply chain, it asks for representation in media and advertising, for ESG to be considered in selecting agencies, for a decreased carbon footprint, and for the function to lead the way in ethical content.
On capability, it asks for sustainable marketing frameworks, stakeholder thinking embedded in strategy, sustainability experts embedded in the marketing function, and cross-functional mentorship and education.
The blueprint the playbook works against has five pillars: growth strategy, brand strategy, innovation across products, services and experiences, communication, advertising and media, and partnerships and collaboration.
Scope and limitations
The qualitative base is 20 CSO interviews completed by Ipsos plus expert conversations, and the playbook notes that region matters and that leadership and governance are critical, without breaking the findings down by either.
Source
This page summarises CMO-CSO Playbook, by IRG, University of Oxford Saïd Business School, 2025.