The playbook addresses two pressures that senior leaders usually treat separately. They are asked to deliver growth and to prove impact. Its claim is that the same work does both.
It was produced by the Institute for Real Growth with Ipsos, Ad Net Zero and Google. The stated aim is to turn sustainability commitments into competitive advantage. Its evidence base is data from more than 850 senior leaders and 50 dedicated interviews with CMOs, CSOs and sustainability experts.
Key findings
- The growth finding is about placement, not intent. Companies that outperform embed sustainability into long-term strategy and into KPIs, and they grow faster.
- The two roles are described as complementary rather than overlapping. CMOs bring consumer insight, segmentation, storytelling and scaling. CSOs bring technical credibility, measurement and accountability.
- Three payoffs are claimed for the partnership. New revenue, reduced risk, and strengthened reputation.
- The commercial opportunity is placed in the middle of the market, not at the committed end. It sits with people who are open to changing behavior when the benefits are made clear.
What the playbook contains
It opens with the business case and the internal politics around it, covering how to win stakeholder buy-in. The partnership itself is then specified operationally: roles, rituals, KPIs and operating cadence.
The practical half runs from creative work through media emissions and AI. It closes with a 90 day checklist and a set of tools and standards from the four contributing organizations.
Who it is written for
The primary audience is the CMO, the CSO and the CEO, framed around growth, resilience and reputation. It is also addressed to Strategy, Innovation, Finance and Procurement leaders, on the grounds that cross-functional execution needs them.
It is not freestanding work. The playbook builds on IRG’s Impact Study and the UNGC CMO Blueprint, and combines research, case studies and practitioner tools.
Scope and limitations
The text available here is the publisher’s overview page, not the playbook. It states the findings in headline form and directs the reader to download the document itself. Nothing on this page shows the underlying analysis.
The research design is described only by its totals. More than 850 senior leaders and 50 interviews are cited, with no sampling frame, geography, or definition of the overperformer group that grows faster. The causal direction behind that finding is asserted rather than demonstrated.
Source
This page summarises C-Suite Guide to Sustainable Growth: CMO-CSO Playbook, by Institute for Real Growth, Ipsos, Ad Net Zero, Google, January 2026.