Greenwashing refers to the false claims made by organisations of how environmentally sound their products or services are. This subterfuge has irked investors, consumers and regulators alike and the backlash has made it difficult for even compliant companies to have their green credentials taken seriously.
Stepping in to make the whole process more transparent is Seán Boyle, founder of UnitMode, a SaaS marketing platform that helps brands reduce greenwashing risks through responsible and compliant advertising.
“Our focus is helping companies protect their brands. This is critical if they don’t want to face consumer resentment, potential litigation and fines. We hold companies responsible for full transparency, ensuring any claims can be verified,” says Boyle who comes from an engineering background and is the former head of sustainability at Twitter (now X).
“As highlighted by the UN, greenwashing is a particular and significant barrier to climate progress,” he says. “Consumers are increasingly sceptical of environmental claims in advertising and brands are struggling to maintain trust and credibility. A recent EU study estimated that as high as 53 per cent of green claims are ‘vague, misleading or unfounded’.”
Boyle says it is not uncommon to see “sustainable” products being produced by some of the least transparent companies in the world.
“We often lack insight into whether these companies are genuinely accelerating their transition towards a sustainable economy or not,” he says. “UnitMode evaluates the overall performance of a company, the sector relevance and the greenwashing trends most commonly associated with that sector.
“While we broadly understand the impact of low-quality water, food, or air, we often fail to critically assess the low-quality advertising we consume in large doses,” Boyle adds. “During my time at Twitter, I saw first-hand a significant gap in the advertising sector with consumers struggling to distinguish between the genuine green efforts of responsible brands and those making exaggerated or misleading claims. This gap highlights the need for higher standards to correct behaviours that exacerbate climate change and also to protect consumers from greenwashing.”
The UnitMode platform prevents greenwashing by subjecting an organisation’s marketing and advertising output to scrutiny under three headings. “First, we identify a brand’s environmental credentials and benchmark them against 10,000 corporate disclosures and sector metrics,” Boyle says. “Secondly, we use an AI assistant to provide expert guidance on marketing standards, guidelines and rulings, and thirdly we analyse marketing assets to evaluate the risk of making misleading claims.”
[ Fear of ‘greenwashing’ accusations on the rise among Irish businessesOpens in new window ]
Boyle says that the process of making green claims has traditionally been manual, complex and costly. Furthermore, existing process can’t keep up with the speed at which marketing campaigns change. This disconnect leaves brands vulnerable to noncompliance, loss of consumer trust and regulatory penalties.
“Our vision is to supercharge consumer-powered climate innovation by addressing the weakest link in the climate solution arsenal: credible and transparent communication,” he says. “By enabling brands to engage with consumers credibly, UnitMode aims to position marketing as a critical agent of change in the transition to a sustainable future.”
[ Most businesses believe rivals are greenwashingOpens in new window ]
UnitMode was founded last year and investment to date has been primarily been in the form of sweat equity, with funding of around €60,000 which includes backing from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown local enterprise office and a stipend from the New Frontiers programme run jointly by IADT Media Cube and Nova UCD.
The company has recently been approved for Enterprise Ireland pre-seed funding which will kick in next year, when the company will also look for angel investors. Pilot testing is under way, with a full commercial launch slated for the fourth quarter of 2025. Potential customers are brands and marketing teams from all sectors.
The company’s logo has been designed specifically to act as a quality seal and verification portal for customers. “By interacting with the logo, consumers can easily access key details about a product or brand, offering the transparency that informed consumers and regulators demand in terms of responsible advertising,” Boyle says.
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