Sustainability has become one of the defining challenges facing businesses, brands and communicators. But knowing that change is necessary is one thing. Getting people to actually change what they do is another.

That’s where communication and the power of creativity can make a difference.

AMIN ImPact, an initiative launched within AMIN EMEA is bringing agencies across the network together around a shared ambition: to use the skills and influence of advertising, marketing and communications to make sustainable choices more compelling, understandable and actionable.

The program recognizes a fundamental reality: sustainability isn’t simply a business or operational issue. It is also a communications challenge.

The idea was simple: the program is built on conviction, existing knowledge and experience, and what we do best — communication. – Sylvain Gaeng, BC Co-Creative Strategy

From Good Intentions to Meaningful Impact

The roots of ImPact stretch back several years, with AMIN EMEA agencies exploring sustainability through conversations and conferences focused on topics including transition and sustainable branding. The initiative formally launched at the Helsinki Conference in November 2024, followed by continued development and a broader introduction to the AMIN network in 2025.

At its core, ImPact asks an important question: How can agencies use what they already do best—understanding people, shaping perceptions and creating powerful stories—to help move sustainability forward?

The answer begins with recognizing that sustainable and responsible choices are not always the choices people naturally gravitate toward.

Rationally, people may understand why sustainable behavior matters. But decisions are rarely driven by rational thinking alone. Emotions, perceptions, impulses and routines all influence how people act. As the ImPact program puts it, emotions are driving decisions—and sustainable choices can sometimes feel restrictive, difficult, expensive or demanding.

That creates a unique opportunity for the communications industry.

Making Sustainability Feel Desirable

Advertisers and branders have spent decades learning how to influence behavior. ImPact aims to apply that expertise to one of the most important challenges of our time.

The program’s mission is simple but ambitious: use the knowledge, creativity and techniques of the communications industry to make sustainability an emotionally desirable decision.

That means moving beyond simply telling audiences what they should do.

Instead, ImPact encourages agencies to activate positive emotions, create meaningful narratives and build desirable connections that can influence decisions in favor of more sustainable products, services and behaviors.

It’s an approach that puts creativity at the center of sustainability—not as decoration, but as a tool for changing perceptions and inspiring action.

A Commitment that Starts Inside our Agencies

ImPact is also about making change tangible within the AMIN network itself.

The initiative’s ESG (environmental, social, and governance) Commitment asks participating agency leaders to support three key areas:

Promote informed messaging. Agencies commit to ensuring sustainability-related communications are grounded in sound research, accuracy and transparency.

Educate and empower. Agencies are encouraged to strengthen their teams’ understanding of ESG principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to bring that knowledge into their everyday work.

Offer sustainable solutions. Agencies commit to embedding sustainability into the services they provide and helping clients pursue responsible strategies that align ethical considerations with business success.

Together, these commitments recognize that meaningful progress has to happen on two fronts: within agencies and through the work agencies create for their clients.

The Business Case for Doing Better

ImPact is not positioning sustainability as something separate from business success. The program highlights the growing number of benefits associated with integrating sustainable development into corporate strategy and to attracting and retaining talent, appealing to conscious consumers and meeting the expectations of ESG-focused investors.

That makes sustainability not only a responsibility, but an opportunity for agencies and their clients to think differently about long-term value.

And for independent agencies in particular, there is an opportunity to lead.

By sharing knowledge across borders, exchanging practical examples and learning from one another, AMIN members can help turn sustainability from an abstract ambition into something agencies can actively build into their businesses and client work.

The Next Chapter: Learning, Sharing and Doing

ImPact is designed to be a movement, not a one-time initiative.

The program is encouraging AMIN agencies to make sustainable communication visible within their organizations, ensure employees understand the initiative, and showcase their involvement. Agencies are also being encouraged to share examples of how sustainable communication is making a difference with commercial clients.

That includes collecting case studies, sharing implementation examples and bringing successful approaches back to the wider network through AMIN’s global conferences.

The ImPact committee is continuing to grow, with representatives from Switzerland, South Africa and the UK and an open invitation for new members from the Americas and Asia Pacific regions.

Because the biggest opportunity may not be finding one perfect answer to the sustainability challenge. It may be creating a community where agencies can continually learn from one another, test new ideas and turn creative expertise into meaningful action.

That is the promise of ImPact: using the power of communication to make a better future not just something people understand but something they want to be part of.