It is safe to say that they are more than only consultants. TSA is an all-around player: they have founded a foundation, they regularly organize events around climate and sustainability and they create a podcast in their own recording studio. With the foundation, NL CO2 Neutraal, they offer a network to companies to motivate and inspire each other to reach their internal sustainable goals. The foundation organizes events that are interactive, innovative, and fun.
But first of all, The Sustainable Advisors (TSA) is a consultancy firm.
They have a clear focus on sustainability. Their three main focus areas are CO2, CSR, and the energy transition. Within these focus areas, multiple services are included, such as the CO2 reduction performance ladder, the fastest-growing tool within the Netherlands. For large companies, this tool is very interesting since it can provide an exemption from the Energy Efficiency Directive. Despite this, their main target groups are municipalities and SMEs.
TSA as a licensed partner
TSA is not only an all-around player, but they are also an innovative company: they were the launching licensed partner of The 2B Collective. The first consultancy company that believed in the power of our product and saw it as a valuable addition to its service portfolio. From 2022 January 1st, TSA started using the platform actively by adding The Sustainable Game to their set of services.
How do they implement the platform?
The approach The Sustainable Advisors uses aims to reach as many people as possible, in a feasible manner. They keep their game feasible and affordable for SMEs by offering standard challenges, meaning that there is no customization of the content in the platform. Of course, it is also possible for companies to receive a customized program. Secondly, TSA uses a mix-and-match approach. This gives clients the opportunity to compile their own selection of challenges, based on their needs.
Lessons from the first 2 years
Over the past 2 years, TSA has learned multiple lessons about optimizing its practices related to The Sustainable Game.
Lesson 1: know your target group
Over the past 2 years, the target group of The Sustainable Game has been narrowed down. Sophie Wijnen, consultant at The Sustainable Advisors, says: “Targeting companies who are intrinsically motivated concerning sustainability is important since those really want and need it.” Although the game brings many benefits to the client in terms of mindset and behavior changes, it does not directly lead to any extra certificates or compliance with laws and regulations. Therefore, TSA makes sure to approach potential clients that are intrinsically motivated and are already working on sustainability with either their products or services or in their business operations.
Lesson 2: communication takes time
When implemented in a company, participation in the game is voluntary for employees. To make sure that many of them will participate, communication prior to the launch of the game is crucial. However, communicating clearly and effectively about the game and program has proven to take some time. Therefore, starting well in advance with the internal promotion of the game is vital. Additionally, scheduling a generous amount of communication moments is also fundamental for a successful run. Keeping people informed will keep them engaged, which is necessary for a high participation rate and the success of the game.
TSA's Approach to gain name recognition
Building name recognition is something The Sustainable Advisors have done very successfully, by using a multichannel promotion approach. As mentioned previously, TSA has a recording studio where they produce a podcast. This podcast indirectly causes brand promotion by reaching a new audience. Furthermore, to explain The Sustainable Game in a fun and effective manner, TSA made demo and instruction videos. These videos are displayed on the website and are regularly shared on the consultancy's LinkedIn page. Due to the fact that gamified e-learning is still very new, and people are unfamiliar with it, this kind of promotion proves to be profitable.
Besides innovative communication and promotion, The Sustainable Advisors have used their game creatively as well, by applying it as a warm-up for events and during live workshops. As a warm-up for events the game already engages the visitors beforehand, by letting them play The Sustainable Game. In a fun and interactive way, they inform and prepare the visitors for their events. Implementing the game within workshops is also a practice TSA has experimented with success since it makes a session interactive and lets participants share thoughts and opinions actively.
Goals and future
Thus, by being creative and innovative over the past 2 years, TSA has been able to create great name recognition for itself. The next challenge is to attract and gain more new clients to reach their ambitious target for this year: to do 15 runs of The Sustainable Games for different clients. The first project in line is at the municipality of Breda and the game starts after the summer.
Also, TSA’s plans to add a new challenge to the already existing range. They established a collaboration with another licensed partner, PHI Factory, to create this new challenge. Together TSA and PHI aim to create a game concerning the circular economy and procurement. This is really exciting to see since sharing knowledge and challenges is something that the 2B Community pleads for.