Continuing the Family Tradition of Climate Work

For June Sauvaget, climate work is something of a family tradition. Her mother, Kazuko Watanabe, spent a large part of her career working on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol—the world’s first international agreement requiring state signatories to curb greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to slow global warming. That reality meant that Sauvaget—one of Adweek's 2023 Sustainability Honorees—was raised in a household with a high level of knowledge on climate issues. Her mother’s roles at the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research were the backdrop for Sauvaget’s childhood—quietly seeding a desire to, eventually, leverage her own skills to protect the global commons. To begin with, though, Sauvaget’s interests led her in a different direction. After studying business, she embarked on a 20-year marketing career that would span the beauty, fashion, music and fin-tech industries—ultimately landing her within the world of renewable energy in December 2021 as chief marketing officer at solar energy company SunPower. “When the opportunity [with SunPower] presented itself, I was like, ‘Well, this is kind of my moment,’” Sauvaget said. “I've worked on amazing brands, but nothing is more meaningful or fulfilling than doing something that actually makes a difference in the world.” When Watanabe retired at 72, she told her daughter that she had “a lot of unfinished business,” Sauvaget recalled. Stepping into the role at SunPower felt like a chance to carry her mother’s baton a bit further. In a moment of kismet, the SunPower job turned out to be more than an opportunity to work on the clean energy transition. It’s also a marketing role that incorporates many of the different pieces of Sauvaget’s own career. (L. to r.) SunVault, the solar battery storage system for homeowners; high-efficiency SunPower solar panels. Dreamed up amid the oil crisis of the 1970s, SunPower was officially incorporated in 1985. Since then, it’s been largely focused on utility and industrial-scale implementation of solar technology. 'Category-building' In 2020, SunPower split from the manufacturing side of the business to focus on residential solar and storage. That requires a different kind of marketing—and something that Sauvaget has a plethora of experience in. “I've worked on a lot of what I would call ‘category-building,’” Sauvaget explained, pointing to her nearly four-and-a-half years at Spotify, where she had to build customer bases in new, often international, markets. That, she noted, isn’t so different from expanding a new energy source across a patchwork, state-by-state, regulatory landscape. I've worked on amazing brands, but nothing is more meaningful or fulfilling than doing something that actually makes a difference in the world.June Sauvaget, CMO, SunPower Her tenure ushered in back-to-back quarters of record customer growth for SunPower last year from Q2 to Q4, helping the team stay hyper-focused on the customer experience during 2022 by improving digital tools and educational content to guide people through the process of adding solar to their homes. All in all, SunPower added 83,000 customers in 2022 while driving $1.7 billion in revenue—a number that represents 53% growth year over year. Also on Sauvaget's watch, the company launched partnerships in 2022 with Ikea and General Motors. SunPower's products will be featured in some Ikea stores, allowing shoppers to start the process of adding solar to their homes from the furniture giant's showroom floor. Through the partnership with GM, which named SunPower a preferred electric vehicle (EV) charger installation provider and its exclusive solar provider last year, EV owners will be able to use their cars as backup batteries in case of an outage, using bidirectional charging. “I've [also] worked on a lot of disruptor brands—knocking down industries, challenging the convention, challenging the status quo,” Sauvaget said. That also applies to Spotify, in addition to her work at fin-tech startup Brex, localizing Gap Japan and taking beauty brand Bare Escentuals global. With Sauvaget at the helm, SunPower is poised to launch a new brand identity later this year—one that focuses on translating home solar and storage to the tastes and values of local markets while highlighting the increasing benefits of clean energy as an investment in the future. “This choice you make has a direct line into the future of how your children are going to live,” Sauvaget said. In a world facing a complex climate reality, that’s a heartening prospect—offering a clear, tangible action. “We want that hope and optimism to come through the brand.” This story is part of Adweek’s The State of Sustainability digital package, which spotlights climate-focused marketing solutions across the beauty, experiential and media spaces, and examines how an industry that was built to drive consumption is adapting to reduce its impact. Adweek’s 2023 Sustainability Honorees Are Setting Advertising’s Climate Agenda

Sustainability Honors

For SunPower CMO June Sauvaget, Protecting the Environment Is a Family Tradition

The Adweek 2023 Sustainability Honoree is tackling her mother's 'unfinished business'

Kathryn Lundstrom

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Kathryn Lundstrom