Read time: 4 mins
Written by George Goss
There is a clear and growing impetus across all industry sectors to ensure that environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities are embedded within the businesses operating in them.
Financial performance will always be the key metric for a business, but there is a need now for organisations of all types and sizes to demonstrate their people, customer and social value. This can be done by an effective and consistent ESG strategy and associated activity.
This is being driven by a number of macro factors, for instance, addressing an organisation’s carbon emissions or mitigating waste and plastic pollution.
Societal pressures are making organisations adopt more responsible behaviours. For example, efforts to address inequality and support good health and wellbeing.
These practices will undoubtedly vary between organisations, but it’s important to remember that supporting ESG does not have to be the core purpose of an organisation.
Before discussing key considerations for communicating ESG, it is essential to understand the advantages it brings to an organisation.
ESG is becoming an increasingly important component of building brand equity, positioning companies as progressive, open, responsible and trustworthy. In turn, this can create a commercial advantage – this is something we are seeing among our clients.
For example, developers in the built environment sector looking to secure investments see investors use the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor.
Beyond the built environment, investors in general are adopting ESG. A recent study from Deloitte found that 80 per cent of global investors now have sustainable investment policies in place. This is up from 20 per cent seen just five years ago.
Complementing the investor appetite, the drivers for adopting ESG also come from employees.
This can contribute significantly to brand equity and support employee/employer relationships as almost nine in ten employees say they prefer to support or work with companies who care about the same issues as they do.
In addition, we are also seeing clients who are required to highlight and provide evidence of their ESG practices to prospective customers as part of the procurement and tendering process.
As ESG is a strong marker of a more responsible organisation, clients should also consider how their activities might face added scrutiny from all potential stakeholders, not just customers.
Combined, this is a snapshot of why ESG, and embedding it into comms strategies, is important.
Given the advantages of ESG, it means that alongside exploring how to embed practices, considerations around communications are also essential. So where to start?
It’s an “always on” approach
While it can be powerful to communicate an ESG strategy and to demonstrate intentions, it cannot be treated as a one-off.
Taking a piecemeal approach to communicating ESG runs the risk of conveying that it is a tokenistic business priority. So it is essential to ensure that there is always a place for ESG in every conversation about external comms.
For example, regularly updating ESG information via owned comms channels and platforms (such as websites and social media) is a starting point.
These can cover both environmental and more community-centric metrics such as amounts raised in charity fundraising, hours of volunteering or number of local initiatives supported in a given amount of time.
Treating ESG comms as an “always on” activity also brings with it an opportunity to get internal colleagues more involved, which in turn will help foster a more positive culture around ESG.
Explore comms channel and collateral diversity
Building on regular updates around metrics, it is recommended to embrace a diverse range of channels and collateral in an ESG comms strategy.
This includes thinking beyond websites, social media and annual reports, but also considering richer content such as blogs, infographics and videos to provide a compelling narrative around ESG activities.
Subject matters in this content can include deep dives discussing why certain ESG activities are or have been, deployed and explaining the rationale. For example: why it is important for developments to lower emissions or why addressing diversity in historically non-representative sectors is a step forward.
For successful initiatives, case studies are also a powerful narrative to highlight activities, and standout achievements while further explaining what they have done to support the overall ESG agenda.
Consider celebrating milestones and achievements with the external media
Again, where there has been particular success with ESG initiatives, further external credibility can be achieved by sharing the news with journalists within your target media.
This can be either through press releases to sector-specific or regional titles if there has been a stand-out community initiative.
Like with any press release, it is important to critique the subject to ensure it is newsworthy and capture journalists’ attention as they consider whether to cover it.
With ESG announcements and initiatives, explore key questions to go into the narrative behind a press release or journalist pitch.
For example, did the initiative deliver tangible results and at what scale? Is it unique? Does it set you apart from competitors? In what other ways does it establish a precedent or set a blueprint when it comes to ESG in your sector?
Embed insight-led content
Spinning off from media announcements, this also creates an opportunity to consider developing insight-led content around ESG.
The power of insight-led content for B2B comms, combined with ESG, can add another powerful layer to an organisation’s credibility in this space and market position as a forward-thinking entity.
Given the prioritisation being placed on ESG and the subsequent need to communicate strategies and initiatives, it can be easy to rush head-first into publishing content or making announcements.
This can be risky and can dilute the value of any organisational activities, resulting in the brand value benefits of communicating ESG being missed.
So it is important to turn to PR professionals who can provide the practical external guidance to ensure an ESG comms strategy, messaging and dissemination “hits the mark”.
At Brand8 PR, we understand the critical role strategic communications plays in enhancing your brand equity. Our team of experienced professionals specialises in crafting comms strategies that highlight your business’s strengths.
Start building your ESG strategy today; contact us to discuss how we can assist you in planning ahead to gain coverage. Your brand’s reputation is our priority, and we’re here to help you build it.