Today’s consumers are more aware of their purchasing decisions’ impact on the environment, their communities, and society. We want to feel good about the companies we do business with, and, increasingly, we expect those businesses to be taking the lead, or at the very least playing a role, in addressing the world’s most pressing problems.
Sustainability started as an environmental term but has taken on a broader meaning. Truly sustainable brands are purpose-driven beyond profit, prioritizing well-being and equity across their own organizations and beyond. They set goals based on core values and hold themselves accountable as they work to achieve them.
It’s Good Business
As more companies establish sustainable business practices, more data is available to evaluate their impact, not just on their communities, employees, and the planet, but on the companies themselves. From consumer affinity to talent recruitment, retention, and productivity, studies consistently show that doing good is good for business.
In its 2023 Consumer Insights Survey, PWC reported that while inflation is driving consumers to cut costs, there is one exception: supporting good companies. “Consumers have displayed a willingness to put their money where their values are.”
“More than 70% said that ‘to some or to a great extent’ they’re willing to pay more for food produced by local farmers and for goods made by a company known for ethical practices, such as supporting human rights or avoiding animal testing.”
That pervasive, socially conscious decision-making also affects the job market. The generations entering and populating today’s workforce are looking at employers’ business practices with a more critical eye.
In a 2021 Deloitte survey, 49% of Gen-Zs and 44% of millennials said that they made career choices based on their personal ethics, and a Yale School of Management survey found that 51% of business students would take lower pay if the company is environmentally responsible.
Several other studies note a direct correlation between sustainable practices and employee satisfaction and productivity. The business case is so compelling that lenders and investors are evaluating companies’ sustainability and socially responsible practices.
Gartner research found that an astounding 85% of investors considered ESG factors in their investments in 2020, and 91% of banks monitor ESG performance of investments.
Getting Started
Whenever the word brand enters the conversation, all eyes turn to the marketing department. It isn’t unusual for marketing to initiate a sustainability conversation because they want to tell the story and demonstrate good corporate citizenship.
Communication is vital, but it starts with genuine company commitment.
Ultimately, leadership needs to drive the bus and bring everyone on board. The journey can begin with answering two key questions:
- What does our company stand for?
- Where can we have the greatest impact?
It’s tempting to think you can arrive at the answers with a few brainstorming sessions around the conference table. But to create a road map, you need to see where you are right now and pinpoint where you need to go.
Surveying your internal and external stakeholders to determine which environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are important to them will give you the information you need to make those decisions and develop a focused strategy. A materiality assessment is the best place to start.
It may seem daunting, but the clarity will save you from a whole lot of conjecture and wheel-spinning.
Stake A Claim. Make a Statement. It’s Ok to Be Aspirational.
Patagonia is an outstanding example of an organization that has inherently linked sustainable business practices with profit, institutionalized its goals, and launched a multifaceted stakeholder communication strategy to hold itself accountable. All of this in addition to positioning itself as a good company and benefitting from unwavering brand affinity.
The outdoor apparel company had a 50-year history of environmental conservation and activism before formalizing what it refers to as its reason for being: “We are in business to save our home planet.”
Saving the Earth is just about as aspirational as you can get. So, the company grounded its efforts with well-defined core tenants:
- 1% for the planet – Patagonia contributes one percent of annual net revenues to nonprofit charitable organizations that promote environmental conservation and sustainability.
- Build the best product with no unnecessary harm – The company strives to build durable, multi-function products to reduce obsolescence and uses materials that can be repaired, reused, or recycled while minimalizing impacts across the supply chain.
- Conduct operations causing no unnecessary harm – Patagonia works to reduce its environmental footprint and impact of operations in water use, water quality, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, chemicals, toxicity, and waste.
- Share best practices with other companies – The company says it shares proprietary information with other businesses, including direct competitors, when doing so “may produce a material positive impact on the environment.”
- Be transparent – Its website and catalogs describe Patagonia’s environmental impact, and it produces an annual “Benefit Corporation Report” detailing its efforts.
- Provide a supporting work environment – Patagonia prioritizes programs that support employees, including high-quality health care and on-site childcare.
This approach is particularly effective because it is transparent and measurable. The company can and does report on each of these focus areas annually.
Sure, Patagonia’s link to the environment seems kind of obvious, but when you take a close look at that list of core tenants, you’ll see that most of those practices are universally applicable to organizations in just about any sector.
The Communications Playbook
You’ve done your materiality assessment, identifying the issues paramount to your company’s short and long-term success. As a result, leadership is committed to best practices, goals have been set, and excitement is building.
So, now what?
We’re circling back to where this whole thing may have started – marketing and communications. There are multiple audiences and channels to consider, as well as the cadence.
Creating universal messaging founded on the stated purpose is an excellent place to start. It will give you a North Star around which you can tailor communications to your different stakeholders. Don’t forget tone. There’s an element of company personality that should come through.
What are you going to say, and how are you going to say it?
Once you’ve created the language for stating purpose and goals, consider what specific initiatives and data you can share to illustrate them. You could return to your materiality assessment and pull statistics based on responses. You could state emissions reduction and increased board diversity goals. You could cite charitable commitments to specific causes.
This should all be presented on a dedicated section on your company website. The section could be called “Corporate Responsibility” or “Our Core Values.” Provide facts and keep it updated.
How you get the word out and continue to tell the story is where many companies lose momentum. Breaking the communications strategy down into channels for each audience and setting a realistic cadence can keep you on track. You want to make sure you have something substantive to say, so that could mean promoting specific initiatives once a quarter and issuing a sustainability report each year.
Any news, relevant fodder for social posts, etc., can be treated more organically. Don’t forget to consider trigger events, such as corporate anniversaries, acquisitions, expansions, and new product or service launches, as opportunities to discuss efforts and progress.
Partnering with a Marketing Communications Firm
As a strategic marketing communications firm focused on ESG, Longview helps build sustainable brands. We consistently find that going through the exercise of identifying and stating the purpose, setting goals, and committing to making a positive impact energizes organizations. If you would like to learn more about partnering with us, we’d love to talk!
