INSIGHTS
Explore our ideas to better understand where we believe the marketplace is heading and how you can be a part of it.
What Backlash? Sustainability Reporting is More Prominent than Ever
Some would have you believe that environmental, social, and governance issues are somehow dying phenomena. They’re not. “ESG,” the acronym financial professionals and some corporates use to...
AI, climate breakthroughs, and sustainability communications
In a serendipitous twist of fate, the urgency of climate change and the breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) are converging. It’s a unique moment in history where the burgeoning...
Financial Planning Magazine: how to communicate about sustainable investing
While the language and nuances of investing with an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) lens continues to cause confusion, there is no question that its influence has taken root. We see an...
Corporate Responsibility Marketing: What worked in 2023?
Back when we were heading into 2023, it was unanimous: from a marketing and communications perspective ESG issues and corporate social responsibility (CSR) were going to rule the day. As we all came...
How Countries, Corporations, and Consumers Fit Into the Complex Landscape of Carbon Credits and Offsets
At the Conference of Parties (COP) 28, world leaders from all corners of the globe met to discuss solutions related to combatting the climate crisis. These negotiations came at a critical time, with...
What’s the word? The real download on ESG messaging
Words matter, especially in the complicated arena of corporate sustainability and ESG. But there are clear trends that demonstrate companies are going loud -- even if they use varied terms to...
The Key to Strategic Communications and Digital Marketing: Consistency
You have a goal as a brand, and your brand narrative must guide your digital marketing and communications program. Everything you say, the marketing material you create, and every piece of content...
Longview Strategies & WAP Sustainability Discuss ESG Reporting
Enjoy this thoughtful interview with Will Paddock of WAP Sustainability, discussing the current state of corporate sustainability and ESG reporting.
Reporting Standards: Take Your Time, Hurry Up
ESG, climate, and sustainability reporting standard-setters are taking their time updating and communicating guidelines. While that can feel frustrating when you’re a company trying to keep up with...
How to Manage the ESG Messaging Maze
Download: How to Manage the ESG Messaging Maze When it comes to ESG, midmarket companies find themselves in a messaging game of hide and seek. Meeting reporting requirements from customers and...
Use Your (Brand) Voice! How to Tailor Consistent Messaging Strategies
When brands interact with their audiences, every sentence, word, character, and image associated with that message is crucial. Audiences can perceive any given message as reflective of an...
Corporate Responsibility – Respond Don’t React
It’s time to formalize your corporate responsibility journey. Regardless of where your current ESG or sustainability programs stand, you know that inquiries must be addressed and expectations...
Taming the Wild West of Carbon Credit Trading
As climate change continues to impact our world in breathtaking ways, solutions capable of combatting it are in high demand. We need solutions that both ecologists and economists can get excited...
Midmarket Companies in the Eye of the ESG Storm
Midmarket companies occupy a unique place in the ESG landscape. Caught in a maelstrom of escalating pressure from buyers and the regulations currently taking shape, they are seeking a foothold to...
Corporate Responsibility and ESG Reporting
Well, the moment that corporate sustainability professionals have been waiting decades for has finally arrived. No, the bowl of alphabet soup hasn’t been drained, but a long-awaited corporate...
R.I.P. D.E.I.?: How Corporates Are Grappling with SCOTUS’ Affirmative Action Ruling
A chill went through corporate boardrooms nationwide when the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action programs in college admissions. Many C-suite leaders had long dreaded this day since the...
Good News in Sustainability
It may feel like it at times, but it’s not all doom and gloom in the global effort to limit emissions and reduce climate change. Check out a few recent articles on everything from biodegradable...
How to Be a Good Media Resource
In the United States, there are about six public relations (PR) professionals for every journalist. It may seem counterintuitive, but the high ratio of PR people to journalists can actually make it...
Sustainability Reporting & ESG Communications
When effectively communicated, sustainability and ESG reporting can lead to new competitive advantages, higher margins, and a better position to compete for capital. Regardless of what comes down...
Threads: What’s Working, What Isn’t, and What Your Company Might Want to Know Before Joining
Even by the rapid-fire standards of the tech world, the new Threads app absolutely flew out of the starting gate. However, it remains to be seen if the app will fizzle out or stick. We’ve collected...
Three Sweet Takeaways from Hershey’s Impact Reporting
The journey from cocoa bean to melty, chocolatey deliciousness in your s’mores is complicated. But one chocolatier, The Hershey Company, has built a roadmap of responsibility and accountability that...
Clarity in the Chaos: ESG and Sustainability Reporting Trends at GreenFin
GreenFin 2023 brought over 900 sustainability leaders and learners together for a high-powered update on ESG reporting and investment trends. Energy and enthusiasm around sharing best practices and...
Why Businesses Should Take Note of the New ISSB Standards
On Monday, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) published its long-awaited guidelines for the disclosure of sustainability-related financial information and climate-related...
Follow the Money: the Great Wealth Transfer Will Drive Sustainable Investing
Anuj A. Shah has for decades been focused on the intersection of ESG and impact investing integration with investment management strategy. We took a few minutes to talk through major themes in...
How to Cultivate a CSR Messaging Strategy
As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have grown in importance in the minds of stakeholders, corporations have taken notice. As a result, corporate social responsibility (CSR)...
Confused About Sustainability Reporting? You’re Not Alone.
Interest and conversation surrounding ESG disclosure and Sustainability Reporting are perhaps at their highest ever. Sustainability practitioners and the world’s largest companies have been...
Work Smarter, Not Harder: 3 Ways to Market to Millennials and Gen Z
From #girlboss to #mossgirl. Many Gen Z and Millennials are eschewing the ideas of living for the grind and instead prioritizing work-life balance and sustainability. For marketers to reach these...
How Can Communicators Thrive at the Intersection of Sustainability and Finance?
As we charge headlong into a warming planet, climate change and its effects ring louder. This trend bears a truth that many are still reluctant to accept: exposure to risks posed by climate change...
When Will the SEC’s Climate Rule Take Effect?*
*Spoiler alert: it doesn’t matter. Here’s why. What We Know In March 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules for corporate disclosure concerning the risks and...
ESG: a case study in flawed communications
In its most elegant form, a great communications program is about simplicity of message and awareness of risk. Those two elements create the basis of successful outreach and engagement. Simplicity...
Building A Sustainable Brand: Be Bold, Authentic & Purpose-Driven
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,...
Drawing Authentic Lines around Sustainability Communications
Businesses communicating in the sustainability arena walk a very narrow tightrope: say too little, and your brand is behind the market; say too much and potentially invite unwanted scrutiny. So,...
ESG: from unknown to media darling
March 2023 may go down as the month that ESG had its moment. And the sudden headline attention – the massive sea of eyeballs now squinting at the term “environmental, social, and governance” – is...
Do, Disclose, Communicate: How to Navigate Corporate Sustainability Disclosures and Reporting
Corporate sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) are back in the spotlight. As proponents of both, we don’t agree with the rhetoric that's generating the headline attention,...
The Months Ahead for Sustainable Business
In many ways, a new year provides a fresh slate for business and government leaders. Four quarters brimming with chances to improve upon the previous year. Among the many categories that these...
Trending Positive: Good News in ESG and the Environment
Sustainability and ESG enthusiasts often live in a vortex of depressing news. While recent news from Davos may reflect a change in the tide, it can be exhausting and dispiriting. We don’t want to...
Davos Roundup: ESG is Where the Money’s At
It’s no secret that COP27 failed to elevate the dialogue and show a unified stance on advancing climate goals. The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at Davos, however, seems to be picking up the...
The Case for DEI
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is often pitched as merely a workplace training format. In truth, it’s a framework that can be applied across an organization at every stage of operation. The...
How to Create an SEO Strategy for ‘Going Green’
Across generations, people are becoming more interested in ethical consumption and want to buy from companies that are genuinely protecting our future on this planet. The challenge, however, is how...
Twitter Tumult: What’s Your Marketing Risk?
Twitter continues to ride a turbulent wave. To help you clarify your own Twitter journey during this time we've created a handy infographic. Follow your brand's path and build a strong social...
Content Marketing is Hard, But Here are 11 Ways to Create a Better Post
Have you ever written something you were particularly proud of and sent it into the virtual universe to be enjoyed and shared only to be brutally disappointed by its reception? You are not alone in...
Climate-Related Disclosures: Transparency & Accountability Will Win
The mid-term elections caused more handwringing around the SEC ESG corporate disclosures rules that are expected to be released any day. Conjecture abounds, but the most likely scenario is that a...
Why Bother with a Materiality Assessment? It’s the Cornerstone of Your ESG
“Materiality Assessment.” It can be an off-putting term for some organizations in the early stages of their ESG journey. They may feel a formal assessment is an unnecessary step, or be skeptical...
ESG to World: Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated
What a year for the world of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). Pretty much went from skyrocketing in popularity to besieged on all sides. Perhaps ESG is facing that age-old conundrum, if...
The World of Strategy: Business, Brand, and Marketing
Strategy at its heart focuses on the significance and/or the cause and effect to achieve such goals. For many companies this involves a kaleidoscope approach where research, planning, and activation...
Understanding the WFA’s New Guidance on Environmental Claims
BlueTriton—which owns about a third of bottled water brands in the U.S—is estimated to contribute hundreds of millions of pounds of plastic to U.S. landfills each year. The company recently said...
Content Marketing 101: How to Use Storytelling and Strategy
“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and,...
Content Marketing Guide: Building Your Content Strategy
Business strategy is enabled through a well-crafted content marketing plan. Through a spectrum of distribution channels and best practices, content marketing provides consistency to attract and...
Globalization of Consumer Values Is Bringing Brand Connectivity
Forever altered by the pandemic, consumer behaviors have shifted with an emerging focus on values. Mainstream appeal highlighted throughout recent brand campaigns demonstrates that consumers are...
Sustainability & Business Awards: How Companies Can Effectively Apply
With an increase in public awareness of companies’ impact on environmental and social issues, both consumers and investors alike are holding companies to account when it comes to participating in...
We’re launching ESG Forward to empower financial advisors –
It’s fascinating to see the passionate dialogue, confusion, and activity driven by the strong global demand for investment approaches that integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data....
Amplifying Your Community Commitment Through CSR Programs
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs are fundamental in driving strategic growth. With the intention of increasing positive impact, companies are developing locally-driven programs that...
Impactful Design for Sustainability and ESG Communications
Sustainability and ESG communications are becoming an increasing presence across companies large and small. Executive teams are identifying key issues through strategy sessions and a materiality...
Reshaping ESG as an Opportunity for Growth
The evolution of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is reaching a heightened level of prioritization as more companies are including these topics in their strategic conversations. In...
2021 Year in Review: Embracing Impact
We all embraced impactful change in 2021. With sustainability and ESG gaining ever-increasing momentum, we’ve been excited to partner with our clients to help shape the conversation. We’ve welcomed...
Longview is a Davey Award Recipient!
The great work is for our clients, but we’ll take the awards, too! The team at Longview Strategies is excited to announce our designation as Silver Award Recipients for our Content 360 Integrated...
Bringing Change Through Conscious Branding
Branding has evolved. Originally used as a marketing and sales tool, brands are now transitioning to be more intentional and conscious. This new model focuses on a heightened level of brand purpose...
How ESG Ratings Contribute to Reputational Capital and Growth
Building reputational capital has become synonymous with business growth. From recruiting efforts to customer acquisition, business growth relies on how others perceive a brand. Rating systems have...
Enhancing Portfolio Strength: Private Equity, ESG, and Value Creation
The rise of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance as a critical input to investing decision making is undeniable. ESG is not a shiny new object driven by social agendas....
Diagnosing Bias Using Design Thinking to Optimize the Customer Experience (CX)
Post-pandemic organizations are quickly evolving to tell their narrative. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) themes are being redrafted into company-wide communications. As part of...
The Great Repricing – Exploring the Urgency of Sustainable Finance
The past few years have brought outstanding progress in sustainable finance. A confluence of overpowering global challenges – climate change, COVID-19, social unrest – drew clear lines between...
Demand for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Increases in 2021
The pressures from the past 18 months have brought internal and external conflict to companies. The “why” behind a company’s business practices has elevated in significance, with employees and...
How CSR Sets Strategy, Marketing, and Communications
We are emerging from an environment in which most businesses were managing through uncharted waters, and heading straight into a new phase that features almost as much uncertainty. Corporate social...
LinkedIn Announces Dark Mode
LinkedIn recently announced that users will be able to switch to dark mode on mobile. Dark mode, which has already been implemented by other companies including Google, will allow users to switch...
Gen Z and Sustainability: Bridging Generational Gaps
Sustainability is a term that more mainstream consumers and businesses have become closely acquainted with this past year. But the term itself has developed into different meanings and identities...
The Battle in Video Marketing: YouTube vs. Vimeo
You’ve decided to step into the world of video and are excited about integrating it into your content campaign. The rise of video content is no surprise. According to WYZOwl, 93% of marketers agree...
Four Steps to Communicate Research Insights to Your Stakeholders
Valuable, timely information is the key to progress within business operations. From key data to client feedback, company stakeholders need to become equipped with all relevant research insights to...
What to Know About Google’s Core Web Vitals
Over the years, Google has provided an abundance of tools and metrics aimed to optimize search engine results and user experience -- in fact, there is so much available that it can be a challenge to...
Flexible, Digital, Sustainable: Strategies for the Next Phase
Here we go again. We are emerging from an environment in which most businesses were managing through uncharted waters, and heading straight into a new phase that features almost as much...
Marketing Strategies for the Next Phase
We are emerging from an environment in which most businesses were managing through uncharted waters, and heading straight into a new phase that features almost as much uncertainty. Indeed, the...
Apple is Changing the Email Marketing Game
The world of email marketing has changed once again. Apple’s announcement at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2021) stirred feelings about the relationship between data privacy and...
2021 Marketing Trends: Revisited
We are halfway through 2021, it feels like a suitable time to pause, reflect, and check in on the marketing trend predictions we made in December of last year. The top 2021 marketing trends include...
Marketing for Financial Advisors: Start your Engines!
On May 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) updated marketing rule (Rule 206(4)-1) took effect. When the SEC first proposed the rule back in 2019, we wrote a brief post about what, if...
Tackling ESG Marketing on the Sustainable Finance Podcast
We used to talk about where the bottlenecks were in ESG adoption. Roadblocks centered on confusion about terminology (still true, but improving), data consistency (also true, but improving), and...
How to Find the Right Marketing Partner
Finding the right marketing partner can be a bit of a process. With thousands of firms to choose from, selecting the most qualified partner can be a long and arduous journey. We at Longview...
We Rebranded: Learn About the Process
As you may have already seen, we’re sporting a new logo and website these days. Why? We understand that the markets around us are shifting and our clients are seeking growth and change. Our...
Getting Out of the Gate with ESG Marketing
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data is working its way into the center of most investment discussions. Fund companies, investment managers, private equity firms, real estate investors –...
Three Steps to Making ESG Part of Your Brand
ESG has proven its case as a powerful tool that helps gauge how companies are managing risks as well as how they fit into a more sustainable marketplace. In the investment world, looking through the...
CMO Toolkit
The multifaceted role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has shifted in today’s world. At Longview, we understand both the challenges of CMOs and the nuances of guiding marketing as an “outsourced...
ESG marketing for financial advisors: where to begin?
The discipline of investing is evolving, with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria taking an increasingly prominent role. Investors are calling for ESG more proactively with each...
Chief Marketing Officers and Sustainability
The idea or role of Sustainability Advocate was never a prominent part of the Chief Marketing Officer’s (CMO) ever-changing job description. Until now. These may seem like two unrelated fields of...
Measuring ROI in Your Content Marketing Plan (Part 2)
Welcome back to our two-part series on performance benchmarks! Now that you’ve launched your content marketing strategy and you’re generating new analytics, you may be faced with pressure to prove...
Measuring ROI in Your Content Marketing Plan (Part 1)
A strategic marketing plan requires an efficient thought process to determine operationally whether it’s worth the bang for the buck. With carefully curated content and a dashboard of metrics,...
Today’s CMO
The multifaceted role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has shifted in today’s world. Faced with the current demands of a nearly full-virtual, global economy, the CMO role is being...
2021 Marketing Trends
After the year we’ve experienced, we should all probably put our crystal balls and predictions for next year back on the shelf. It’s been a winding and “unusual” year for the marketing industry –...
Beyond ESG Reporting: ESG Marketing and Sustainability Communications
Nine out of ten companies in the S&P 500 publish annual sustainability reports. And you can most certainly bet that each has a section, or at least page, dedicated to sustainability and...
ESG and Sustainability Reporting Series: Materiality Assessments
While momentum has been building for years, the link between company performance and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ratings has never been so clear. The convergence of major issues –...
ESG from an Investor Relations Perspective: Q&A with Maureen Wolff
We continue to see confusion among businesses and investors about what sustainable investing, impact, and ESG really entail – and what the difference is between them. ESG is not a “movement” or a...
Sustainability and ESG Reporting: Where to Begin?
It’s Climate Week, which seems like a good time to focus on environmental stewardship. But that's too easy. Let’s think bigger. Companies are finding that their business success is inextricably...
Auditing Your Brand’s Health
It's been said more times than we can count: this is not a typical year. And while some segments of the economy continue to roll along, there's no question that the way companies present themselves...
Branding Basics: Style Guides
A brand is only as good as the process of duplicating it. If you can’t hire someone and have them define your brand in the first week, then you’ll likely need tweaks to that branding process. Your...
ESG Communications: Trust, Transparency, and Value
The globally connected events of 2020 give tangible form to a whole lot of theory around the real value of companies – and why their voices and brands matter. There was always hard and fast proof...
ESG Matters: Video Chat with Katie Schmitz Eulitt of SASB
In the latest installment of ESG Matters, Evan Zall from Longview Strategies, Perigon Wealth's Bud Sturmak, and special guest Katie Schmitz Eulitt of SASB explore the connection between...
Why I Joined Longview Strategies
I’ve been described by the outside world as the Mary Poppins of molding public perception. As a branding strategist who is allergic to buzzwords and as someone who is on the hunt for human...
ESG Matters: COVID-19 Proving Out Value of Sustainable Investing
In an unprecedented, chaotic, and uncertain environment, sustainable investing is standing out as a reliable strategy - and is getting the attention it deserves. While there has been momentum for...
Sustainable Investing Marketing: Stop Conflating SRI and ESG
While great strides have been made in sustainable investing, we still see the marketplace struggling with the concept that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is different from socially...
Campuses Close, Relationships Continue
Campuses close, relationships continue My husband and I always use the phrase ‘Family comes first’ and I think this phrase resonates particularly well right now for a host of reasons. Sister Barbara...
Mapping Out Your Marketing Strategy? Answer These Three Questions.
There are fabulous new technologies to help us achieve our goals more efficiently, but the best adventures are still the ones in which we are: 1) unconstrained when planning out the destination 2)...
Case Study: Increasing Enrollment of a Community College
This past fall, there were nearly 250,000 fewer students enrolled in college than a year ago, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Many factors are contributing to this...
Strategic Planning for Schools? Don’t Forget Marketing and Communications
When leaders of a school sit down to begin the process of developing a three- to five-year strategic plan, they often concentrate on growth through the lens of admissions and development. They might...
SEC Advertising Rule Proposal: A Sign of the Times (a Few Decades Late)
In November, the SEC proposed an overhaul to the rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 pertaining to advertisements. The last time these rules were updated in any significant way was 1961....
Educational Marketing: Breaking Down the Silos
In education, marketing is becoming a bigger challenge. There are more independent schools than ever before and with that comes increased competition to attract the best students, faculty and...
Educational Marketing: Breaking Down the Silos
In education, marketing is becoming a bigger challenge. There are more independent schools than ever before and with that comes increased competition to attract the best students, faculty and...
In an Era of M&A, Where Does Marketing Fit?
M&A among financial advisory firms is on a tear, ready to break M&A records by year’s end. The rampant activity presents timely opportunities, as mid-sized wealth management firms are...
Six Steps to Strategic Marketing Success
These days there seems to be a six step process for everything. Six steps to making good decisions; to secure your financial future; to find true love. Even the five-step process of grief has...
What Morningstar Got Wrong on the Sustainable Communications Front
Morningstar recently released research showing that most investors, regardless of age or gender, are interested in sustainable investing. This trumps previously held beliefs that the majority of...
Don’t Play Games with Your Marketing Strategy
Good news: there are more marketing tactics to choose from than ever before, and they all have reach and power. Bad news: see above. Keeping our ear to the ground for business challenges and growth...
Wall Street: Time to Play Ball with the Right Message
This post is about investing, market risk, and clarity of message. But with baseball season fully underway, we really should start with three guideposts for a good season: Data doesn’t lie. You can...
3 Reasons Your Firm Can’t Grow on Word of Mouth Alone
Financial advisors, CPAs, and consultants all agree: professional services marketing is about relationships. Clients come through the door because they know, trust, and like your team. A friend or...
ESG Marketing: Maximizing Long-Term Value Begins with Future-Oriented Thinking
One of the greatest evolutions in business is taking place before our eyes. No, it is not the fourth industrial revolution with the proliferation of emerging technologies like artificial...
The Changing Climate for Smart Business
If necessity is the Mother of invention, Mother Nature is taking over the lab. Setting aside any debates over the nuances of climate change, the data is in: Earth is a different place than it was 20...
Financial Advisor Magazine: Clear the Way for the Client Values Conversation
The world has put its values on display. There are countless outlets for those who want to engage around their passions, and it is becoming more common to incorporate values into our day-to-day...
Sustainability Communications: The Difference Between ESG, SRI, and Impact
There has been an avalanche of articles seeking to explain the most pressing communication problem for sustainable investing: the alphabet soup that confuses asset owners, managers, and investors...
Longview Insight: Simplifying Sustainable Investing
In our new Insight paper, we explore the most pressing communication problem for sustainable investing: the alphabet soup that confuses asset owners, managers, and investors across the financial...
Where’s the Map Room for Impact Terminology?
The world of sustainable investing is going to have a noisy Fall season, heavy with high profile events designed to educate and galvanize. The challenge: despite best efforts, there is still a...
Financial Returns and Positive Impact. Don’t Miss the Boat.
The power of “and.” It’s pretty remarkable, especially when it strings together the positive. For example: when I jog to the store instead of driving, I can pick up what I need and exercise and save...
Profitability and Rising Tides: Can the Private Sector Take on Climate Change?
It’s hard to miss the confluence of events and signals that constitute a blaring alarm in pretty much every region: climate change is an economic reality. Not sometime in the science-fictional...
2017 Gave us a Chance to Highlight Things That Matter
The past year had most of us scrambling to catch our breath and keep on top of the headlines. Dramatic changes in government, the #MeToo movement, and advances in technology have kept us all engaged...
The SRI Conference: Reshaping an Industry
We kicked off November by attending the 28th annual SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact (SRI) investing in San Diego, California. Our experience was through a variety of lenses: we...
How can financial advisors make the move to SRI?
Sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investing is changing the role of the wealth manager from the outside in. After decades of being considered a niche practice offered by a select few forward...
The year of socially progressive news (whether you like it or not)
It’s been a busy news year, especially within our clients’ industries. As communication professionals, it’s important that we stay on top of all the latest news trends and brainstorm how we can...