Communications and marketing teams are increasingly having to grapple with a sustainability communications conundrum.
On the one hand, clear, compelling messaging related to green objectives and initiatives is more important than ever. Recent evidence suggests that consumers are putting growing pressure on companies regarding sustainability issues, and they are prepared to reward companies that they know are performing well. Regulation is also increasingly broadening the scope of what companies need to disclose.
On the other hand, it’s arguably never been harder to get sustainability communications right. To understand the risks, you need only look at the number of recent high-profile greenwashing accusations.
But as we’ve written previously, greenhushing—the practice of companies choosing to simply go silent on sustainability issues—is not the answer. Instead, companies need to be more thoughtful about when, how, and what they communicate. The best strategy and content will depend on the context. But in our experience, the companies that do sustainability communications well can answer “yes” to each of the following five questions.
1. Are you clear on how sustainability fits within your overall corporate strategy?
Executives continue to see sustainability as a crucial value-creation opportunity, but sustainability efforts that operate in a silo are less likely to realize this value. Rather than focusing on headline-grabbing goals, companies need to be crystal clear on how sustainability actions and initiatives fit within and contribute to their overall business goals.
This sort of integration is equally important for sustainability communications. Messaging that isn’t clearly connected to your overall company narrative will always feel like an add-on—or even a box-ticking exercise—rather than something that really matters to your business.
2. Have you checked (and rechecked) your objectives and achievements?
It can be tempting for companies to make a big splash by announcing far-reaching sustainability ambitions. But while bold commitments of this sort can be powerful, they are also risky. Companies need to think carefully about feasibility and have a clear implementation plan in place before making any public commitments.
If companies have overreached on ambition or have experienced unexpected setbacks, they need to be up-front about it. Greenwashing can undermine business credibility and erode stakeholder trust. In addition, recent regulatory developments have turned exaggerating sustainability achievements into a major financial risk; those who are found to have broken the rules of the EU Green Claims Directive, for example, can face a fine of at least 4 percent of annual gross revenue.
The bottom line is that companies are most likely to be able to build long-term brand value and avoid common pitfalls when they communicate clearly and authentically about both their genuine achievements and the bumps they encounter along the way.
3. Do you know what resonates with your stakeholders?
The initiatives your sustainability team is most excited about may not necessarily be those that are most likely to appeal to your customers, your shareholders, or your regulators. For example, during our recent virtual event on ESG reporting and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Simply Sustainable’s Ed Packshaw recalled a conversation with a client who thought that the headline from the company’s latest annual report should be that it had reduced its carbon footprint by 13 percent. In fact, the narrative that everyone was finally able to get behind—the company’s ambition to deliver clean water to many millions of people—was buried deep in the draft report.
To make sure you’re finding the narratives that will connect, involve your marketing and communications team in discussions about sustainability strategy from the start. Too often, we see that these teams are brought in right before the launch of a communications campaign, which can lead to missed opportunities. While the voice of these teams should be only one input into your decisions, their views will help ensure that you’re asking the right questions—and capturing the right content—to ensure you end up telling stories that will resonate.
4. Do you have a content amplification plan?
No single piece of content, however good it may be, will achieve the impact that is possible with a well-thought-through campaign. Using multiple formats and channels can significantly broaden content’s reach and extend its life.
We understand the pressure that both communications and sustainability teams are under to do more with less, which is why we always look to reuse existing materials where possible and relevant. In particular, ESG reports and annual reports with a sustainability focus (such as CSRD reports) can be a treasure trove of reusable material.
The good news? A thoughtful content amplification campaign—which might include some combination of spin-off pieces, a social media campaign, or a video series—can often be put together for a fraction of the initial content investment.
5. Have you set your content bar high—and do you have the systems to enforce it?
We’ve all had the experience of getting halfway through a hefty report and thinking, “Couldn’t this have been a blog?”—or, worse, “Was this written by ChatGPT?”
The bottom line is that every piece of content you put out has the potential to build or damage your brand. You need to ensure that the team producing your content knows your brand voice and tone inside out and understands what good looks like. And then you need to have a process in place (including quality assurance, fact checking, and proofreading) to ensure that only the content that meets your high standards makes it out into the world.
Feeling daunted? Our editorial, production, and design teams have decades of experience in putting together content that commands attention, changes perspectives, and—where necessary—moves mountains. Get in touch; we’re here to help.
