Communicating Your Sustainability Story - Michigan · Source: Earned Brand 2016 Global Percent who use each media type regularly Search engines Social media sites News articles Shopping/retail

Communicating Your Sustainability Story

Eileen GallagherVice President, Business + Social Purpose at EdelmanSeptember 14, 2016

@etgallagher

Growing expectations for businesses to lead

“BlackRock issues climate change warning”

“U.S. companies pledged to fight

climate change, but will they really?”

“Brands must become sustainable

or risk irrelevance”

“Companies forget emotion in CSR,

and that’s why [the initiatives] fail”

…amid uncertainty and change

Political uncertainty

Social unrest

Climate change

is here

Complexity of

innovation

24/7 personalized

communication

The “citizen”

consumer

Communication is increasingly valuable

Trust is earned only through authentic action that’s made clear through effective communications.

‣ 16 years of data

‣ 33,000+ respondents total

‣ 2016 Report: All fieldwork wasconducted between October 13and November 16, 2015

Online Survey in 28 Countries

68

59

41

38

37

18

48

42

26

35

20

12

Trust matters

5

Percent who engage in each behavior based on trust

Behaviors for Distrusted Companies Behaviors for Trusted Companies

Refused to buy products/services

Criticized companies

Shared negative opinions

Disagreed with others

Paid more than wanted

Sold shares

Chose to buy products/services

Recommended them to a friend/colleague

Shared positive opinions online

Defended company

Paid more

Bought shares

Business must lead to solve problems

80% agree

“A company can take

specific actions that both

increase profits and improve

the economic and social

conditions in the community

where it operates.”

up from 74% in 2015

Doing well by doing good gets resultsPercent who cite each as a reason for why their trust in business has increased or decreased

Reasons Trust in Business Has Increased

Reasons Trust in Business Has Decreased

Produces

economic growth

Contributes to the

greater good

Allows me to be a productive

member of society

Fails to contribute

to the greater good

Lacks economic growth

No public services

59%

45%

40%

50%

39%

36%

6364

57

5048

41

50

39

33

67

6463

5352

4948

44

35

CEO credibility increased the mostPercent who rate each spokesperson as extremely/very credible

2015 2016

+8

Technical

expert

Academic

expert

A person

like

yourself

Financial

industry

analyst

Employee CEO NGO

representative

Board of

DirectorsGovernment

official/regulator

+6

Insights and actions from the Trust Barometer

‣ Sustainability can drive tangible business advantages

‣ Trust in and expectations of business have aligned to create an

extraordinary window of opportunity

‣ Chief executives who build purpose-driven organizations are rewarded

‣ Communications is key to building emotion and engagement

Three governing principles to communications

Promote ProtectEvolve

It’s how you tell the story because…

‣ Media has significantly transformed

‣ Brands are serving as leaders

‣ Technology is integrating communications with marketing

‣ Algorithms are the new intermediaries

‣ Content is infinite, but attention is finite

Television

62%

80%regularly use traditionalmedia sources for information about businesses

Search engines outrank most for regularly used media source

Source: Earned Brand 2016 Global

Percent who use each media type regularly

Search engines

Social media sites

News articles Shopping/retailwebsites not

owned by business

49%

The business’ website

56%78% 57% 51%

Magazines

37%

Blogs

33%

The radio

37%

Edelman CloverleafTM

®

‣ Edelman’s holistic point of view on the evolving media ecosystem

‣ Guides the development of multichannel strategies that extend the

lifecycle of a story

‣ While organized, it’s actually nuanced; some media channels

transcend traditional definitions

Edelman

Cloverleaf –

Communicate

across channels

GE’s strategy for cleaner technology and

business innovation

VF Corporation moves beyond traditional

reporting

Kashi introduces “Certified Transitional”

“Paying Farmers to Go Organic, Even Before

the Crops Come In”

REI’s #OptOutside launched a movement

Developing a sustainability communications

strategy

19

‣ Identify stakeholders/audience

‣ Reach audience through distinct channels

‣ Target with specific messages

‣ Plan a communications calendar

‣ Set goals and measure progress

Additional tips

20

‣ Use data, visuals, emotion, identity and technology

‣ Speak your stakeholder’s language

‣ For public communication, think “social” and “sharing”

‣ Build relationships

‣ Be transparent

‣ Be consistent

Parting words…

‣ “Communication

is a skill you can

learn. It’s like

riding a bicycle or

typing. If you’re

willing to work at

it, you can rapidly

improve the

quality of every

part of your life.”

Brian Tracy

‣ “The most

powerful person

in the world is the

story teller. The

storyteller sets

the vision, values

and agenda of an

entire generation

that is to come.”

Steve Jobs

‣ “The history of

storytelling isn't

one of simply

entertaining the

masses but of

also advising,

instructing,

challenging the

status quo.”

Therese Fowler

‣ “Be sincere. Be

brief. Be seated.”

FDR

Communicating Your Sustainability Story

Eileen GallagherVice President, Business + Social Purpose at EdelmanSeptember 14, 2016

@etgallagher