With the end of 2022 in sight, we have been taking stock of our amazing achievements, the impactful resources we’ve created and key learnings from the last 12 months – and we’d love to share our highlights with you.
Throughout 2022, we are proud to have worked with some incredible clients and partners who are keeping ESG high on the agenda and remain committed to driving positive change.
In a nutshell:
As much as we need governments to take big decisions and act quickly for people, society and the planet, we also know that businesses have a big role to play. We recognise that organisations need to be proactive to make an impact. In this blog, we delve into what we think are the key areas that businesses can act on right now.
Hyphenated words such as green-washing and sports-washing can be applied when questioning a company’s purpose. It refers to an action which is not authentic, something that’s being done as a box-ticking exercise and not aligned with core business values.
As responsible business has evolved, so has the ‘-washing’ tag. We’ve had ‘green-washing’, ‘pink-washing’, and now there’s ‘sports-washing’ – when governments or corporations use sport to either distract from controversies or try to mend their reputations. It could be by hosting tournaments, funding sporting programmes, or buying and owning teams or leagues. Sound familiar?
Read the blog to find out our take on the topic.
Incorporating sustainability goals is a big part of any business’ communication strategy. But how do you talk about your commitments and impact in a way that drives benefit for your organisation, is honest and accountable to stakeholders and consumers, deepens relations and points towards a more sustainable future generally?
Read our seven top tips and an example of who we believe is doing this successfully.
“77% of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place.” 2019 research, Aflac.
According to a new Sustainability Sentiment Tracker 2022, efforts to address climate change and employee health, safety and wellbeing are two of the top five concerns of people in the UK and US. People are still looking to business to solve some of society’s key issues, giving brands a unique opportunity. Companies can now stand out, deepen connections with employees and consumers by demonstrating how their operations, behaviours, products, and services are providing value, alongside quality and price.
So, are you seizing the opportunity?
Talking about racial equality and justice as a business can be tricky. Even with the best intentions, missteps are sometimes taken. Kwesi, our marketing intern, was inspired by the two-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd to look at how businesses were communicating around the event. He shares his point of view on the topic of racial equality and comms.
A key learning: don’t patronise the community and don’t generalise. Read for more.
All areas of ESG are a work in progress; it is and always will be a continuous journey of improvement. At Verity London, we officially started two years ago with our first People, Purpose and Planet pledges and report. One of those pledges is to ‘promote female empowerment in the advertising and communications industry’. As great as it all sounds, we needed to clarify what that means in practice. Our internal workshop helped shed light on some of the challenges and opportunities women are facing today and provide some tangible areas for improvement for us as a business.
We’ve detailed our brainstorming process and the outcome of the discussion. Feel free to read and apply the learnings.
In addition to our thought leadership blogs, we ran several poignant and inspirational webinars throughout the year, bringing together guest panellists including Heads of Sustainability, Internal Comms and People and Culture from leading global companies like Volvo, Deloitte, OVO, Lloyds Banking Group, Goldman Sachs and Tony’s Chocolonely.
If we needed any proof that there is a keen interest for getting purposeful content and campaigns right in the responsible business space, the number of people joining us at this particular webinar was it.
With growing demand for brands and businesses to be more responsible, there comes increased cynicism and a concern around how authentic the content is and how to avoid purpose-washing.
We reflected on the latest Green Claims Code by the Competition and Marketing Authority (CMA), why the Advertising Standards Association censured some brands for purpose-washing and the reality of their claims in the sustainability space.
A recommended watch as you go on your responsible business journey!
This webinar explored the power of an engaged internal team to foster a strong workplace culture. Teams who are involved with their company’s strategy will be your biggest advocates to becoming a more responsible business. This session is a summary of the fascinating insights and practical advice that emerged from the session with practical takeaways and examples.
Read more here.
If you’ve already got a great responsible business strategy, sharing it with your organisation can be the next challenge. They should be excited about the proposition, buy into your goals and engage with activities along the way. Which means communicating effectively and authentically, so your people want to get involved. Your goals should also be embedded into the DNA of your organisation.
Our webinar included helpful tips on best practice comms planning and content production and considered how to develop narratives that keep the momentum high as you reveal your company’s responsible business story and goals.
A few of the highlights are here in this blog.
🤩 We officially joined the B Corp family! Read our blog, ‘The Road to B Corp’ which explains our long two-year journey to becoming a certified B Corp company.
🌍 We launched our second People, Purpose, and Planet report, reflecting on the pledges we put forward in our 2021 report and measuring our impact on our environment. Check out, ‘Our impact’ page which tells you more about our pledges and initiatives.
🙋🏽We showcased our team’s expertise, in a series of interviews by our marketing intern Kwesi, in fields like film production, comms strategy and account management, read more here:
🧐 The Responsible Busy-ness Report
We released the results of our own research and insights on the reality for responsible business professionals in 2022. Amongst other questions, we addressed who is driving the responsible agenda, whether the budget allocated to ESG is increasing or decreasing and what best practice looks like when it comes to developing and embedding a successful sustainability agenda.
Click here to read the report.
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Overall, 2022 has given us a unique opportunity to reimagine how we frame and communicate ESG. From thought leadership, live webinars and fascinating reports, we have been able to provide an holistic perspective, as well as bespoke solutions to some of the challenges and opportunities facing our clients in this space. And we’re proud to have been able to support your organisations, as you drive change for people and planet.
We wish you all a warm, safe and happy festive season and look forward to bringing in the new year with you.
