Whether it’s a legislative company obligation, a cornerstone of your corporate strategy or the celebration of an achievement; being transparent in your communications is key to building and maintaining your reputation with your stakeholders and ultimately, creating brand trust and reputation.

In a recent article for Creative Review*, Héloïse Hooton described the ways large corporations get it wrong with reporting on sustainability. While a large fast food retailer promotes that their straws are recyclable even though they know they’re not is out and out greenwashing, other cases are simply mistakes where the data was either misreported or misrepresented.

According to the article “McKinsey research from earlier this year confirmed that brands which make Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) related claims perform nearly 50% better than those which don’t, while 90% of young consumers say they will pay more for ‘sustainable’ products.”

In the article, Hooton noted that “sustainability is hard to understand – and even harder to communicate without overstating your success”. So how can you make it easy to understand, how do you communicate it, and how do you stay grounded while doing so?

Remaining honest, even if it isn’t to your full benefit – builds brand trust and reputation – in short, in addition your successes own your mistakes. In the long term, more issues will arise if you’re inclined to fall into greenwashing and that can be harder work than simply saying, “hey, we can do better, and we will”.

When it comes to communication, find an agency partner that will work with you to understand and advise on the best possible way to communicate your data in a meaningful and transparent fashion.

Sustainability, modern slavery and climate change reporting all give the opportunity to connect with your stakeholders and share your goals and progress but are there other channels that could be utilised more effectively? Could breaking the information down into smaller parts and promoting on social media for example make it more immediate, meaningful and easier to understand?

At Twelve, we’ve been partnering with clients to produce dynamic, clear and on brand communication design for the past 20 years.

Contact us now to see how we can help your data shine at hello@twelvecreative.com.au

* https://www.creativereview.co.uk/brands-sustainability-accidentally-greenwashing/