How to win trust in your ESG communications and marketing

Let your CMO be your Chief Sustainability Officer, says Richard Benton, as he outlines the ways in which organizations must urgently improve their messaging around ESG.

Today’s businesses need to convince multiple audiences of the validity of their sustainability credentials, and yet many are failing to do so. However, there are some concrete steps that they can take to get their message across effectively and avoid “greenwashing” in their marketing and communications.

As countless surveys show, customers, employees and investors all want companies to play a leading role in societal change, sustainability and the transition to net zero.

The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, built on a general population survey of more than 36,000 people in 28 countries, found that 58% of consumers will buy or advocate for brands based on their beliefs and values, 60% of employees will choose a place to work on the same basis and 64% of individual investors will invest in companies based on…