EUROPEAN SEMINAR
ON DIGITAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
@jabosborne
JAMES OSBORNEPartner @Lundquist, head of sustainability
“License to communicate:
Why ‘sustainability’ hold the key”
The external perspective
Why you should care about what the outside world things and how it will
transform your communications
EUROPEAN SEMINAR ON DIGITAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AND 14TH WEBRANKING AWARDS
Really?
CONSUMPTION
is
king!
How to eat a sustainability report for breakfast
The situation:• 8:15am… the time-stretched and under-prepared SRI analyst suddenly
remembers the 9am company meeting and has the time of a taxi ride across town to prepare
The materials• Latest sustainability report• Recent-ish broker note• The company’s latest results statement• Out-of-date ratings report from MSCI/Sustainalytics/EIRIS/Vigeo etc.
The challenge• Arrive at your meeting well informed and with 5 pertinent questions for
the CEO/CFO/head of sustainability
How do analysts work?a) Reactive: “I need an answer (or a question) now in response to this
immediate request that’s just landed in my lap”b) Comprehensive: “I’m at my desk and really want to get to know this
company”c) Thematic: “I’m exploring a sustainability theme that touches this
company and I need deep but specific information”
Who: Mike Tyrrell
Now: Editor of SRI-Connect
Previously: Sustainable
Investment analyst for 12
years with Jupiter Asset
Management, HSBC
Investment Bank and Citi
Global Equities
Key takeaways for today
• License to communicate has to be earned (all licenses are given to you, and
do not constitute an automatic right)
• Audiences need to be won and retained over time
• It is through an understanding of the external agenda and responding to critical issues that you build trust (relevance)
• Open engagement, on an equal footing, is essential to relationships and audience: it’s an act of communication in its own right
• Transparency goes beyond data and is not viewed in isolation: dialogue and collaboration are critical to stakeholders
• In strategy, “distribution” and “engagement” are as important as “content”
EUROPEAN SEMINAR ON DIGITAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AND 14TH WEBRANKING AWARDS
Why bother?
Source: M&S/GlobeScan, 2015
What all this about “materiality”?
GU
ESSW
OR
K O
R E
NG
AG
EMEN
T?
Does materiality drive strategic communication choices?
…because it certainly drives external perceptions and judgements
An
example:
H&M
and back in 2009…
Deutsche Bank: making its positions clear
Role of external perspective for content strategy
CONTENT
STRATEGY
IN-BOUND REQUESTS
User expectations, market context, critical issues, relationships
Gain trust and
differentiate your
brand
Earn “license to
communicate” from
audiences
ABILITY TO PRIORITISE
JAMES OSBORNE
@jabosborne
Lundquist company page
Lundquist
Lundquist page
Lundquist channel
Slideshare account
Lundquist page
Thank you
14TH WEBRANKING AWARDS
#webranking
EUROPEAN SEMINAR
ON DIGITAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
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