Too often, communications and sustainability professionals make sustainability jargon the centrepiece of their communications efforts. But in the end, who understands and relates to such language apart from communications and sustainability professionals themselves?

Take the ‘sustainability’ word alone: highly complex and generic buzzword that is seen everywhere but never understood.

We all need to be better at borrowing the language of our audiences themselves to skillfully articulate the “so-what” and “what’s in it for me” of our sustainability strategies and visions. For examples, when communicating with employees, we need to connect with their language, context, and priorities, often without ever using the S-word. If the job of our engineers and technicians is all about safety, frame ‘sustainability’ as greater safety. Greater safety for employees. But also for the environment and the communities.To get to that point, the key is to understand the audience: which values does employees relate to? what is expected from them in their day-to-day role? How is their behavior rewarded in return? How to they define the S-word? what does it mean to them?

I am so happy anytime I see a piece of communications collaterals that does not use the S-word. In the end, isn’t this the ultimate sign of a successful integration into the business? ….but then … how will I call my blog?

I love data and surveys! This one is a must read for anyone looking at corporate reputation and sustainability communications issues as it gauges the perceptions and/or expectations of the most influential thought leaders in the sustainability arena – NGOs, corporate peers, government representatives or academics.

This year, the findings are really interesting and worth sharing (click on the pictures to enlarge them):

• Confidence in NGOs to advance the sustainability agenda continues to erode and falls below the 50% line, while confidence in social entrepreneurs keeps increasing and is now reaching 57%. Is this trend due to a perception that innovative business models put forward by social entrepreneurs are more effective in creating positive change than NGO activism or NGO/corporate partnerships? Definitely something to keep an eye on…, while confidence in government is at an all time low. 

• Making long-term sustainability commitments, taking on bold goals and communicating about it through well-defined and branded engagement platforms is key to drive perceptions of leadership….and thus corporate reputation. The spike in Unilever’s perceived leadership since the launch of its Sustainable Living Plan is a clear exemple of this.

• Commitment to sustainability values is considered as the most important factor in determining leadership. It confirms again that sustainability has to be core to what a company stands for and needs to be deeply embedded into a company’s DNA and internal culture first and foremost. Deploying a sustainability strategy into the core business model and across the supply chain can only come after solid foundations have been established internally, starting from the top.

Here is an AWESOME outdoor ad campaign created by DDB China (Shanghai Branch) for the China Environmental Protection Foundation to encourage Shanghainese people to walk, instead of driving cars, to move around in the city. As well described by China Smack advertising:

• The campaign involved laying a canvas 12.6 metres long by 7 metres wide on the ground, thus covering the pedestrian crossing with a large leafless tree. On either side of the road, beneath the traffic lights, were placed sponge cushions soaked in green, environmentally friendly, washable paint. As pedestrians walked towards the crossing, they stepped on the green sponge, thus leaving green foot imprints on the canvas of the tree. Each ‘green’ footprint on the canvas looked like leaves growing on a bare tree, which made people feel that by walking they could create a greener environment.
• The ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ was carried out across 7 thoroughfares in Shanghai. The campaign was then extended to 132 roads across 15 cities in China, with a participation exceeding 3.92 million people.
• Media interest, both online and offline, was significant. After the campaign launch, there were more than 300 thousands re-direct and 50 thousand posts on the Sina Microblog. Research revealed that general public awareness of environmental protection had increased by 86%.

One simple word: AWESOME and an ADFEST award well deserved. Perhaps one question though, what was done  with canvases and other campaign materials? Have they been recycled?

More in the video (in English) below:

The new ad below, featuring Hong Kong movie star David Wu, has gotten tons of views on the web and is playing in movie theaters all over Hong Kong. Instead of adopting a frightening tone by highlighting the health dangers of air pollution, this ad takes a very sarcastic…and funny approach to the issue of air pollution, in a great kitschy 1980s style!

“Fresh Air”, anyone?

Credits: Advertising Agency: DDB; Director: Shern Sharma; Original Music: Denise Hofmann
For the Chinese version, click here.

For the second year in a row, I am very excited to be media partner of Communitelligence’s Communicating Sustainability conference, which will be held on September 22 and 23 in Santa Clara, California.

Very excited, why?

• Because it touches on a critical aspect of (genuine) corporate sustainability: bringing it at the core of what businesses stand for, at the core of their culture, mission and values….their DNA!
• Because it brings together a global audience of experts and professionals from a wide range of organizations – businesses, non-profits, media, etc. – to discuss latest trends of sustainability communications
• Because it is also accessible to people like me who do not live in the US: the second day of the conference will be a virtual conference!

For more information, please check Communitelligence’s website here. Enjoy!

A new academic year has just started. ‘C’est la rentrée’ as we say in France. Summer holidays are over. I now intend to be back in full steam!

I missed all our online conversations, whether here on this blog or on Twitter. So many things have happened during these past few months (the BP spill just to mention one) and have triggered some great debates and thinking. Let’s keep it going.

There are a few draft posts in the pipeline – coming soon! Stay tuned

This first link will introduce you to a new and interesting form of consumer activism: the carrotmob. As The Economist says, “watch this space”.

This second link looks at the use of emotion-based communications strategies to encourage effective behavioral change.

This third link looks at the power of sustainability storytelling, notably as a solution to the difficulties encountered in climate change communications since the failure of COP15 and the climate gate.

This fourth link further reinforces the case for sustainability & employee engagement with good stats and perspectives.

This is actually all for this week. Have a great one!

Plastic bags can indeed be easily mistaken for food by marine animals, such as turtles that consume jellyfish or squid. A plastic bag floating in the water and a jellyfish are very difficult to tell apart. This makes plastic bags a particularly hazardous form of litter to wildlife. Some scientists even estimate that in certain species, plastic amounts to up to 10% of the animal’s body weight!

This is not the first time such visual has been used in ads. It is actually very hard to distinguish who came up with the original design first…!

Scuba Dogs association:
“Turn this into an endanged species. Keep the beaches clean” – 2003
Source : joelapompe
Agency : McCann Erickson Guaynabo (Puerto Rico)

Surfrider Foundation – 2005
“Help us keep the ocean clean”
Source : joelapompe
Agency : Young & Rubicam (France)

]]> http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2010/04/04/ad-of-the-day-17-plastic-shopping-bag-jellyfish-ads/feed/ 3 http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2010/03/09/china-insights-product-related-health-and-safety-as-top-csr-focus-in-china/ http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2010/03/09/china-insights-product-related-health-and-safety-as-top-csr-focus-in-china/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:10:54 +0000 admin http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/?p=1083 Early February 2010, Tsinghua University and Ruder Finn Asia released some insightful data on CSR within the China market sphere by looking at Chinese consumers’ expectations and perceptions of CSR performance as well as the influence of CSR on consumer behavior.

3000 respondents were polled and two industries were covered for the first annual edition of this ‘CSR Index’, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and the automobile industry. These were not only obviously examined because of the traffic and volume each sector currently encompasses, but mostly because these two sectors came under very close scrutiny in China over the past few years: recent product safety and quality scandals (i.e. the melamine in milk scandal in 2008) sparked public outrage and profoundly affected China’s FMCG industry, while China’s auto industry became the leading automobile market in the world.

Here is a snapshot of the most interesting findings from the CSR Index:

• Product quality is the primary concern of Chinese consumers, followed by environmental protection (2^nd), management integrity (3^rd), philanthropy (4^th), and also intellectual property issues, fair competition, and least of all, employee rights and interests.

Given the recent food safety scandals in China, consumers are demanding healthy and safe products, first and foremost. While the presence of environmental protection in second position denotes greater environmental awareness, it also shows that Chinese consumers value products’ green credentials as guarantee of good quality and safety, the same way that management integrity appears obviously as a sub-set of quality, safety, and environmental concern. Overall, the weaker position of philanthropy or other non-product related issues such as employee rights, demonstrates the importance of the ‘me’ factor (consumers will mostly care about what can directly affect themselves and their own families), and that donations are clearly not enough, companies are expected to offer products that can be trusted.

• As Chinese consumers are calling for a trustable market environment, there is growing connection between the perceived CSR performance of companies and the purchase decisions of consumers, while the Index also confirms that the more educated a target market segment is, the more concern there is for CSR.

• Chinese corporations are widely seen as faring less well than foreign enterprises, which is according to Prof. Zhao Shuguang, head of the Tsinghua Media Survey Lab, due to foreign companies perceived advantages over domestic companies in terms of management, technology, capital and resource allocation. This again demonstrates that CSR in China should be incorporated into core  business practices in order to win consumers’ trust, rather than used as simple add-ons or donations/marketing campaigns.

Overall, some interesting findings, which show again that addressing local stakeholder concerns is of paramount importance when fine-tuning the local implementation of global CSR policies and strategies.

* I have been very quiet over the past month or so, due to a very busy workload, recent changes to my professional life, and in between, some nice holidays back home. I am now slowly getting back to blogging, and micro-blogging. I have missed it! Stay tuned.

This first link looks at the infinite possibilities of online sustainability reporting.

This second link offers a great deal of tips for all the job seekers and young graduates dreaming of a CSR job.

This is actually all for this week. Have a great one!