Making the business case for sustainability in a convincing way will determine the sustainability practitioner’s credibility and its ability to be listened to by its peers. Therefore, this happens to be the priority no.1 of many of us. Below are three simple rules for anyone preparing to articulate the business case for sustainability:

• Be concise: Every business executive or MBA grad will tell you to that rule no.1 is to keep things simple and make sure you can articulate any business strategy in one sentence. Same goes with your business case for sustainability – make sure you can articulate it clearly within 30s by using a concise, targeted key message at its core. If not, you run the risk of losing your audience’s attention and not hitting home run.
• Speak the same language as your audience: Too often (as sustainability professionals) we assume that anyone understands the meaning of such acronyms as GRI, SRI and so forth. Do not make this assumption – rather than that, make sure you keep sustainability ‘mainstream’ like any other business priority your company has to deal with everyday. Do not make this a ‘niche’ or ‘add-on’ to the business by using jargon that just sustainability pros understand.
• Be specific: Make sure you link sustainability to the key business drivers of your company and avoid generalities.

These are (I know…) very generic rules. It is always easier said that done, but while reading the latest report published by Forum for the Future (Breakthrough Innovation)….I’ve found this concise articulation of why sustainability matters to one specific company:

“One company we work with says their past success was built on access to cheap, predictably-priced labour, raw materials and energy. After a very profitable twenty years, they are now struggling. Labour prices have gone up. Commodity prices have doubled since 2000, and have become much more volatile.

This company, and other sustainability leaders, has realised that to be successful it needs a new business model: one that has foundations that will be true in a future driven by sustainability issues.”

And you, what’s your experience in making the business case for sustainability? What have you found that works? And that doesn’t work?

To address these challenges, attention has been traditionally given to the buyer-supplier relationship. Most the conferences out there focus on this (see this one for example), but is it where the solutions are?

Not really. The gap between policy and practice appears to be mostly an internal challenge, rooted within the buying company. Internal departments – legal, financial, operational, and sustainability – pursue conflicting agendas and often fail to work together to implement consistent policies and practices.

Would you agree?

This is one of the key findings from the white paper written by Edelman (disclosure: my employer) and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), after we spoke to 20 companies across sectors to uncover the practical issues in turning sustainable supply chain policies into practice. To read the white paper, please click here.

To me, it’s not really a specific skill that will help make the difference, it’s an attitude: being curious.

If you aren’t curious, PR might be the wrong field to get into, because our business environment (the media landscape for example) and our client’s businesses are in a constant state of change.

Having a sense of curiosity will drive you to want to learn more, discover new insights, come up with fresh ideas, think in new ways, and navigate the increasingly complex business and social environment in which we operate.

From interns to CEOs, curiosity is the foundation of success for yourself and your clients: it’s about asking the right questions, deep-diving into research and data, and being a avid reader and learner.

And this is even more important if you decide to specialize in emerging and fast-growing disciplines such as sustainability.

So…are you curious?

To truly integrate it into a company’s business and day-to-day operations, sustainability needs to be owned and deployed within the organisation – across all functions, levels and geographies.

However, when such Sustainability Department exists, it tends to create the opposite: employees feel it is the reponsibility of that same Department to implement the sustainability strategy of the company and that it is not something their own departmet has anything to do about.

This perception is hard to change so hats off to Republic of Everyone for creating a super smart campaign for Unilever Australia which revolves around a simple and very powerful idea — “What if we gave everyone in the company a new job title: Head of Sustainability?”

Just as the clever sustainability communications agency explains: ”Employees arrived at work on September 20 to find new business cards on their desk, with their name on them, as well as a job manual explaining sustainability and what’s required for a Head of Sustainability. Posters and stickers aroudn the office announced the campaign, as well as workshops and a launch with the CEO in charge.”

This is all there: Telling employees they can all play an important role, equipping them with the tools to do so and appeal to their pride and willigness to make a difference.

Bravo!

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