Using Empathy to Create a More Compelling ESG Story for Your Business

08.25.22

By Holly Venable, Creative Director

Using Empathy to Create a More Compelling ESG Story for Your Business

I was recently on a flight where I unabashedly eavesdropped on the conversation in the row behind me. A businessman chatted with his college-aged seatmate about the young man’s plans for the future. These plans included becoming CEO of the Utah Jazz (look out Danny Ainge), but one of the steppingstones was this student’s desire to work for a brand like Patagonia or The North Face post-college because he “really likes their messaging.”

This phrase really resonated with me—he likes their messaging.

Brands like Patagonia and The North Face have integrated marketing campaigns that are hyper-focused on how they reduce, reuse, and recycle to work in harmony with the planet. The way they successfully approach this is through first-person storytelling, which makes these brands memorable and appealing to both their target consumers and talent retention.

But the developing picture is, that regardless of the industry type, there is an increasing correlation between how a brand highlights and differentiates its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) story in the marketplace, and its long-term gain in market share.

So how do you help your brand meet this growing demand? It’s grounded in human-first, empathetic storytelling.

For decades, companies have been implementing ESG strategies and slowly marketing them to two key stakeholders: customers and employees. The pandemic, however, revealed how a strong ESG strategy can work to reduce future business risk. Combined with growing stakeholder interest (thanks to an especially tumultuous political scene, the Great Resignation, and the increased frequency of natural disasters), ESG has become a household term.

As a Creative Director in the B2B space, I help our clients shape and tell their brand stories across everything from communications campaigns to in-person activations. I’m responsible for observing trends and shifts in audience loyalty towards the brands they invest in…or abandon.

Stakeholders and consumers gravitate towards brands that make ESG a core tenet of their business. According to Fuse Marketing, after learning about a brand’s social responsibility initiatives, Gen-Z consumers were 85% more likely to trust a brand, and 84% more likely to buy their products. Brands can deepen stakeholder brand loyalty, positively impact society, and steadily grow their company bottom line simply by effectively communicating their existing ESG efforts.

The correlation between ESG and brand loyalty isn’t just limited to customers. ESG is increasingly impacting talent and retention as employees seek to contribute their time and talent towards those helping the planet. The Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study found that 64% of Millennials won’t take a job if their employer doesn’t have a strong ESG policy, and 83% would be more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to social and environmental issues.

 But not all ESG stories are equal.

Artist Austin Kleon in Show Your Work writes, “…Human beings are interested in other human beings and what other human beings do.”

By breaking down your ESG efforts into small, relatable human stories across your marketing campaign, you can celebrate your ESG story, build trust with your key stakeholders, and show them how your brand is helping to improve the world - while also building those coveted brand evangelists for life.

So, what’s the key to telling these stories more effectively for maximum impact? Hot tip: It’s not a 90-page sustainability report. As marketers tasked with engaging audiences, it’s our job to effectively position your ESG story throughout your communications strategy.

Read on for part two of our blog, where we reveal a few quick tips for “getting human” with your ESG marketing campaign.