Honing in on the ‘S’ of E S G – a critical component of the sustainability journey

ESG – environmental, social, governance, a subject that has been an increasing topic of debate and discussion, but what about the S?

In this episode we speak to Beth Knight, a leading figure in social impact and sustainability, with over 15 years’ experience in purpose-led business transformation – Beth shares incredible insights as we take a deeper diver into the ‘S’ for social - an area that, whilst often the least talked about, is critical for key stakeholders (employees, customers, communities) who are looking to gauge whether they want to engage.

With information being more accessible, people are more vocal, and therefore, it is no longer enough for organisations to simply broadcast messages that stakeholders take at face value, without question.

Beth speaks about the rise of data and sentiment monitoring to understand if your brand is doing well beyond the campaigns and how looking at the full health of your organisation is now a critical part the sustainability journey.

We discuss the challenges faced by large corporations who have teams dedicated to ESG and sustainability and Beth shares some insightful ‘hacks’ for SMEs who perhaps don’t have the resources, but need to start or accelerate their journeys.

Beth’s commitment to making a positive impact is unwavering – and with her wealth of experience, we could have picked Beth’s brains for hours – so many insights and examples.

Tune in to hear Beth talk about:

• How we raise the profile of the S in ESG?

• The acceleration of the social impact conversation and the opportunities that align with that social side.

• How we advance the conversations and narrative both internally and externally.

• The importance of understanding the materiality assessment of an organisation and the social impact indicators within that.

• How as a Marketer you should be helping your organisation plan how you're going to proactively engage with key stakeholders on the ‘Social’ topics.

• The challenges being faced by SMEs and the ‘hacks’ to navigate them.

• The role of Social Marketing (not to be confused with social media marketing) in educating, driving awareness and changing behaviours.

For more information about Beth Knight - you can visit her site.

Enjoy…

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You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

“Be the voice of the consumer who wants to do more.”

ESG – environmental, social and growth, (yep you read that right), growth rather than governance. We absolutely loved that take from Sandy Skees, Purpose and Impact Global Lead at Porter Novelli. We’ve wanted to talk to Sandy for some time since we came across their research on the ‘Intention – Action Gap - the ‘Rise of the Conscious Consumer’, when writing ‘Can Marketing Save the Planet - 101 Ways to use Sustainable Marketing as a Force for Good’.

This particular piece of research looks at people’s willingness to adopt changes to their behaviours, and not just by purchasing ‘green’ products. Sandy shares example after example of the significant shifts that are happening with consumer appetite and behaviour - shifts which are some of the biggest indicators yet that things are starting to change, and quickly.

Tune in and listen as Sandy shares many fascinating insights from the data and research and, her vast knowledge and decades of experience in this space. You’ll learn:

• What the pressure points are in driving new mindsets.

• What Marketers need to do and why a focus on culture change is critical.

• Why one of the most important roles of business is to change societal behaviours and how communication is the most powerful way of doing this.

• Why communication has to be intentional.

• What is holding brands back.

• What some of the biggest challenges facing marketers are.

For more information about Sandy Skees - you can visit her site.

To view the research The Gap Between Say and Do - see here.

Enjoy…

________________________________________________________________________________

You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.

“If you can change how people spend their money, you can change the world.”

Social Impact, sustainable business, creative ideas and changing behaviours, these are just some of the areas that we explored with Chris Baker, strategist turned entrepreneur and CEO of Serious Tissues.

With behavioural science sitting behind so many successful business models Chris talks to us about his experience across a number of social impact businesses and initiatives that he is involved with, and how a simple switch can make such a positive impact.

You’ll hear us discuss the growing momentum behind sustainable toilet rolls and tissues both within B2B and B2C, bamboo vs. recycled paper and the challenges and opportunities that he is currently seeing. We discuss Chris’s upcoming book exploring social impact and how it’s becoming more fundamental than ever for organisations, the rise of impact investing and how doing good is becoming a competitive advantage. Chris talks about the journey writing his book took him on as he spoke to multiple change brands working towards securing a more sustainable future. Chris shares so many examples, this episode will leave your minds brimming with ideas and inspiration.

Join us as we talk to Chris about:

• Social marketing and behavioural science and why they’re at the forefront of driving commercial and social good.

• The challenges of changing behaviours and the approaches you can take.

• How little changes add up and can open the door to bigger lifestyle changes.

• When it comes to change, the need to look at what you are doing through the lens of opportunity – and framing them as such, as opposed to a threat.

• The intriguing concept of disrupting from within.

• The need to put the right metrics behind innovation to avoid setting it up to fail from the get go.

• The rise of impact investing and how it can scale the good.

For more information about Serious Tissues https://serioustissues.com/

And to tune in to hear Chris talking about the latest Which report about ‘loo roll’, provenance and greenwashing tune in here. (You can connect with him on LinkedIn there too!).

Enjoy…

________________________________________________________________________________

You’ll find the Podcast on all the usual pod platforms - and also on The Global Player and via The Marketing Society. If you love it, do share it and spread the word. Talking about climate change and the role we play is one of the most important things we can do. So join the conversation. We’re all in this together.

Our podcasts are recorded purely via online conferencing platforms, we apologise for any minor sound quality issues.