A report by KPMG stated that most companies plan to spend more on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) initiatives in the next three years but that poor ESG Communications are an obstacle to progress. The report stated that business leaders felt there was a disconnect between strategy and execution that was, in part, caused by lack of resources, collaboration or communication.
This appears to be a common issue where sustainability, CSR, ESG and other initiatives were effectively compartmentalised from day-to-day operations and seen as the responsibility of a small team, or in some cases just one or two individuals. We now acknowledge that any change to operations, behaviour, systems and mindset demand the same efforts as any strategic change, which requires clear and regular communication first and foremost.
ESG Communications – the challenge
ESG Communications has been an issue for a number of years with many leaders pointing out that there is no single framework for reporting.
In the void companies have created their own reports, which regularly come under fire for lack of transpaency or over-emphasis on one strength that hides a number of weaknesses.
Investors, like consumers, want to be associated with organisations they can trust. Consumers buy the brand and investors buy the shares.
Frameworks and standardised reporting methods are great but really it is about building trust, which is a deeply human feeling. Therefore ESG Communications should be designed for humans, not entities.
As humans we all understand stories. Visual storytelling dates back 35,000 years, which was followed by oral storytelling in the form of poetry and songs. The first written stories came from aniciect Greece around 770 BC.
All of which means that as humans we are hardwired to understand visual stories, which have been with us far longer than the written word.
It is also true that the written word is divisive. To understand a piece of writing or to communicate using the written form, there needs to be a common language. Visual language spans cultures and transcends the written or spoken word.
Photography for ESG Communications
There is a phenonmenon known as the picture superiority effect where studies have shown that people remember and read pictures better than words.
‘This phenomenon is well documented in cognitive psychology. One of the most popular theories for why pictures are more memorable than words belongs to the psychologist Allan Paivio. Paivo believed that the picture-superiority effect occurs because any visual is stored in two ways in memory — (1) as an image, and (2) as a word or phrase that describes the image. In contrast, words are stored in only one way — the word itself. ‘
This has spawned phrases such as ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ – meaning that the viewer can see an image, visually read it, and in doing so conjure words and phrases to decsribe the image – all in a matter of seconds.
It is the picture superiority effect that means photography is a far more effective way to communicate than text. In particular, documentary photography or social documentary photography that captures the real world as people would expect to find it, is a style of photography that builds connections and emotions far better than images that are posed or staged.
From the late 1800s and as cameras became smaller and more portable from the 1930s, the majority of the most influential photographs were made by documentary photographers capturing the world’s most siginifcant political and social events. These images endure because people connect with them and are moved by them.
Read more about the picture superiority effect by clicking the image below and downloading my short PDF booklet.
Photo stories that inspire and motivate
The reality is that documentary photography is a form of truth. What the lens captures has to be there for the photographer to make the photograph and so the viewer accepts it as true and through truth we build trust and influence.
Photo stories are not just a great way to build trust with stakeholders but also a way to communicate efficiently internally. We all understand that change is propelled when people can see change happening and this is often why change takes longer than it should. In a culture of endless emails, Teams calls and slide decks, photo stories are a way of grabbing attention and getting the message across in a way that can inspire and motivate.
I have been working with organisations to create communication campaigns that support change for over 20 years. I’ve been passionate about the environment since childhood and have studied sustainability at Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
Get in touch and let’s talk about how we can improve ESG Communications for your organisation.
