ESG Communications: Global, Local and Regulatory Compliance. Is your communications strategy ready?

February 1st iCrowdNewswire we will introduce an ESG suite of communications products including our unique advertising driven global targeting and Google Analytics reporting. Additionally, our joint venture newswire Nexis Newswire (joint venture with LexisNexis) will also offer the ESG Suite globally and advertise, market, and promote client releases in the specialized sections in over 200 ESG media including The Wall Street Journal ESG Report; The New York Times ESG section; Barron’s Sustainable Investing; Forbes Sustainability; Politico Sustainability; Forbes Diversity; Politico Diversity; BBC Climate; Economist Climate Change; Guardian CSR; The New York Times Climate and Environment; Green Biz; Huffington Post Diversity and more.

In the Cision 2021 State of the Press Release study based on research on 100,000 press releases respondents said that 61% of the press releases they plan to issue in the next 12 months will cover ESG subjects: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (25%); Corporate Social Responsibility (19%); and Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (17%). The report stated, “It’s apparent that diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) are becoming increasingly popular subjects in society, and companies are communicating their commitment to those issues”.

ESG communications is the next growth segment in corporate communications and communicators will have to rethink the business-as-usual approach and focus on reaching the right audiences which will not necessarily be the traditional media. Specialized media, stakeholders and consumers, investors, and regulators, locally and on a global scale, in a variety of languages. Competing for smaller and more specialized share of voice, will require a different approach. Will simply adding “Attention ESG Editors” to a traditional press release distributed to the through traditional channels, deliver the specialized audience required? In the Cision study respondents were asked: What is your top challenge as it relates to press releases? 42% of respondents answered: “Ensuring they reach the right person/people”.

To this effect, ESG communications will be all about reaching the right audiences. At iCrowdNewswire since our technology deal with Google in 2017 we have introduced more press release distribution innovations than any other newswire in the industry and our advertising driven geographic and demographic targeting allows issuers to choose specific sections within web sites and over 11 million sites worldwide.  We advertise, market, and promote your press release and do so by placing ads in the specific sections of web sites where ESG news is featured, and with one click you can choose sites worldwide without additional geographic costs including coverage in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union.

On the regulatory front, the Harvard Law School Forum has published Towards an ESG Disclosure Framework (read here…) which summarizes the disclosure process: The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, an organization responsible for setting global accounting standards, launched the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The ISSB will work to establish a singular, global ESG disclosure framework for corporates.

The Value Reporting Foundation (VRF)—which includes the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)—and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) have officially merged with the IFRS Foundation. The IFRS’ Technical Readiness Working Group (TRWG) issued a prototype framework for both general ESG and climate corporate disclosures. The ISSB will have a global presence in all regions—the Americas, Asia-Oceania, Europe, and the Middle East—with primary offices in Frankfurt and Montréal and support from the San Francisco and London offices.

At the end of the day the challenge is an opportunity for corporate communicators and will mean a growth on communications overall, it will mandate a break from the norm and the business-as-usual communications practices, newswires ready to research, build and tailor services to meet the new needs will flourish and those committed to 30-year-old shotgun distribution methods will fall further behind. Legacy distribution is static and passive web postings, and the future which iCrowdNewswire has already deployed, is dynamic and assertive. We advertise, market, and promote your release proactively driving the right audiences to releases.

The industry will be looking for ROI from their investment in communications. They will be looking for knowledge, innovation, pinpoint targeting, and solid Google analytics reporting with 100% accurate views and clicks.

About iCrowdNewswire

iCrowdNewswire was launched in 2015 by a team of senior executives with deep industry experience. By 2017, iCrowdNewswire started implementing more technology innovations than any other newswire in the industry, including advertising driven geographic and demographic targeting, artificial intelligence translations and detailed analytics. iCrowdNewswire is also the only newswire with news channels available on over 4 billion voice devices through Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Since its inception iCrowdNewswire has distributed in excess of 250,000 releases.