Sustainability communication: to be or to appear socially responsible?

On Thursday 16 April, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and Asociación de Consultoras de Comunicación (ADC) presented a study on ESG (environmental, social and governance) communication, "Being or appearing socially responsible?", carried out by UOC researchers Marc Compte, Elisenda Estanyol and Ferrán Lalueza, and published in the journal Revista Latina de Comunicación Social.

Since the introduction of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, sustainable development and ESG criteria have become one of the leading strategic trends in the communication and public relations industry. This study shows how PR consultancy firms working in Spain promote their specialist ESG services and also how they publicize their own engagement with the issue.

The study, headed by researchers from the GAME group and teaching staff from the UOC Master's Degree in Corporate Communication, Protocol and Events, took as its sample the top 50 PR agencies in Spain, according to the 2022 El Publicista ranking. The variables analysed included the type of consultancy firm, the ESG services offered, the success stories highlighted, in-house ESG actions implemented and the professionals specializing in the field, with an analysis covering more than 60 campaigns featured on the agencies' websites.

ESG campaigns carried out by corporate clients go beyond sustainability reports and involve other PR-related disciplines such as media relations, event organization and digital communication, with a fairly balanced presence of social and environmental campaigns. However, if attention is turned to their link with the SDGs, it can be seen that the majority are associated with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), particularly actions promoting physical and mental health, followed by environmental protection-related SDGs. The success of campaigns is gauged, firstly, with quantitative data such as view and impression count, site visits, etc. and, secondly, with awareness data based on the PESO (paid, earned, shared and owned) model, in earned, owned and shared media.

Turning to in-house ESG actions, the proportion of PR agencies declaring they perform such actions stands at 34%, the majority being SMEs, which began to invest in them following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, principally in the form of foundations and partnerships with NGOs or by means of codes of ethics and conduct. One of the goals reflected in these in-house campaigns is that associated with the promotion of equality for women (SDG 5), perhaps due to the large number of women in the industry, albeit not in senior management positions, according to ADC's 2020 report.

In general, the agencies analysed do not state that they specialize in ESG communication on their websites, even though 42% of consultancy firms do offer ESG services, particularly in communication associated with sustainability, equality, reputation and ESG criteria. It is believed that this area of specialization will grow in response to the growing demand from clients and to meet new national and European rules obliging more and more companies to disclose non-finance-related information.

The recommendations made in the study include:

• The need to possess professionals specializing in ESG and to highlight their value, to give visibility to their work.
• To boost actions associating the activity of agencies with ESG criteria. Actions are often carried out but not communicated.
• Transparency is one of the cornerstones of ESG communication and there is a need for PR agencies to reflect their ESG activities and for the industry to engage with this field.
• One good strategy for winning new clients would involve publicizing more campaigns, as this is one of the criteria most commonly used by clients when choosing an agency, according to SCOPEN (2021).
• More information needs to be included on the impact of campaigns on their target audience, in terms of changes in behavioural patterns or in attitude.

About ADC

The ADC association brings together communications consultancy firms in Spain to represent and defend the industry's interests. We foster ethical behaviour, professionalism and service quality to contribute to the development and growth of a more transparent and more sustainable society. We leverage the values of talent, innovation, creativity and our members' experience in our ongoing mission to highlight the power of communication to consolidate our clients' reputation and influence.

ADC is the agent for the transformation and development of the industry, basing ourselves on the principles of commitment, transparency, diversity, excellence and responsibility as the values underpinning our professional activities.

Reference article

Estanyol, Elisenda, Compte-Pujol, Marc y Lalueza, Ferran (2024). ¿Ser o parecer socialmente responsables? Cómo visibilizan las agencias de relaciones públicas su implicación en proyectos de RSC ajenos y propios [Being or appearing socially responsible? How do public relations agencies demonstrate their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, whether they are supporting external initiatives or pursuing their own]. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 82, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.4185/rlcs-2024-2181

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