In a relatively recent phenomenon, the ESG agenda gained prominence, attracted companies and brought focus on the urgency of taking care of the planet, the human and business relationships with more attention
How to deal with the practice of ESG, the reputation was guaranteed
The big truth is that the salespeople rarely realized that when it came down to it, the decisive factors for closing orders were different
Perhaps (or mainly) for this reason ESG started to be affected by a set of different factors, among them, the difficulty in making it clear that the investments were yielding practical results, capable of affecting thelinha de fundo.
In a kind of ideological falsehood, verygreenwashingwas practiced and perceived as such. There has been a lot of abuse of this resource used by companies to defend a sustainable profile from a young age with the promotion of practices that are not so legal or so concrete. There were geopolitical effects, how the backward turn in the adoption of clean energy in Europe with the war in Ukraine and the kicking and screaming of farmers in the face of blockages by more demanding buyers. Research published by the newspaper Meio e Mensagembrought to light the difficulty of marketing executives in dealing with the topic. Among the 106 CMOs interviewed, 90% recognize its relevance, but only 20% say they know the subject in depth
The brand image is the main motivation of the group (76%), followed by positive impact on society (74%) and brand reputation (63%). On the edge, issues of more direct impact, as attraction and retention of talent (37%) and pressure from stakeholders (31%)
The concern with image can provoke distortions such as brands responsible for environmental tragedies suddenly wanting to personify Artemis, the Greek goddess protector of nature. The positive impact on society is a diffuse concept and, in fact, is "within" what makes up reputation
It is of little use for an investor to know if the brand sponsors the local football field as it is for a consumer to know if the company is transparent on the stock exchange
Reputation is built on the correctness of everyday actions. And often here some confusion also arises. Many brands linked to the end consumer have already suffered reputational scratches amplified by an increasingly digital world, caused by issues that touch on ESG such as mistreating clients with a certain profile (the S, of social, you will end up with the environment (the E, of English environment
Let's be clear: there is an impact with even more direct implications on sales –the external pressure. In addition to end consumers, large companies, pressured by the capital market and other factors, they are starting to demand from their suppliers behavior more aligned with ESG practices. And this is where the greatest reputational demands come in, backed by concrete actions
Giants of Brazilian agribusiness have begun to face demands from European customers. It's no use saying they are green in body and soul? Nothing. Misconduct is evidenced by instruments that include even satellite images provided by third parties
There are not a few practical cases, that require answers. The reputation built step by step on concrete foundations (ESG is one of them, among many others) is one of the main pillars for similar results. Apple manages to sell products at prices above average not only because of the quality of its products, but by the reputation built over decades. As we said before, a good reputation helps to sell more and better and contributes to perpetuating favorable results
