www.50000feet.com Open in urlscan Pro
2600:9000:2490:2800:9:506:4480:93a1  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

✓
Thanks for sharing!
AddToAny
More…

Work
About
Solutions
Industries
Views
News
Careers
Contact

 * Work
 * Industries
 * About
 * News




NEWS


NEWS




AD AGE FEATURES 50,000FEET PERSPECTIVE ON ESG’S ROLE IN EVOLVING CLIENT
PARTNERSHIPS

News — May 3, 2023

Ad Age recently explored how a focus on environmental, social and governance is
changing the client-agency relationship, featuring 50,000feet’s perspective on
the increasingly important topic. 

 

Jim Misener, 50,000feet Principal and President, discussed how ESG is becoming a
common thread in earning new client relationships and planning for current
clients, especially in the B2B marketing landscape. He draws from 50,000feet’s
experience in launching client sustainability initiatives, from presentations
and reports to video series and digital experiences, and how each shapes a
broader narrative for the organization’s customers, partners and employees.

Read the full article below. 

 

ESG AND AD AGENCY REVIEWS—HOW DE&I AND SUSTAINABILITY ARE SHOWING UP IN PITCHES 

 

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) has become a standard part of ad
agency reviews but some argue it seems brands are only trying to check a box.

 

ESG has become a standard part of ad agency reviews, but it’s unclear whether
these efforts are yet leading to any meaningful change as it relates to
sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion, or are more performative. 

 

To be sure, clients are increasingly asking ad agencies in reviews to be
certified with certain business sustainability firms such as EcoVadis and Sedex,
according to one consultant who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they are
not authorized to speak publicly about the reviews they oversee. 

 

And when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion—which falls under the
social aspect of ESG—more companies are bringing in experts to assess agencies
on the makeup of their teams and what commitments they’ve made to improve DE&I
internally, the consultant said.

 

But most brands are still at the early stages of these efforts and are unsure
how exactly to apply them to their businesses. 

 

One agency executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they personally
have been a part of creative pitches that brought in an external DE&I consultant
and found those consultants weren’t sure what they were supposed to be asking or
what their role was supposed to be in the review.

 

Some brands are also only including a few basic questions on sustainability, the
consultant said.

 

“I don’t know if it’s clients being progressive or them covering their asses,”
the consultant said. “It’s embarrassing. It’s greenwashing; DE&I washing, if
that’s a term.”

 

Lauren Tucker, founder and CEO of inclusion management consultancy Do What
Matters, which advises top ad shops such as TRG and The Martin Agency, said,
unfortunately, “checking boxes is an old trope and continues to take center
stage as marketers try to hold their agencies to a higher standard than they
maintain themselves.”

 

“The evidence is in the massive number of layoffs of DE&I and ESG teams in the
past year,” Tucker said. “Marketers must stop trying to ‘fix’ DEI and ESG with
checklists and start living the principles that will make their brands more
attractive to consumers and talent who want to see real, authentic change on
these issues.”

 

The impact of the tech layoffs specifically on DE&I teams has been widely
reported. Twitter and a popular ride-sharing app were among the tech companies
that made big cuts to their DE&I divisions, Bloomberg reported.

 

Tucker also argued that new business reviews are not the time to start
evaluating agencies on ESG, because shops will too easily “bluff their way
through [the] pitch and bedazzle participants in the process.” That work should
be done beforehand, she said.

 

“If they are truly committed to what ESG stands for, they should only invite
agencies to reviews with a proven track record of proactively expressing ESG in
their work for their clients,” Tucker said.

 

Meanwhile, overshadowing ESG initiatives in reviews right now is flexibility and
efficiency, said Pat Lafferty, chief operating officer, Acceleration Community
of Companies, an ad network. That, of course, is due largely to the shaky
economy. 

 

“Being able to move things around, whether it’s to delay or change dates for a
campaign for various reasons. We have a lot more of that,” he explained.

 

But Lafferty said “ESG has and will continue to be important to clients” and it
will rise to the top of the list of priorities again “when economic things
dissipate.”

 

HERE’S HOW ESG IS SHOWING UP IN PITCHES

 

Since the 2020 murder of Geroge Floyd and the subsequent rise in the Black Lives
Matter movement, brands and agencies have been called on to prove how they are
working to diversify their staffs, which still remain predominantly white and
male. 

 

That area of ESG remains a priority, even amid the slowing economy, Lafferty
said. “First and foremost, clients are making sure our teams are representative
of the population they are looking to communicate with,” he said.

 

Marketers have been slower to adopt environmental assessments in new business
pitches. But companies, mainly in Europe, have started including such
assessments in new business pitches because they realize customers are demanding
more transparency there.

 

Consumers are increasingly choosing to buy from brands that are more
eco-friendly. And movements such as Clean Creatives, which asks agencies to
refuse business from fossil fuel companies and brands not to work with agencies
that have contracts with such companies, are starting to take off.

 

“Agencies, like it or not, form part of a global brand’s supply chain,” said
Adrienne Little, co-founder, And Rising, a creative ventures firm. “It’s one way
global brands can refract risk onto others and away from themselves. Meanwhile,
movements like Clean Creatives are severing agency ties with any brand directly
involved in fossil fuels. Each is looking outside themselves for solutions. It’s
shareholder, not stakeholder thinking. A blame game."

 

Little said procurement is asking agencies questions such as: “Do you carbon
offset? Do you vet production suppliers for environmental standards? Can you
confirm your policies regarding recycling?”

 

Potential clients in the experiential space will want to, for example, know that
the network’s agencies reuse certain materials in the events they create, ACC’s
Lafferty added, “The reusability of things we will be creating for them is a
common thing.” 

 

Allbirds, which has begun making its shoes with more eco-friendly and natural
materials in its efforts to be greener, said it assesses its potential agency
partners equally on expertise, creativity, team synergy and their values.

 

“Sustainability isn’t a corporate buzzword for us, it’s a core value that’s
deeply embedded in every part of our business—product design, logistics and, of
course, marketing,” Allbirds Chief Brand and Product Officer Kate Ridley said.
“Our north star is reversing climate change through better business. So the
first filter for any potential partnership, including agencies, is an
organization’s approach and commitment to sustainability.”

 

Ridley said, specifically, Allbirds asks agencies to share their past
ESG-related projects and experience with purpose-driven clients.

 

“But equally as important, we also want to know what they’ve achieved
internally,” Ridley said. 

 

“So we’ll ask about their long-term commitments, their achievements to date, and
what’s on the horizon for their organization. For us, ESG commitments are table
stakes. We appreciate that every business is in a different stage of the
journey, and also understand that we’re not perfect, either, but the intent and,
importantly, action has to be there.”

 

Some brands are requiring agencies to be certified with certain firms including
EcoVadis and Sedex. EcoVadis and Sedex did not return requests for comment about
their role in reviews.

 

Greg Taylor, director of business development for WPP’s VMLY&R, said the agency
has had to show EcoVadis certification in a few global pitches, typically for
brands that are Europe-based.

 

“That’s where we really start to see EcoVadis, is in large global pitches,”
Taylor said. “So, at a holding company level, WPP fills out those EcoVadis forms
and gets certified. And then we pass [it] along, showing that we are certified
through EcoVadis as a sustainable company.”

 

EcoVadis essentially charges companies an annual subscription service to
evaluate and provide guidance on sustainability. For a company of WPP’s size of
1,000 or more employees, plans range between $2,199 a year and $9,899 a year,
according to pricing information on the firm’s website.

 

EcoVadis’ most affordable “basic” plan includes a carbon scorecard, improvement
tools, sustainability how-to guides and an industry risk profile. On the most
expensive plan, agencies are assigned a point person to guide the company
through steps, including online learning courses.

 

“From a WPP perspective, we respond to their questionnaire annually,” a WPP
spokesperson said. “The response process is managed by the sustainability team
but with support from other business functions, for example procurement and
legal.”

 

WPP’s EcoVadis certification process is handled by a sustainability team, which
is focused on internal versus client work. According to its 2022 sustainability
report, the team focuses on areas including making progress toward the holding
company’s goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions across its supply chain by
2030 and shifting to 100% renewable electricity. While the sustainability team
isn’t client-facing, the work it’s doing is being evaluated by clients.

 

As brands are also increasingly being called out for greenwashing and, ahead of
the Federal Trade Commission’s updates to its green marketing guidelines, they
are looking to their agency partners to advise them on how to talk about their
sustainability efforts. So, they need to know their potential agency partners
are properly equipped to handle that task.

 

Still, only 4% of ads over the last three years contain sustainability
messaging, supported by an 8% in media spend, and the number of ads containing
sustainability messaging decreased 47% at the beginning of 2023 from 2022,
according to recent research from CreativeX, a creative data platform that works
with brands including Nestlé, Heineken and Unilever.

 

U.S. brands are being extra cautious about what they share on their
environmental progress before the FTC’s guidelines come in, said Caitlin Hicks,
sustainability manager of Nuevo, a sustainability-focused creative agency that’s
made green marketing its specialty. 

 

Hicks said for now, Nuevo advises clients to be very honest about what they’ve
accomplished and what they haven’t, while also being careful about using the
word “sustainable” because there is no clear definition for what is a
“sustainable product.” 

 

“What we always recommend to clients is to be very careful of that word; say
instead ‘we’re on a sustainability journey,’” Hicks said.

 

Jim Misener, principal and president of independent brand consultancy
50,000feet, said he’s seeing clients increasingly in industries, including
manufacturing and health care, prioritizing sustainability in new business
pitches. “ESG-related certifications and reporting methodologies are becoming
required and standardized” in those industries, he said.

 

“50,000feet has helped clients shape their ESG narrative at all levels of the
organization, from corporate sustainability reports and landing pages to talent
acquisition campaigns and video series,” Misener said. “Our partners’
prospective team members, customers and shareholders are asking how each
organization is growing its culture of DE&I, helping to protect the planet and
giving back to communities.”

 

Whether or not brands are prioritizing ESG as much as they should be right now,
ACC’s Lafferty argued eventually they all will have to because customers are
demanding it.

 

He said consumers care about how companies do business and who they do business
with and “they will find out what you’re doing. So, behaving and showing up
authentically and truthfully is going to be the thing that continues to drive
brands and their behaviors.”


 


View All News

Onward & Upward
 * Newsletter
 * Let’s Collaborate

 * 
 * 
 * 
   

© 2023 50,000feet, Inc.® Terms and Conditions
Subscribe
Thank you for subscribing.

50k is hiring. Join our team and help us shape modern brands.

See Job Openings