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Emotive Brand's blog

Emotive Brand
Emotivator

For more than 15 years, our team has been providing strategy, content development and design services to the Fortune 500 to help evolve their corporate reporting. We have built a strong reputation for our work in Sustainability, Corporate Responsibility and Annual Reporting.

We view corporate responsibility reporting as an equation, not a annual document. Therefore, our approach is to build the strongest available reporting equation, in any given year, as part of a multi-year evolution that benefits the client, its stakeholders, and society. For further reading of our approach, please see  An Equation for Sustainability Reporting.

Our ability to understand the complexities and nuances of global corporations, coupled with a deep understanding of corporate reporting, has given Emotive Brand a keen ability to recognize the right stories to tell, to the right audience, at the right time and in the right way.

Rebecca can be reached at rebeccat@emotivebrand.com, spotted on Twitter @rebeccatl or find out more about Emotive Brand on Twitter @emotivebrand  or connect at Linkedin and Facebook

Producing a GRI G4 CSR Report: The First 5 Steps

So, you’re thinking about your company’s next sustainability report, or possibly producing your first one, and you want to make the move to Global Reporting Initiative’s newest standard: G4. Where do you start? What does it take? The following are the first 5 steps I recommend, based on my experience managing UPS’s latest corporate sustainability report (the first Comprehensive report in the U.S., launching July 30) and working on another company’s report at the Core level.

1....

  • Read more about Producing a GRI G4 CSR Report: The First 5 Steps

The Brand for a Transformation

We’ve blogged here about something called integrated reporting, which would merge financial reporting (which public corporations are already required to do) with sustainability reporting (which only some companies do).

What we’ve missed – until now – is the need to brand this transformation.

Integrated reporting is a transformation for a whole bunch of interrelated reasons. First, financial reporting is mandatory and highly...

  • Read more about The Brand for a Transformation

The Iceberg, Not the Sailboat

Sustainability reporting is harder than it looks. Companies new to reporting often pick up the reports of competitors, suppliers, or customers and think, “Well, that’s not rocket science. We already have a corporate brochure and a website. We’ll just add some ‘sustainability facts’ to that stuff and we’re good to go.”

Then they produce a report that looks like a corporate brochure mashed up with a website and a data dump, and they wonder why no one is impressed....

  • Read more about The Iceberg, Not the Sailboat

Why Integrated Reporting is Inevitable

 

These days, integrated reporting is a corporate dog everyone loves to kick.

People will tell you it’s a bore, a chore, a snore. It’s another corporate cost center, a straightjacket on corporate communication, a full-employment program dreamed up by do-gooders to give jobs to bean counters.

To its harshest critics,...

  • Read more about Why Integrated Reporting is Inevitable

Turning Strong CSR Stories Into New Meaning For Your Employees

A strong CSR report provides an excellent starting point for your brand to achieve a meaningful position in the hearts and minds of your employees

That’s because, according to a recent Forbes report, CSR and employee engagement work hand in hand:

  • Hewitt & Associations found that, “the more a company actively pursues worthy environmental and social efforts, the more engaged its employees are”.
  • ...
  • Read more about Turning Strong CSR Stories Into New Meaning For Your Employees

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 10: The Future of Sustainability Reporting: 10 Trends

The field of corporate sustainability reporting is maturing and evolving, making it important to keep up with the changing standards and expectations long after you complete this lesson in Sustainability 101. As you get more experience in this discipline, continue to watch what the leaders do. Keep up with issues on the horizon through the conversations on blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn. And, attend conferences to hear from the experts when you can.

At Emotive Brand, we strive to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry inorder to help our clients put in...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 10: The Future of Sustainability Reporting: 10 Trends

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 9: Top Five Ways to Merchandize Your Corporate Sustainability Report

When all is said and done, how many people will read your entire corporate sustainability report (CSR), from beginning to end? Chances are that only a few eager readers will read the whole report. Since many of your stakeholders may not delve enthusiastically into the technical details, it may take some additional effort and a bit of creativity to reach them with your company’s main messages about sustainability strategy, philosophies and achievements.

While the quality of the full report is top priority, it is important to consideryour options to extend...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 9: Top Five Ways to Merchandize Your Corporate Sustainability Report

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 9: Top Five Ways to Merchandize Your Corporate Sustainability Report

 

When all is said and done, how many people will read your entire corporate sustainability report (CSR), from beginning to end? Chances are that only a few eager readers will read the whole report. Since many of your stakeholders may not delve enthusiastically into the technical details, it may take some additional effort and a bit of creativity to reach them with your company’s main messages about sustainability strategy, philosophies and achievements.

While the quality of the full report is top priority, it is...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 9: Top Five Ways to Merchandize Your Corporate Sustainability Report

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 8: The Pros and Cons of Five Sustainability Report Formats

What format will your corporate sustainability report (CSR) take? Determining how to present the final product is one of the key decisions to make as you develop the strategy and project plan for a CSR. The format not only has budget and timeline implications, but it also impacts the way your report is organized and written. For example, writing for the web requires a very different approach than a long-form printed copy.

It wasn’t too long ago that most companies simply prepared printed documents and/or an online PDF of the same printed report. But now it is possible to...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 8: The Pros and Cons of Five Sustainability Report Formats

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 7: Top Ten Sustainability Acronyms and Why They Matter

Several years ago, I got a new assignment at work and suddenly found myself immersed in sustainability reporting. As I set out to learn my new job, I discovered an alphabet soup of acronyms that made my head spin on a daily basis. I tried to make sense of what the experts were saying, but thelanguage seemed to barely resemble English. So, one of my first orders of business was to learn the key acronyms of this new discipline. It was clear to me that if I didn’t understand these, I would continue to be lost and confused a good bit of the time.

In the sustainability field,...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 7: Top Ten Sustainability Acronyms and Why They Matter

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 6: Five Not-So-Obvious Ways External Experts Can Improve Your Sustainability Report

Producing a Corporate Sustainability Report (CSR) is a big job that requires significant time andexpertise. It’s easy to underestimate the full scope of resources that reporting requires. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of consultants and agencies available that can help handle many parts of the workload – from strategy, to writing, to data management, to graphic design, as well as agencies that can do it all. Typically, reporting teams only consider hiring a consultant or agency in order to fill obvious gaps in internal resources orexpertise. But, hiring the right experts will also...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 6: Five Not-So-Obvious Ways External Experts Can Improve Your Sustainability Report

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 5: Five Ways to Build Your Sustainability Report Team

In order to build a good corporate sustainability report (CSR), it is important to have a solid team in place. The steps to recruit and motivate that team, however, are not unique to sustainability. Solid project management, expert networking and persuasive leadership are among the key business skills needed to guide your team in delivering a world-class report.

Once you have identified the key experts needed for your ...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 5: Five Ways to Build Your Sustainability Report Team

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 4: Five Company Experts You Need for a Good Sustainability Report

Producing a corporate sustainability report (CSR) is a team sport. The stronger the team is, the stronger the report will be. Each player needs to bring specific expertise that is complementary to the team as a whole. So, it is important to recruit and rally the key experts that can deliver what you need to make the company’s report a success. Choose carefully and look for people who already demonstrate some passion about sustainability.

In most organizations, there are one or two departments that lead the sustainability report. Thosefunctions will likely be a reflection...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 4: Five Company Experts You Need for a Good Sustainability Report

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 3: Five Key Elements of a Good Sustainability Report

Not all corporate sustainability reports (CSRs) are created equal. Some reports areglossy marketing brochures that lack substantive data. Others are so data focused that reading them requires a strong cup of coffee to resist boredom-induced sleep. The best reports provide a balance of accessible, engaging text and comprehensive, material data presented in a well-designed format. It is both art and science.

But what are the elements that go into making a good report? Which reports should you look to for inspiration? A good place to start is the list of...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 3: Five Key Elements of a Good Sustainability Report

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 2: Five Ways to Prepare Your Organization for Sustainability Reporting

First things first. Before setting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to write outlines or strategies or any text at all, there are a few important steps that will help build the foundation for a qualitycorporate sustainability report (CSR).

Most people won’t see the report’s foundation. But, just because you can’t see it, doesn’t make it any less important. Any builder (or homeowner with a leaky basement) will tell you how critical it is to have a solid foundation. Any shortcuts in laying the groundwork will impact the quality of the end product in the construction of...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 2: Five Ways to Prepare Your Organization for Sustainability Reporting

Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 1: Five Reasons Your Business Needs a Sustainability Report

Part 1 in the blog series "Sustainability Reporting 101"

Sadly, most American companies do not produce sustainability (or responsibility) reports. In fact, a recent study of sustainability reporting by the US Conference Board, Bloomberg, and the Global Reporting Initiative shows that only a tenth of the 1000 largest U.S. publicly listed companies effectively disclose sustainability data.

That’s unfortunate. I’ve seen...

  • Read more about Sustainability Reporting 101 - Part 1: Five Reasons Your Business Needs a Sustainability Report
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Maxwell Drommond International - Human Capital: A Global Perspective

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Monika Mitchell - Good-B

Paul Klein - Forbes

Stephen Heiser - Nuclear Knowledge

Tracy Lloyd - Emotive Brand

Wayne Visser - CSR International

Will Henley - Responsibility Inc.

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