5 recommendations for online CSR comms

This week saw the release of two multimedia digital online technicolour walking and talking sustainability communications - one is a CSR report and the other, a website which is the basis for reporting. These communications are clearly designed with the masses in mind. All those billions of people around the globe who have time to sit and watch scores of  videos about company sustainability activities will be delighted at the flurry of box-office offerings now available on corporate sustainability websites.  I will take a quick look at these two different online deliveries, and then share five recommendations for online reporters to mull over. 

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"Burt's Bees open doors to greater sustainability with a multimedia social and environmental report" is the title of the press release on CSWwire.com announcing the arrival of the Burt's Bees movie. You can access the report here. Burt's Bees aspire to becoming "the greenest personal care company on earth". That's a big ambition, as is, indeed, their new sustainability report. The multimedia production is split into 10 chapters (welcome, this report, governance, culture, products, sourcing, packaging, community, environment, buzz)  with around 75 minutes of video footage, supplemented by some data charts (make sure you enable pop-ups!). The videos are professionally produced and very slick, showing many of Burt's Bees real people who talk openly about how they do their jobs, what's important to them and the company, society and the environment. Most vids last between 6 and 14 minutes each.  The two video clips I watched in full were Chapter 1 - the CEO's introduction - and Chapter 2 - with the delightful Yola Carlough, Burt's Bees Director of Sustainability who describes in 6 minutes what the company has tried to do with this multimedia report. Yola is worth watching for any number of minutes! However, I didn't manage to watch all the videos in full, though I scanned most of them briefly.

The storytelling approach to this report describes the Burt's Bees processes and impacts, as far as I could tell, and it does give the impression that this company takes sustainability culture seriously. As far as embedding culture is concerned, Burt's Bees seems to have got it right. I assume this report was designed for consumers, the employees themselves (what a wonderful  way to celebrate so many employees  - turning them into movie stars - something to show their kids and friends and families - and potential Hollywood agents) and perhaps also for the army of Clorox people who own Burt's Bees and who themselves are advancing their own sustainability culture.

Something I would add to this report is a document download with a list of the key impacts and performance data. A bird's eye view,or should I say a bee's eye view, of this report would make it more accessible to those who don't have 75 minutes to watch movies (or prefer to spend movie time with Angelina Jolie or George Clooney). Key content transcripts of the videos would be helpful.

The other thing I would add to this report is  interactivity. There is no room for comment or insight. Instead, Burt's Bees direct us to their Facebook page where they maintain they are "encouraging dialogue with readers".   However, a brief look at the Burt's Bees facebook page shows only announcements of  product promotions and consumer comments which appear to go unanswered. I didn't notice a "dialogue" about sustainability.

It's a nice production, which may well appeal to a broader audience than the standard style of report we have come to know and love hate tolerate expect.

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The other digital extravaganza announced this week on Report Alert was Virgin Media Inc's new sustainability website with the line "announcing a new approach to sustainability reporting" , the "new" being "exclusively digital." You can view this website here. 

This is not really a report, but the preparation for a report. Virgin Media promises to be updating sustainability data regularly on this website. As it stands, whilst this is a good piece of sustainability communications, little current data is presented beyond a download of carbon emissions.

The first video clip - "Getting it straight from the top man - CEO Niel Berkett " is a 2 minute intro and holds a suprising fun twist which gets you smiling as you start out exploring the report. Well worth taking a look. In fact, all the vids have a touch of humour which makes you want to watch the rest of them.

The website has five sections: our approach, our digital future, the environment, diversity, the supply chain. It includes a "Browse content" tab which lists download documents (policies and video files). I downloaded the carbon data file, for example, and immediately noticed a hike in the Virgin Media's carbon footprint between 2007 and 2009. There is no explanation in the narrative for this growing carbon footprint. The narrative references only the good things that Virgin Media are doing to reduce energy use.

Virgin Media's CEO says that "he believes this is the future of sustainability reporting", referring to harnessing the power of digital media. Virgin's website/report site contains about 5 vids which are quite short and easy to digest. A nice feature is that they show Virgin people, which makes for a more authentic experience. However, the sustainability website is low on data so far.  I looked at the section called Diversity. This is a general statement about Virgin Media's  approach  and an interview with the Chief People Officer , but there is no disclosure about  how many employees are in the business, or any evidence that diversity is taking root, aside from a few mentions. Unless Virgin Media are going to beef this site up a whole lot with material and relevant performance data, then it will remain a sustainability website and definitely not anything that resembles reporting.  

Virgin Media tries to generate some action from readers with a "What do you think?" textbox on each page. I sent in one comment and a query - not sure where they went - hope they didn't end up in one of Virgin's fun-style recycling bins. It was only later that I noticed on the "Contact Us" page that they require contact details in order to reply to feedback. Oops. The feedback box doesn't ask for contact details. You just assume they will know.

The Virgin Media website shows awareness and progress in sustainability activities. A clear set of targets was presented in 2010, which this website/report should follow through on in due course. The digital presentation is a good approach, but clearly needs to be filled out with relevant sustainability reporting disclosures.   

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Two very different sustainability communication digital offerings from two very different companies. There is no doubt that writing reports first and foremost for online presentation requires a different approach to the written report, which can, once written,  be presented online in different formats. Well done to Burt's Bees and Virgin Media for entering this relatively new and challenging territory, which I hope will serve as part of a learning process for them and others regarding the most effective communications and reporting formats for these companies and their stakeholders.

My recommendations for online reporters :

Include a downloadable executive summary rather than just a series of videos or online pages. Some degree of choice for the reader between a written document and online content would increase appeal and useability of the information.

Make individual videos short - 3 minutes is about my limit.

Include the data in the body of the reporting narrative - not as an unrelated isolated download - and explain inconsistencies.

Leverage the digital platform more effectively to generate feedback and create conversations.

Ensure the enormous creativity and inspiration (not to mention adrenalin) required to produce  fabulous digital design and videos and online content does not overshadow the fact that a report should also contain material disclosures and performance data.

I just hope that no-one decides to make Chunky Monkey in digital format only. Now that would be a real disaster....

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices  Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness,  CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)

15 first time reports in CRRA 11: my vote

This is a second in a series of posts on the CRRA 11 Reporting Awards, one of my favourite events of the year. The first was to comment on the awards announcement and urge all of you to VOTE!
Voting is open until January 28th 2011.

This post will focus on my favourite category: first time reporters.

(NB: Links in this post are to CorporateRegister.com, you will have to register on the site to view them)

There are 15 first time reports in this category amounting to a massive 768 pages of narrative, pictures, tables and graphs. Of these 15 reports, 9 are in accordance with the GRI framework, of which two are at the highest transparency level A. Here are my (occasionally irreverent) views on the contenders in this category:

Aegis Ltd, India
GRI A+ self declared report, 64 pages

A global outsourcing services provider, employing 38,000 people, Aegis strives for Happy Customers, Happy Employees, Happy Shareholders and a Happy World! Guess it's ok for their suppliers to be down in the dumps. Haha. They also have a policy of sharing Happy Experiences! This report follows a GRI structure and appears to have a monopoly on bullet points. Almost every page contains bulleted lists, which makes for bulleted reading - like having hiccoughs. Happy Hiccoughs. It's a nice report, though, providing a good level of detail for a first effort. One thing, though, is that with this company targeting to contribute to everyone's happiness, I looked for they way they measure success. In an employee satisfaction survey, for instance, we can see that the Company does get good results such as a 95.75 score on "exciting growth opportunities" . But I was wondering if they asked empoyees the question: Are you happy at work? Doesn't seem like they did. Happiness is such a personal thing, I find a company whose mission is to make people happy a little surreal. Call me a party-pooper if you like.

Alma Media Oyj, Finland

GRI C self declared report, 23 pages

Alma Media is a Finnish media company, publishing 35 newspapers and providing a range of online services, turning over 300 million euros and employing 3,000 people. Not a small business by any means. I like the way this report addresses head on some core issues relating to media, journalism and sustainability. A key issue is the way local newspapers support a local sense of community. Very interesting reading. Another nice feature about this report is their consultation with stakeholders and the presentation of results.

Alaska Air Group Inc, USA

Not GRI, 28 pages, environment report only.

Alaska Air Group is the holding company for Alaska Air and Horizon Air, the ninth largest carrier in the USA, employing 13,000 people and a net income of $121 million. They call themselves "fuel efficiency trailblazers" and do demonstrate good carbon emission reductions during this reporting period. In fact, though this environment report covers a range of topics relating to airline environmental impacts, the only data provided relates to fuel efficiency and emissions, with no data on any other parameters - water consumption, quantities of waste, recycling etc. Whilst this is a nice basic first effort from Alaska Air, as an Environmental Report it only goes so far, and as a Sustainability Report it doesn't make the grade. This one doesn't get my vote, I'm afraid.

ArcelorMittal India, India
Not GRI, 38 pages.
ArcelorMittal India (AMIL) is a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, the global steel maker. This report is full of big photos and small print. It is mostly photography and graphic design work and light on content. It does provide some nice local flavor, making it an interesting report, but not a serious contender for winning an award, in my view.

ArcelorMittal USA, USA
Not GRI, 7 pages
This is declared to be an "addendum" to ArcelorMittal's global report and as such it has a very local USA focus, and nicely covers performance highlights of this division of the global company. It packs a lot into 7 pages, but falls way short of a full sustainability report, and seems to me to be not quite beefy enough to compete in this category. Having said that, the initiative to publish a local report is laudable and I wish many more subsitiaries of global businesses would take this approach.

Biogen Idec Inc, USA

GRI C self declared, 14 pages

Biogen is engaged in developing innovative therapies to meet unmet medical needs, employing 4,700 people. This report shows that you can cover quite a lot in 14 pages in a clever way, projecting a nice all-round CSR approach. This report was reviewed by Michelle Bernhart - you can read the full review here. This is a paragraph from Michelle's review: "The report is somewhat light on specifics. Some topics are covered with nicely written words but little substance. And, with two of the company’s founders having won the Nobel Prize for breakthroughs in biology, one might expect a more empirical approach, but the report is short on data. Environmental performance, for instance, is boiled down into just four metrics, although this does make for accessible presentation. It also appears the company has selected 2006 as its baseline year for performance data, which makes the limited data even more surprising. Apparently, Biogen Idec has been tracking these metrics for several years."

GoLite, LCC, USA

GRI A+, 157 pages

GoLite is an outdoor apparel company, outsourcing all manufacturing, and also a Timberland brand licensee, adopting the Timberland Code of Conduct."Transparency weighs nothing. Therefore I GoLite" is a nice introduction to this first report which doesn't go very lite at 157 pages, of which over 50 are appendices, of which 14 pages form a glossary dictionary of sustainability terms. This is one of those reports that rigidly follows the GRI indicator list, including the indicator number(s) with each subsection. It makes for a dry, disjointed report which doesn't allow the true nature of this company's unique sustainability story to shine through, which is a shame, because this company takes sustainability seriously. It is probably the most transparent of reports in this batch, going into great detail about almost everything. Slightly more focus on the trees and a little less on the wood would have been helpful.   Assurance of this report was conducted by a Sustainability Committee of external experts who did not verify the data or content of the report, but commented on whether it is comprehensive. (Frankly, at 157 pages, it probably didn't need a committee to determine if they had left anything out) .On a  positive note, I was surprised to read that this company employs only 25 people (I had to enlarge the PDF to make sure I had read that right!) . With such a small employee base, the production of such a detailed report is quite an achievement.

Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company, Korea
GRI B+, 92 pages

A beautifully crafted first report, creatively and comprehensively presented, pleasing to the eye and following a nice TBL flow. It is structured around the GRI well enough for the familiar themes to be recognizable, but also follows a clear concept so as to be readable without the disjunctiveness (is that a word?) that rigid GRI adherence sometimes dictates. The report is entitled "We build tomorrow" and this theme is nicely woven throughout the texts. A performance dashboard at the beginning of the report and good reporting on stakeholder engagement  and materiality make this report one of the best in the pack. The assurance statement is a little weak but this doesn't detract from the quality of the report. As an aside, when you look at the photo of the 17 smiling male directors of this company, it is easy to understand why there is no mention of diversity or disclosure on gender issues in this company.

McGraw Hill Companies Inc, USA

Not GRI, 21 pages

This is the company that owns Standard and Poor's, amongst other things, so it is fitting that a company who claims to help restore "transparency and trust" to financial markets should report transparently on its own business. This is quite a nice report, reasonably revealing for a first effort. It's straightforward, no pryrotechnics but modestly designed, if a little cramped, and it is a worthy entry in this category in my view.  It glosses a little over materiality and stakeholder dialogue, but covers most other stuff at a mainly declarative level. I was pleased to note the company offers chair massages for employees.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, India

GRI B+ self declared, 76 pages

This report is entitled "We care" . Then I read that ONGCians work 24 X 7 throughout the year, and I wondered who cares about getting some sleep occasionally. The report is printed in a font which was designed not to be read, and the language is often amusingly stilted and contains spelling errors, but I battled on using speed-read and goggles. This is a report with a strong patriotic flavor, crediting its success to the vision of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, who had faith in the potential of a domestic oil and gas industry. The report clearly shows a serious approach to sustainability, even if I had to skip a few pages where my goggles steamed up, and its materiality matrix, presented in the form of a Sustainability Risk Radar is quite a nice representation of what matters most in this company's sustainability efforts. Another nice feature of this report is the presentation of performance by the Company's Directors.

Pacific Hydro Pty Ltd, Australia
GRI B+ , 41 pages

This is a 240 people company generating over $118 million (AUD) through development of hydro and wind energy, with a net positive environmental impact. A nice first report, presenting CSR strategy well and including a number of focused case studies which give nice insights into the way this company is contributing to low-carbon energy production and serving communities. There is even a basic attempt to describe some indirect economic impacts of the company's activities - it falls way short of a quantified in-depth assessment of indirect impacts but it demonstrates a good conceptual approach to understanding and managing impacts beyond the limits of the company front door.  

Sanctuary Group, UK

Not GRI, 48 pages
Operating under a "non-profit umbrella", this organization provides housing in the UK - rented, sheltered, student and other forms of housing, employing 6,000 people. This is a wonderful first time report, written in a nice informal style and pleasingly designed. It has a people touch to it, with great coverage of the faces of the business and its stakeholders and relevant case studies. It's a little light on data, but a very good start into the world of reporting, with some nice insights about how reporting has helped this organisation advance its CSR objectives.

SGS Societe Generale de Surveillance, Switzerland
GRI C self-declared, 68 pages
SGS is an inspection, verification and certification company employing 59,000 people in 1,000 ofices around the world. The design of this report is rather disjointed and difficult to follow with awkward shapes and fonts and photography which doesn't relate to anything much. The report doesn't follow a storyline which brings out the unique contribution of this company to sustainability. It also contains an "Internal Assurance" statement, which is somewhat of an oxymoron. If it's internal, frankly, it can't be assurance.

The Hong Kong and Shangahi Hotels, Hong Kong
GRI C+ , 30 pages

Actually I reviewed this report for CorporateRegister.com a while back - you can read my full review here. This is a little clip from that review: "This is a credible report, though light on data, responding only to a small number of GRI indicators. What is presented is clear and supported by relevant commentary. The report appears to be a solid reflection of where this company is on their sustainability journey, ie at the very early stages. However, they have woken up with a burst of energy and made a very good start."

Virgin Group Ltd, UK
Not GRI, 84 pages

Virgin open up this document which is called a Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development Report with a comment that "it's not really a report but  more of a think-piece or a discussion document." I am inclined to agree with them. It's masterfully oddbally creative in its design and is a real showpiece, much like the personality of its guiding light, the impressive Mr Branson. However, as a report to stakeholders, it doesn't really do the job. It's a collection of anecdotal and shiny stories about what Virgin has done well, but with no index and no reference to any external framework. It is hard to track where this company is in terms of sustainability. Each section is a separate topline summary of the different Virgin businesses, because, they say, "since Virgin companies span so many sectors, it wouldn't be relevant for us to outline just one set of targets". I don't buy that. And furthermore, I didn't see any set of targets. Just one target per individual business in the Virgin Group, as far as I can tell. However, this "report" is fun, it's peppered with interesting facts about the state of the environment and overall impacts of and on society, and interesting perspectives. It's a nice brochure to peruse, but not easy to navigate. A great document but not a winning report.

So, after all that, whether you are wondering or not how I will be allocating my vote in this category, I will tell you. Drrrrrrummmmmmmmmmrrrrrrrrrrollll:

First place: Alma Media Oyj
Second place: Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company
Third place: GoLite
Fourth place: Biogen Idec
Fifth place: The Sanctuary Group


I wish all first time reporters good luck in the CRRA 11 awards, and looking forward to them all becoming second time reporters.


elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices  Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)