OK, so this one is a bit contrived, but K is worth 5 points in Scrabble for a reason! Keep It Simple, Stupid (or for those that don’t like the use of stupid, it’s sometimes written as Keep It Simple and Straightforward) or KISS is a phrase and acronym that has been around for decades and used in fields from engineering to software design. But for our sustainability series I’ll use it to help illustrate some of the aspects to consider in sustainability communications (comms for short).
My experience is that, certainly in days gone by, sustainability professionals were pretty poor at communicating. Some of this was understandable – they were ahead of the game in understanding the big issues like climate change, when many were out if the loop, in denial and facing disinformation. So, the first job was to communicate what the issue was and why it was important before even thinking about communicating what needed to be done. The sense of frustration that people couldn’t see why these things were real and important coloured a lot of communication. And indeed, a lot of sustainability comms continued to focus on why the issues mattered long after people had understood and had moved on to wanting to know what actions were needed.
In addition, the topic of sustainability is so big and there are so many things to talk about that it can be overwhelming for both the author and audience. Finally, a lot of comms on areas like biodiversity and climate is based on the crises we are facing, when there is a lot of evidence that negative framing of issues (however accurate and important) is not a great way to engage people.
So how do you approach comms ? Well, this is where the KISS principle comes in. You do not have to tell people everything all the time. Sustainability practitioners are doing lots of things and the agenda is big, but you will not help yourself if you feel the need to connect it all up in every piece of comms.
So where to start? I’d suggest a simple narrative in a few paragraphs to describe why sustainability matters for your business, how it is integrated into your strategy, what the focus areas are and any key metrics and targets you have in place, along with the initiatives you are already doing or are planning. It’s about capturing why it’s important, what you are doing and when. Give yourself two pages of A4 max, and no cheating by using a small font! Use simple language and avoid jargon, explaining key terms if necessary. Ask a few other non-sustainability folks to read it and incorporate feedback. If you have a comms team in house or use an external agency it can be good to get their input too, but at this stage you are trying to just get the story right so don’t worry about polishing it too much.
Once you are reasonably with the message, summarise it in one paragraph. What are the key elements that must be highlighted? It’s the elevator pitch analogy – if you only have the time to communicate in the short elevator journey to the CEO, what would you say.
The idea of doing this is to reduce the myriad of topics on your agenda to key themes and a way of linking the priorities together to tell a succinct story of what sustainability means in your business. It’s not to say that you’ll use it in exactly this form to communicate (although there are times when this is appropriate) but it is more the guiding narrative that will help shape all your comms activity so that each element is consistent and reinforcing. You’ll also likely tailor the message differently for internal and external audiences, but the core should be consistent. This consistency is important because we often think of only the things we want to communicate when thinking about how the audience will receive them. But they are not just getting comms on sustainability, they will be bombarded with all sorts of messages – keeping your messaging on sustainability consistent helps you cut through all of that noise, with each piece of comms reinforcing what has gone before.
When thinking about a specific element of comms you need to also think about what you want the audience to take out of it. Do you want to reassure shareholders that you take the subject seriously, informing them of the material topics for your business, or are you firing up employees to get their ideas on a specific topic? The tone and language are likely to be quite different, but it should still all be consistent with your overall narrative.
If you are putting something together for internal audiences to explain what sustainability in your business is all about, I often think about it in terms of what you can give them to tell their kids. I spoke in an earlier article about engaging with employees and how that can reinforce pride. What will they be able to say when their children ask them “what did you do at work to help the environment?” Thinking about it in this way can really help keep the messages really simple.
When you are talking to internal audiences it is also worth considering tailoring comms to
fit the different groups. Whilst there will be core messages that will be consistent, you may want to link with other language or specific projects that each function has. For manufacturing you might want to illustrate how reducing waste and emissions fits with lean manufacturing thinking; with R&D you may want to focus on integrating in design cycles and “stage and gate” processes; for marketing it might be about customer insight and USPs. And indeed, what you want them to do may be different too. When you are putting together your comms plans think about what you need each of the key functions to do to carry out the necessary actions. You don’t need to do it for every part of the business, but you can have an “all other employees” for those you don’t do it for. Make sure your comms to these functions considers these different “calls to action”.
The last thing I would say about comms is make it positive. You can’t ignore completely that we do have, for instance, a climate crisis. But try to take people on a positive journey to somewhere that is motivating, rather than just away from somewhere that is bleak. Your messages are much more likely to cut through and lead to action.
So, after starting with Keep It Simple Stupid, I’ve just covered loads of different aspects of comms! But in essence it boils down to having a clear, positive story which you tell consistently, tailoring the message to different audiences and being clear about what you want to happen as a result.
About the Author
Chris is a senior strategic leader with over 25 years’ commercial experience including sales, marketing, strategic planning and major business change initiatives at AkzoNobel and ICI. He has a wide knowledge of sustainability and how to integrate this into business having held senior sustainability roles at AkzoNobel for 12 years, including as Global Sustainability Director Decorative Paints and AkzoNobel Planet Possible Programme Manager. Chris is now an independent sustainability consultant and a pension trustee director.
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