(Expansión) – Just a few days ago, the clothing brand focused on the segment of hiking and mountaineering enthusiasts, Patagonia, made an announcement that has marked a before and after in the actions carried out by companies in favor of the planet.
In the voice of its founder Yvon Chouniard, he announced that he would transfer all of his shares to two non-profit organizations whose purpose is to combat climate change. This bold move means the company will be spending around $100 million a year on actions orchestrated by these environmental groups to reverse man-made damage to the planet.
This milestone that has marked the business world is not to be ignored. It is likely that not many companies will follow in the short term in Patagonia’s footsteps, but I believe that it can be considered a very advanced pioneer in what we will see happening among private companies during the next 10 years.
And being a brand directly related to nature, the consistency with which it has acted is overwhelming, serving its brand purpose: caring for the planet for users who seek to enjoy the wonders of nature.
This is as unusual as it is fascinating and challenging. The company has set the bar very high for organizations that say they are “caring for the environment,” for those that uphold the banners of sustainable development and community well-being, while their simplest operation leaves a carbon footprint the size of big Foot.
A few months ago there has been strong talk about a concept that is fashionable, although it was really forged several decades ago: ESG, for its acronym in English ( Environmental, Social, Governance ) or ASG in Spanish (Environmental, Social and Government). corporate). It has become particularly fashionable among companies after the impact that the pandemic had, not only on business, but on people’s lives.
At a time when humanity’s existence was threatened (because you have to accept that many of us came to feel as if we were in some kind of apocalypse in which toilet paper was beginning to be scarce), people returned to focus on the fundamentals: life.
With this came profound reflections on the type of work we all have, and the companies for which we collaborate, and questions arose such as: what are companies doing to help us get out of this humanitarian crisis? Are brands worried about putting their grain of sand and help us as consumers to save human lives? Should we acquire products and services from companies and brands that only focused on continuing to sell their products instead of protecting the lives of their employees in the midst of a pandemic?
It was then that companies and brands began to worry about their purpose, about what really moves them and generates benefits for the whole of society and not just for a handful of shareholders. And shareholders realized that companies that were seen as committed to life and caring for the planet suddenly had better prospects for the future, and could much more effectively appeal to a generation of future-conscious consumers. of humanity and by “the third rock from the Sun”.
Then came the rise of ESG indicators, reports in which companies communicate the actions they carry out to make their operations sustainable, transparent and ethical, in the face of a new world order where returning to origins is beginning to be privileged value life in its simplest expression.
Suddenly, ESG (or ASG) indicators began to be a priority for the management teams of organizations. And, like all fashion, we begin to see charlatans everywhere trying to pass themselves off as experts on the subject, when all they do is put together fabulous marketing campaigns to trumpet from the rooftops the few philanthropic actions that some companies carry out, without a real commitment and without a purpose.
ESG is not a marketing campaign to say that we donate a school to the community. We cannot allow a real need of humanity to be reduced to simple pyrotechnics. ESG is a real commitment of organizations and brands from the highest level, and that is consolidated in the definition of a purpose that is as simple as it is powerful.
It is necessary to communicate what is done to contribute to the sustainable development of humanity, but it is necessary to be clear that this purpose, this commitment and its actions and indicators are the result of a conviction for a better world and a good strategy behind it to sustain it. and communicate it.
Editor’s note: Guido Gaona is CEO of BCW Mexico. He has more than 23 years of experience in the field of corporate communication. Follow him on . The opinions published in this column belong exclusively to the author.
