Archive
Opinions
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Healthy Futures: Exploring buying local and sustainability during the cost-of-living crisis
November 28, 2022
As the real impact of the cost-of-living crisis unfolds and the food and drink sector finds itself facing a perfect storm of issues, the FleishmanHillard UK Food, Agriculture and Beverage team is exploring the implications for brand and communication teams in our new ‘Cost-of-Living Bites’ series. Phoebe Rilot, senior research manager in FleishmanHillard UK’s TRUE Global Intelligence team, takes a look at what buying local means to consumers during the cost-of-living crisis and into the...
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Labour’s U-Turn on labour
November 24, 2022
Luke Downham, Head of Labour Unit and Adam Newman, Account Manager (Public Affairs, Labour Unit) Keir Starmer’s pledge to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference this week that he will wean the UK off its “dependence” on immigration orientated “cheap labour” is a highly significant policy shift, laying down an important plank of Labour’s economic policy, and reflecting an increasingly focused electoral strategy. As hoped, political commentary after the speech focused on this “tough” approach...
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ESG doublespeak: Back to basics and corporate culture
November 23, 2022
In post 3. “The authenticity gap”, we honed in on how the 'feel-good' acronym ESG is marketed, why, and some of the unintended consequences. We now take ESG back to basics, with the connection between externalities and reputation, and the role played by corporate culture. Blinded by a thicket of ESG metrics, targets and ratings, managers can miss the point of why they measure in the first place: i.e., to ensure that their business endures...
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The sports industry must accelerate its journey towards a sustainable future
November 21, 2022
Forget this week’s dreary UK weather. On the whole, this year in the UK it has been…Hot. Remember the balmy New Year? Our 40°C July? On the surface, British sport reaped the rewards. A summer without Wimbledon rain delays and undisturbed cricket seemed, well, glorious. But elsewhere, glorious it was not. During cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL), it wasn’t just Jos Buttler on fire. As dehydrated birds quite literally fell from the sky, matches were...
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COP27 Review: Global action slows despite notable successes
November 21, 2022
Michael Hartt, Senior Partner and Head of International Affairs Despite the intense last-minute wrangling as COP27 carried on for two days beyond its scheduled close, the summit yielded little in the way of major breakthroughs. While the commitment to a loss and damage fund deserves celebrating, the failure to reach agreement in other key areas will likely leave delegates disappointed by the final text and dismayed that the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C...
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Autumn Statement Review: Growth vs Stability, and a bad deal for young people
November 18, 2022
The Autumn Statement that took place yesterday essentially reversed the entire plan that the Liz Truss administration had put in place in her Growth Plan. In the space of 55 days, the UK has gone from around £30 billion in tax cuts to c.£54 billion in tax rises – under the same Party. The problem was that the Growth Plan as a fiscal stimulus did not work with supply constraints, as it focused on demand...
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COP27 Reflections: Transforming Trade to Accelerate Climate Action
November 18, 2022
Tim Harding, Associate Director and International Trade Lead COP27 has been framed as being all about implementation, with delegates looking for substantial but practical solutions to a challenge of immense scale: A report commissioned by the UK and Egyptian governments estimated developing nations will require $2 trillion per year by 2030 for energy transition alone. International trade can play a pivotal role driving climate improvement and make progress on this implementation gap, if only governments...
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Re-evaluating Employee Value Proposition for the new era of work
November 18, 2022
It’s time to let go of the idea of “employer brand.” You have only one brand — it’s what the world, employees, and prospective talent all see and interact with — and amid the tightest global labour market in decades, it must be thoughtfully established and maintained to attract all audiences. Instead, organizations should focus on defining their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) as the way to differentiate their unique talent offering, boost performance and engagement...
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COP27 Reflections: Authentic communication is critical to maintaining public belief in corporate engagement
November 17, 2022
Imogen Sackey, Associate Director, Corporate Reputation & Purpose; and Anthea Flint, Director, Consumer Almost half of consumers either don’t know which business commitments to believe in or don’t trust companies on climate change and sustainability issues. Given 64% of the British public believe business is accountable for helping to tackle climate change, this lack of credibility is worth paying attention to. Looking at the journey to COP27 and engagement on the ground, it is perhaps easy...
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ESG doublespeak: The authenticity gap
November 16, 2022
My last post, 'Knowing the score', highlighted how companies might assess CSR-bang for ESG-buck and how third-party ratings can play a role in the trouble with ESG. We’ll now hone in on how the 'feel-good' acronym is marketed, why, and the unintended consequences. Register to join us on Wednesday 30th November from 2-3 PM (GMT) to explore the role of communications in disentangling ESG at a time when sustainability has never been higher on the...