At this point, I shouldn’t have to explain why ESG matters, right?
Many companies are already aware of the importance of ESG, which stands for environmental, social, and governance—three pillars that are used to assess the sustainability of institutions.
As such, many of them have been making strides in their own ESG efforts. A number of them have also been shouting out about these initiatives to the public.
But is it really impactful? Is it really fostering trust amongst the public? Is it driving shareholder value? Is it cultivating the transparency that attracts investors?
These are questions that Manminder Kaur, the founder of a homegrown PR agency publiCT.io, posed.
And to answer them, publiCT.io has actually developed a tool known called ESGNewslytics.AI.
Leveraging data
Launched on July 10, ESGNewslytics.AI is a proprietary news analytics platform that aims to do three things: measure, analyse, and amplify.
But specifically, it aims to do this for news coverage that relates to ESG topics.
“When we started this journey, we never leveraged on analytics, it was just about getting companies to share their stories, and putting them across all media sites,” Manminder said about publiCT.io.
Backed by Cradle Fund with Malaysia Digital (MD) status from MDEC, the startup allows brands to choose news sites and pay only for successful placements.
Those days of not leveraging data are long gone, though, because ESGNewslytics.AI is all about using data to drive a company’s ESG narrative.
Powered by AI and machine learning capabilities, the platform is a response to the demand for specialised ESG communication tools. It offers ESG keyword analyses as well as comparative company analyses so companies can truly understand how they stack up in the broader context.
Essentially, companies can see how many of their ESG stories are picked up by the media, and how many people are talking about the brand. From there, a word cloud is also generated to show what ESG keywords are getting the highest noise, and whichever ones may be lacking.
There’s also a sector-wide ESG analysis to enable companies to examine ESG trends and news coverage within business sectors.
Manminder shared that the platform currently analyses across 12 keywords, which includes phrases like carbon footprint, sustainability, governance, anti-corruption, and more.
That covers the “measure” and “analyse” part. What about the “amplify” aspect? How can companies craft a powerful ESG narrative and with stories that really resonate with the audience?
Crafting new narratives
That’s where the AI-powered ESG content generator comes to play.
ESGNewslytics.AI features a tool that leverages data so companies can generate narratives that really extract the full value of their ESG efforts. These narratives are supposed to be impactful and can be sent out to the company’s target audience.
Specifically, the platform will identify the least mentioned ESG keywords in the news for the brand, and then generate strategic content recommendations. It will pitch story ideas as well as the news site that may be most relevant to that story.
“You don’t have to scratch your head anymore thinking about what story to tell,” Manminder said.
But of course, one concern corporates may have is that of greenwashing. How can corporates ensure that the generated narratives are honest and authentic, especially if they’re developed to focus on the least talked-about keywords?
Well, Manminder said that ESGNewslytics.AI actually prevents greenwashing.
“For example, an oil and gas company can use the data to see what is being mentioned about the brand across 12 main ESG keywords,” she explained. “The highest mentions could be sustainability, followed by carbon footprint, and the lowest is governance, anti-corruption, etc. The AI will suggest stories for the last two.”
She said, “The purpose is not to have the same narratives out again and again, but to build data-driven narratives, which companies normally don’t do.”
Why storytelling matters
You might be wondering—why does pushing one’s ESG narrative matter?
Well, a survey showed that 89% of Singapore business leaders say media reporting influences their corporate ESG strategy decision-making.
And 91% of those surveyed said that it was important to be seen by external parties as “socially responsible”.
These results show the close relationship between public perception and corporate policy frameworks on ESG issues, and how Singapore’s C-suite leaders are influenced in their management of ESG implementation.
That means, the more impactful and resonant the narrative is, the more ESG initiatives will take place.
ESGNewslytics.AI ultimately wants to enable companies to create better ESG strategies through its solutions. Its analytics will offer companies critical insights to re-evaluate and improve their ESG strategies.
“With the introduction of ESGNewslytics.AI and our existing platform for guaranteed media coverage, publiCT.io, we have come full circle in providing end-to-end PR solutions, with the aim of ultimately positioning us as a PR powerhouse in the region,” Manminder said.
She continued, “This dual-platform approach ensures that our clients are not only equipped with the latest AI-driven insights into ESG-related news trends but also benefit from guaranteed media coverage to effectively communicate their narratives.”
- Learn more about ESGNewslytics.AI here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Vulcan Post