Digital disruption and the future of your eco-system

JAMES OSBORNEPartner & Head of CSR@lundquist

Zurich, 14 October 2014

ZURICH SEMINAR

IS REPORTING ENOUGH FOR A BETTER FUTURE?

ZURICH SEMINAR

AN ACCELERATING TREND IN UN-READ REPORTS

6th CSR ONLINE AWARDSHOW TO GET YOUR CONTENT TO THE PEOPLE WHO MATTER?

6th CSR ONLINE AWARDS

SHARABLE CONTENT

6th CSR ONLINE AWARDSDIGITAL DISRUPTION IN CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY

ZURICH SEMINAR

SUPERFICIALITY AND VARIETY OF FORMATS AND CHANNELS ARE MOST FRUSTRATING

ZURICH SEMINAR

DIFFICULTY IN UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCE PREFERENCES

ZURICH SEMINAR

FRAGMENTATION OF REPORTING

TRENDS IN 2014:• Rapid decline of standalone sustainability reports

• Continued retreat from investment in online reports

• Emergence of hybrid report (esp. for integrated reports)

• Slow increase in web-based disclosure

ZURICH SEMINAR

EXAMPLE 1: BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO

ZURICH SEMINAR

EXAMPLE 2: ROCHE

ZURICH SEMINAR

Focus on user/reader/stakeholder/follower… (not on disclosure itself)

Don’t wait for audience to come to your content…

Variety of entry points are specific to stakeholder categories…

Move towards data-driven information architecture

SHIFT TO AN ECO-SYSTEM MENTALITY

ZURICH SEMINAR

TRANSPARENCY + ENGAGEMENT = ACCOUNTABILITY

Reporting

Communications

ACCOUNTABILITY

ENGAGEMENT(OR ADVERTISING)

BASIC DISCLOSUREONLY

TRANSPARENCY

ZURICH SEMINAR

• Better understand users to see how digital is transforming the company-stakeholder relationship (measurement)

• Draw up a shared strategy to overcome silos internally and ensure a coherent approach

• Develop a lucid story about what sustainability means to the business, why it is relevant both internally and to external stakeholders

• Change mentality about what constitutes “engagement”: more informal acts of engagement (140 characters), less formal

• Reassess skills & capabilities in the team (or internal organisation)

WHAT CHANGES?

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS NOT ABOUT ADOPTING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY…

…BUT ABOUT DEVELOPING THE RIGHT MINDSET