Written by Angus Paterson
Evidence first, emotion always: a new approach for sustainability communications
Picture this: the sustainability lead walks into a meeting with a 60‑slide deck. Emissions curves, scenario charts, supplier dashboards. The brand director walks in with a moodboard and a big campaign line.
Both are doing their job. Neither is building trust
That gap – between the spreadsheet and the story – is exactly where most ESG communications fall apart.
We do not need “more facts” or “more emotion”. We need a different system that forces both to work together from the start.
Evidence first. Emotion always.
The false choice between compliance and catchy is devaluing good sustainability work
Most teams default to one of two broken models:
Evidence only
Dense reporting, visuals that look like a financial report. Safe, but forgettable.
Emotion only
Big purpose lines, stock footage of forests, soft-focus videos that could belong to any brand.
Ultimately, stakeholders internally and externally aren’t engegin with either so you’re missing a huge opportunity and getting a poor ROI!
A new model has to start from two blunt baselines:
1. If you cannot prove it, you do not say it.
2. If you cannot make people feel it, it will not matter.
If you want something operational you can use with your teams, start here.
A simple working model: Proof – Pulse – Platform
Proof:
Build and maintain the internal evidence base. Targets, progress, gaps, boundaries.
Pulse:
Decide what people should feel: urgency, reassurance, pride, curiosity, responsibility. Design stories to create that.
Platform:
choose where each story lives: report, website, product pages, internal channels, campaigns.
Used consistently, this model stops ESG comms swinging between two extremes: over-engineered reports nobody reads, and brand campaigns that float above reality.
Proof: build a base
Most organisations are not short of ESG data. They are short usable proof points organised cleanly into a messaging house.
1.
Clear metrics
Not just “we care about climate” but “we cut absolute emissions by X per cent with initiatives Y and initiatives Z.
2.
Context and boundaries
What part of the value chain is covered. What is still outside scope. Where progress is genuine, where it is partial, where it has stalled – honesty in shortcomings is one of the biggest drivers of trust.
3.
Plain language summaries
Short statements that explain each major proof point in human terms, not just in technical ESG language.
4.
Investors want returns and consistency.
- Employees want to feel part of something bigger.
- Customers want to know why your offer is genuinely better, not just nicer. Everyone wants proof that they can trust.
Without it proof, every discussion about campaigns, tone of voice or visuals will revert to opinions and risk avoidance.
You cannot have “emotion always” if nobody trusts the evidence.
Pulse: translate proof into human stories
The real task is to turn data into narratives told in the right places:
Who benefits if this goes well?
Workers, customers, local communities, partners, future hires.
Who is protected from risk?
Investors, regulators, frontline staff, supply chain partners.
What changes in daily life
Sourcing that is less harmful. Manufacturing that is safer. A product that lasts longer. A service that is actually accessible to more people.
Platform: design for feeling, not just reading
Evidence and stakes give you the raw material. Design – visual and verbal – makes it land and engage on the right channel.
Ask three questions of every ESG communication piece:
1. Can someone understand the point in 10 seconds?
A single clear chart. A simple headline. One core idea per screen, per slide, per section.
2. Does it feel specific to us?
Concrete images, locations, partners and products that could not belong to any other brand. Avoid generic nature shots and recycled slogans.
3. Is there a moment of tension?
A hard trade off. A missed target. A constraint you are honest about. Without tension, even true stories feel fake.
This is where creative teams earn their keep. Not by decorating ESG content, but by finding the simplest, sharpest way to express what really matters when the reader is in the mode to engage.
What this changes inside the business
Working this way has some uncomfortable implications:
- Sustainability and brand teams need to share ownership of the narrative, not fight over it
- Regulatory has to sit at the table early
- Creative partners must be trusted with more than execution – they need access to the real issues and data, not a sugar-coated summary
The upside is a story that actually supports stategy and adds value to the business.
Where
Magic Pencil fits
This is exactly the space where we work.
We workshop and build the proof with you
turning ESG data, strategy and operational reality into a clear set of usable proof points and messaging houses.
We take the pulse
Forming narritvies by identifying the feelings you need to create with investors, regulators, employees and customers at each moment based on the proof.
We design the platforms
from reports and web experiences to stakeholders campaigns and internal narratives – so evidence and emotion stay locked together.
If you are tired of choosing between dry reporting and fluffy purpose films, we should talk.