Malaysian companies are viewing sustainability
with a growing sense of importance, as part of their branding efforts, in line
with global practices.
Zenith
Malaysia chief executive officer Gerald Miranda said companies
worldwide are increasingly aligning their operations and strategies with
universally accepted principles in the area of human rights, labour,
environment and corporate governance.
“Social and environmental responsibility has
become an integral part of strategic corporate practice, and the Environmental,
Social and Governance (ESG) Index mandated by Bursa Malaysia is a major step in
this direction.
“It sets out internationally benchmarked criteria
that measure a company’s efforts in environmental conservation, the impact of
social responsibility initiatives and the practice of good governance,” Miranda
told the audience during his opening speech at the Sustainable Brands
Conference yesterday.
Miranda noted that many companies were
actively integrating sustainable principles into their businesses by reducing
energy and natural resources.
He added that recent studies showed that
consumers were more likely to purchase from socially-responsible brands.
In his presentation on Sustainability in
Communications at the conference shortly after his opening speech, Miranda
argued that brands and agencies need to practise holistic marketing, in order
to reach out to the wider target audience.
“What this means is that they need to think
beyond their [company] products, and think about the context of consumer,
society and the broader consumer,” he said.
Miranda also highlighted that 89% of
consumers in the US stated that they would switch to a brand that supports a
cause, emphasising just how important corporate social responsibility is to
consumers in the country.
“It’s about building and maintaining trust of
various stakeholders,” Miranda said, referring to the evolving communications
between companies and consumers.
-The Edge
Market
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